2017 Civic more complaints than the rivals?

[kasian]

I am seriously considering a 2018 Honda Civic Hatchback EX and I am comparing among the hatchback rivals, such as Mazda3, VW Golf, Hyndai Elantra, Ford Focus

When I compared the complaints among these cars for the 2017 model at below website, although it does not specify hatchback/sedan models, I am surprised that Honda Civic has the second highest complaints and way more than Golf, Mazda, and Ford! (Elantra 14 vs Civic 12 vs Golf 4 vs Mazda3 1 vs Ford 1)
https://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Civic/2017/

I think all of them have similar popularity, so I don't think it is because more people got a Civic and so more complaints.
Another worrying point is that some of the complaints are quite serious:
1. Transmission problem - One reported an accident as the Civic Hatchback slipped out of Park (with photos there), and one complained the CVT transmission not working properly.
2. Brake Failure
3. Engine Problem - sudden acceleration
4. Head-rest angle causing neck pain and not sufficient support to lumbar

I just want to ask 2017 Civic folks (especially Hatchback), have you ever encounter similar issues? The first three complaints are quite serious as they are related to the safety for my family directly. And for the fourth type...I guess we all want a comfortable road trip, right?

Any comments? Thank you for your sharing in advance!!

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[maaaaackle]

6MT owner here.

I have owned it for a year. 17000 miles clocked.

No problems whatsoever.

Seats do suck.

 

[dmitri]

I've been going with Honda/Acura my whole life for two main reasons: handling and long-term reliability. If you're planning to keep your car for many years/till it's "dead" (or near it), then Mazda would be my only consideration (other than Honda or Toyota), from your list. If you think you'll be selling the car within 2-3 years, then just about any new car seems to be a good enough choice, these days. (Although in that case resale value would be also something to consider, which is another metric at which Honda had been traditionally better than most.)

One other thing to keep in mind: any car, from any manufacturer, can have a problem at some point, whether initial quality, or long-term. "Reliability" is a measure of how likely this or that brand is to have those problems. Some brands, like Honda or Toyota, have had a very long record of good long-term quality; others have not. The numerous problems reported by the '16 Civic owners made many people (myself included) question whether Honda had finally "lost it"... If course, nobody can really know, at this point; time will tell. Considering that the '16 was a complete redesign and many of the quirks seem to have been addressed in '17, and with long-term reliability being historically Honda strong suit, I decided to give them a go yet again and ended up with the '17 Si back in June. There have been zero problems so far (close to 8000 miles), other than an intermittent rattle (from, I think, the glove compartment?), but to me that's not "enough of a problem". Will see how it goes long-term (turbo and all), but I have no good reason to start doubting Honda's ability to engineer reliable automotive products, so I'm expecting to get this car close to 200k miles (10+ years), like I did my previous one ('04 TSX).

Good luck, whatever your decision will be.

 

[Dicecube]

If you do get a civic, do not make the mistake that I made and get a cvt, get a manual instead.

 

[cfleegle]

It is funny when people complain about the CVT. You test drove it before you bought it. If you didn't then that is your fault don't try and push people away from something you don't like. I have a CVT and it works fine.

 

[tsupersonic]

I have a '17 EX-L Hatch purchased in Dec. 2016. No problems so far. The CVT is fine - it doesn't slip, and it performs reasonably well. The brakes have been great, and I haven't experienced any sudden acceleration issues (that would be a big issue!). My only complaint is on long road trips (3+ hours), the seat can get uncomfortable (though head rests / neck are fine).

 

[Dicecube]

That's where your problem is, it's just fine. The Si shifter is amazing compared

 

[kritz]

Something to consider when comparing the amount of problems per model ....YTD Sales USA

Honda Civic 314,699
Hyundai Elantra 157,800
Ford Focus 133,922
Mazda3 64,641
VW Golf 60,173

I'd expect more problems for more cars sold. Honda is selling 5 Civics for every Golf/Mazda3 sold

 

[latole]

It is funny when people complain about the CVT. You test drove it before you bought it. If you didn't then that is your fault don't try and push people away from something you don't like. I have a CVT and it works fine.

Most consumer mags write CVT is noisy and you may have some issues, not with mt

 

[cfleegle]

Most consumer mags write CVT is noisy and you may have some issues, not with mt

I know that and if I wanted a MT I would have gotten that. But I am not going to get on here and complain to other people about the MT and try to push them away from it. I would suggest test driving both and seeing which one you like better. I love my CVT and I plan on getting a MT car later in life being that I am only 23 but I am not going to come on here and try to push people away from something because that is what the dude was trying to do. Just because he doesn't like it doesn't mean someone else will. If someone asked me I would say drive both and decide because the Honda Civic is altogether a nice car especially for the cost.

 

[IDriveACivic]

Relative to how many Civics there are on the road, the total number of complaints isn't very statistically significant. We see a blip in 2016 because it was the first model year of redesign. It happens, and I thank those who purchased first year models (without them, problems wouldn't have been addressed in 2017+).

As for CVT, it's a personal choice. Buyers should fully be aware of its pros and cons. I'm sure the manual is amazing, but you know what else is amazing? The smooth, no-frills, fuel efficient experience of the CVT in congested traffic.

At the end of the day, you're driving a (regular) Civic! A MT won't give you some sort of a transcendent driving experience, nor will you drive it so hard to break the CVT.

 

[WOPSiWOT]

I think the sales numbers above are illuminating. There are just a lot more Civics. Also consider that a lot of Honda buyers tend to expect nothing to ever go wrong EVER and seem very sensitive to small problems. Someone getting into a VW, on the other hand, may expect to run into more issues and have a bit more tolerance. I have a '17 Si, which is too new to make any statements about reliability. The infotainment has failed to load properly a couple of times. It is fresh in my mind because this A.M. I had to stop and restart the car to get it to load properly. I was still in the neighborhood so it was fine. If I was on the road then I would have just let it go and it may have rebooted on its own. That is annoying, especially because so much is run through the infotainment, including climate. You could avoid that pitfall entirely by just going for the Sport hatch. And you get the bigger wheels, dual exhaust, and you can get with the MT (or CVT, whatever). Just go beforehand and price out an aftermarket stereo that is CarPlay enabled (if you want that feature). You'll probably end up with a nicer package overall, assuming you can live without the roof (which would not be a big deal to me).

"Sudden acceleration" is almost always human error. https://www.caranddriver.com/featur...toyotas-unintended-acceleration-scare-feature. I read the thing about the car slipping out of park and it also seems like human error, I don't know. But maybe also try engaging the parking brake?

 

[IDriveACivic]

As a 17 Sedan owner, I have encountered two problems that are worth mentioning.

1. Rain sensing wipers don't work very well under light rain. Most of the time I find it too sensitive, but over the past few weeks, the system had been "smarter". 80% of the time, the wipers will move at the frequency I desire. Sometimes they would go haywire and move erratically even when there's no rain! I find that by turning off the wiper, and reactivating it a couple of seconds after would "reset" the wiper behaviour. Is this problem annoying? Yes. Is is debilitating? No. Come to think of it, if I had the regular intermittent wipers, I'd be fiddling around to find the "perfect" setting anyway.

2. On one occasion, voice activated controls weren't working. By that I mean the system would not prompt the driver to say any voice command. This problem was solved by rebooting the infotainment system (hold the power button until you are prompted to restart the computer). I suspect many nagging issues can be solved this way; including the times when you feel the system is lagging.

There you go, more anecdote from an owner.

 

[Nessism]

According to Car Complaints: https://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Civic/

2017 - 12
2016 - 218

Before purchasing my 2017 Civic I researched heavily and discovered that most of the 2016 problems were related to center IP electronics. Honda worked hard to resolve many of those issues for 2017 though.

Reading the 2017 complaints and some of them are throw aways: rodents eating wires? windshield distortion? wind noise? flat tire?

If you review the bigger picture, overall vehicle durability, Honda has a better track record than Ford, VW, Mazda.

Looking at the JD Powers APEAL survey shows the Civic near the top of the class...http://www.jdpower.com/cars/articles/car-buyers-guides/top-rated-small-cars-2017-us-apeal-study This means people like their cars. This same thing shows at Consumers Report. The Civic may not be the most trouble free but it's a great balance of enjoyment to usefulness/dependability.

Regarding the CVT, I was concerned about how it would perform but so far I really like it. Fingers crossed on durability...

 

[kasian]

Something to consider when comparing the amount of problems per model ....YTD Sales USA

Honda Civic 314,699
Hyundai Elantra 157,800
Ford Focus 133,922
Mazda3 64,641
VW Golf 60,173

I'd expect more problems for more cars sold. Honda is selling 5 Civics for every Golf/Mazda3 sold

WOW....thanks a lot! This is a perfect statistics to explain the number of complaints. Yes, with that I agree that only one brand stands out while others are quite comparable!

And thank you so much to all of you for the thoughts, sharing and comments! Actually I was ready to go for a Civic Hatchback EX! But the complaints just pushed me one step back. At least Civic does not look like to have bigger problem in reliability than the rivals, now I am confident to stand with my choice!

I agree that some of the complaints are really stupid. And for CVT, I agree with IDriveACivic that we are driving a Civic (not even Si/Sport trim). I will not push Civic so hard especially when I am driving with my family and kids. I also like the statement from Nessism about the overall experience with Civic "a great balance of enjoyment to usefulness/dependability. "

For the seat comfortablility, I think there is no one seat which can comfort every person in the world (Although there is quite a number of writes on Civic) but anyway, we can always add some cushion/support to adjust personally.

It is so helpful...thank you so much folks!

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