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2008 Honda Civic Common Problems & Recalls

Every recall campaign and owner complaint the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration holds for the 2008 Honda Civic. Nothing on this page is written from memory — it is all imported from NHTSA's public database.

Safety recall campaigns

7 recall campaigns filed by Honda for the 2008 Civic, newest first.

CampaignComponentWhat the recall says
18V268000
2018-04-26
Air Bags
Frontal
Passenger Side › Inflator Module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003-2012 Honda Accord and Pilot, 2010 Accord Crosstour, 2001-2011 Civic, 2002-2011 CR-V, 2003-2004, 2006-2008 and 2011 Element, 2007 and 2009-2013 Fit, 2010-2012 Insight, 2002-2004 Odyssey, and 2012 Ridgeline vehicles. The front passenger air bag may have been installed incorrectly during replacement.

Risk: An incorrectly installed air bag may deploy improperly in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the passenger frontal air bag module assembly, free of charge. The recall began June 22, 2018. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are K1P, and M1O.
19V502000
2019-06-27
Air Bags
Frontal
Passenger Side › Inflator Module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2009-2014 Acura TSX, 2011-2014 TSX Sport Wagon, 2010-2013 ZDX, 2008-2012 Honda Accord, 2010-2011 Accord Crosstour, 2006-2011 Civic and Civic Hybrid, 2008-2010 Civic GX NGV, 2012-2015 Crosstour, 2007-2011 CR-V, 2009-2013 Fit, 2014 Fit EV, 2010-2014 Insight, and 2009-2015 Pilot vehicles. The vehicles are equipped with passenger frontal air bag inflators…

Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 12, 2019. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are F5F and Q5E.
19V378000
2019-05-16
Air Bags
Frontal
Passenger Side › Inflator Module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2009-2014 Acura TSX, 2011-2013 TSX Sport Wagon, and 2010-2012 ZDX and 2008-2012 Honda Accord, 2010-2011 Accord Crosstour, 2006-2011 Civic, Civic Hybrid and Civic NGV, 2012-2014 Crosstour, 2007-2011 CR-V, 2009-2013 Fit, 2010-2013 Insight, and 2009-2015 Pilot vehicles. The front passenger air bag inflator may have been installed incorrectly during replacement.

Risk: An incorrectly installed air bag inflator may not properly deploy the passenger frontal air bag in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the inflator installation and, if necessary, replace the passenger frontal air bag module assembly, free of charge. The recall began July 5, 2019. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are…
17V545000
2017-08-31
Air Bags
Frontal
Passenger Side › Inflator Module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2008-2012 Accord, 2010-2012 Accord Crosstour, 2006-2011 Civic, 2007-2011 CR-V, 2009-2012 Fit and Pilot, 2010-2012 Insight, and 2009-2012 Acura TSX vehicles that received replacement passenger frontal air bag inflators. One dealership may have incorrectly installed the replacement air bag inflators.

Risk: In the event of a crash, an incorrectly installed passenger frontal air bag inflator may deploy the air bag improperly, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag module assembly, free of charge. The recall began October 30, 2017. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are O07, Y0A, N06, G05, M04, Y01, and O09.
17V030000
2017-01-10
Air Bags
Frontal
Passenger Side › Inflator Module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2009-2012 Acura TSX, 2011-2012 Acura TSX Wagon, 2010-2012 Acura ZDX, 2008-2012 Honda Accord, 2010-2012 Honda Accord Crosstour and Honda Insight, 2009-2012 Honda Fit, 2009-2012 Pilot, 2007-2011 Honda CR-V, 2012 Honda FCX Clarity and 2006-2011 Honda Civic, Civic Hybrid, Civic NGV vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida,…

Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger side air bag inflator, free of charge. The manufacturer has mailed an interim notification, and will send a second notification when parts are available. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's…
16V346000
2016-05-24
Air Bags
Frontal
Passenger Side › Inflator Module
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2009-2011 Acura TSX, 2011 TSX Wagon, 2010-2011 Acura ZDX, 2008-2011 Honda Accord, 2010-2011 Accord Crosstour, 2006-2011 Civic, Civic Hybrid, and Civic GX, 2007-2011 CR-V, 2010-2011 FCX Clarity and Insight, and 2009-2011 Fit, and Pilot vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi,…

Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the inflator, free of charge. The recall began March 2017. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall is KA4, KA5, KA6, and KA7.
08V535000
2008-10-14
Fuel System, Gasoline
Delivery
Hoses, Lines/Piping, And Fittings
HONDA IS RECALLING 128 MY 2008-2009 CIVIC SEDANS. A BRACKET THAT COVERS THE FUEL HOSE CONNECTOR IS SECURED WITH A BOLT AND NUT, BUT DURING ASSEMBLY THE NUT WAS NOT INSTALLED.

Risk: IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE BRACKET MAY BECOME LOOSE WHICH COULD RESULT IN DAMAGE TO THE FUEL HOSE CONNECTOR. A DAMAGED CONNECTOR COULD LEAD TO A FUEL LEAK AND INCREASES THE RISK OF A FIRE.
Fix: DEALERS WILL INSTALL A NUT ON THE FUEL FEED HOSE BRACKET. THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 13, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HONDA AT 1-800-999-1009.

Summaries are quoted verbatim from NHTSA's official campaign records. A single campaign often covers dozens of model years and several nameplates, so a summary may name vehicles other than the 2008 Civic — that is normal. Every record listed here carries this vehicle's own make, model and model year in NHTSA's database. Whether a recall is still open on a particular car can only be determined by VIN.

Owner complaints by component

916 owner complaints on file with NHTSA for the 2008 Civic, grouped by the component owners reported. Counts reflect how many owners complained, not how often the fault actually occurs.

Reported componentComplaints
Air Bags
38 crash, 1 fire, 36 injured
153
Engine
2 fire
130
Visibility
1 injured
103
Suspension
1 crash
76
Structure 60
Engine And Engine Cooling 39
Unknown Or Other
1 crash, 1 injured
37
Power Train
1 crash
31
Electrical System 28
Visibility/Wiper 18
Vehicle Speed Control
2 crash
16
Tires 16

A complaint is an unverified owner report. It is a signal about where to look, not proof of a defect.

What owners actually wrote

Verbatim excerpts from NHTSA complaint filings on this model year. These are the owners' own words, not our diagnosis, and each one is a single unverified report.

Air Bags (153 complaints)

The contact owns a 2008 Honda Civic. The contact stated that the vehicle was serviced by a dealer under an unknown NHTSA Campaign Number related to the airbags. After the recall repair, the passenger airbag warning light illuminated and remained illuminated. A dealer was contacted regarding the failure but informed the contact that no assistance could be provided. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 127,517.
filed 07/09/2026 · ODI 11749407
Got mail that my car needs to have the airbag recall done and I took it to Honda dealer in Selma for the recall, got the car back and noticed the passenger airbag light was left on. I called and talked to the service attendant that worked on my car and they said they couldn’t not do anything about it. Not sure on the date but this was about a year ago around around spring time.
filed 06/10/2026 · ODI 11743222

Engine (130 complaints)

Engine temperature suddenly rose high, pulled over. Discovered what appeared to be coolant on front of block. Had diagnosed and found to have a cracked block. Contacted Honda, the refused to do anything as it wasn’t a recall only a warranty bulletin. This needs to be recalled so people who are affected can get their cars fixed.
filed 02/19/2026 · ODI 11719251
Engine block cracked. Leaking coolant and rendering vehicle useless.
filed 05/17/2025 · ODI 11661602

Visibility (103 complaints)

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HONDA CIVIC. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE COATING ON THE FRONT WINDSHIELD CREATED A GLARE ON THE WINDOW DURING NIGHT WHEN THE HEADLIGHTS OF OTHER VEHICLES REFLECTED OFF THE WINDSHIELD. THE CONTACT STATED THE FAILURE MADE IT DIFFICULT TO SEE AND DRIVE THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A BODY SHOP THAT SPECIFIED IN THE WINDOWS ON THE VEHICLE AND THEY INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE WINDSHIELD HAD TO BE REPLACED. THE WINDSHIELD WAS NOT REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIM
filed 06/01/2016 · ODI 10871850
THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE. THE SUN VISOR IS BROKEN. THE HINGES MELTED. *TR
filed 01/17/2015 · ODI 10676195

Suspension (76 complaints)

THIS IS THE THIRD TIME MY PASSENGER SIDE MOTOR MOUNT HAS COMPLETELY BROKEN OFF!!
filed 11/07/2017 · ODI 11044222
BOUGHT THE CAR 2 DAYS AGO. DID TEST DRIVE IT WITH NO NOTABLE ISSUES. I DID NOT TAKE IT ON THE HIGHWAY BECAUSE I WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA AND THE SALESMAN INSISTED NOT TO GO ON THE HIGHWAY DUE TO ROAD CONSTRUCTION OUTSIDE THE DEALERSHIP. SO ON THE WAY HOME I DID TAKE THE HIGHWAY FROM THE DEALERSHIP FOLLOWING MY HUSBAND OUT OF THE AREA UNTIL I GOT TO FAMILIAR TERRITORY. THEN HE GOT BEHIND ME. WELL WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY I FELT THE CAR SWAYING SIDE TO SIDE HAVING TROUBLE STAYING BETWEEN THE LINES. DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT AND WHEN I WOULD HIT A BUMP THE BACK END OF THE CAR MOVED ALL OVER THE
filed 09/15/2016 · ODI 10906978

Check your own VIN

A recall only matters if it is open on your car. The lists above are for the model year as a whole; the free official lookup below tells you what applies to your specific 17-character VIN.

NHTSA recall lookup by VIN

Free, official, and takes about thirty seconds. No account needed.

05Common questions

Does the 2008 Honda Civic have any safety recalls?

Yes. NHTSA records 7 recall campaigns filed by Honda for the 2008 Civic. The most recent is campaign 18V268000, filed 2018-04-26, covering Air Bags › Frontal › Passenger Side › Inflator Module.

Was the 2008 Honda Civic affected by an airbag inflator recall?

Yes. 6 of the 7 campaigns on record for this model year involve the airbag system. The fix is a free inflator replacement at an authorised dealer.

What do owners complain about most on the 2008 Honda Civic?

The most-reported component is Air Bags with 153 of the 916 owner complaints on file, including 38 reports involving a crash. Complaint counts show where owners report trouble; they are not proof of a defect.

How many owner complaints are on file for the 2008 Honda Civic?

916 complaints with NHTSA for the 2008 Civic, spread across 108 reported component groups.

How do I check if my 2008 Honda Civic has an open recall?

Enter your 17-character VIN at NHTSA's free recall lookup. Recalls are applied per vehicle, so the model-year lists above cannot tell you whether your particular car is covered.

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