Common problems

Honda Civic common problems

What MOT testers find on the Honda Civic: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 1,140,581 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 15 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=88,735)26.8

All cars at 15 years (n=5,591,675)19.5

Suspension advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=88,735)35.0

All cars, same age (n=5,591,675)32.3

What stands out

Lights and electrics fails show up on 26.8 of every 100 MOTs of a Honda Civic at 15 years old (n=88,735), against 19.5 for all cars of that age (n=5,591,675).
Body and structure fails are less common: 3.8 per 100 MOTs against 6.7 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 15 years: side/position light not working, on 8.3 per 100 MOTs (all cars 5.8).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 17.8 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 15 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Honda Civic at 15 years (n=88,735) against all cars at 15 years (n=5,591,675). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	26.8	19.5	21.1	13.7
Suspension	17.9	16.7	35.0	32.3
Brakes	9.9	10.7	25.3	27.8
Tyres	7.5	7.5	28.7	28.5
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.8	6.5	4.1	5.4
Body and structure	3.8	6.7	8.6	11.2
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	3.1	5.7	3.4	11.0
Steering	2.7	3.3	7.8	4.3
Seat belts and airbags	0.9	1.7	0.3	1.0
Road wheels	0.7	0.6	0.6	1.5
Number plates and VIN	0.6	0.5	6.6	4.3

What testers fail most on the Civic at 15 years

Fail items on the Honda Civic at 15 years (n=88,735), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=5,591,675).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	8.3	5.8	£10 to £47 per lamp
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect	Lights and electrics	6.6	2.5	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	6.1	3.7	£10 to £47 per lamp
Shock absorber leaking	Suspension	5.4	1.7	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	3.5	3.1	£88 to £145 per tyre
Coil spring broken	Suspension	3.2	4.1	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Anti-roll bar link worn	Suspension	2.9	1.5	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	2.8	2.0	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.8	2.3	£2 to £14 per car (rough guide)
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt	Suspension	2.8	1.7	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 15 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Honda Civic at 15 years (n=88,735), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=5,591,675).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	17.8	18.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	11.9	11.1	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	10.1	9.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	10.1	4.2	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	9.2	7.0
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	9.0	6.9	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	8.2	5.9
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread	Number plates and VIN	6.6	4.2	£23 to £63 per plate (rough guide)
Track rod end: ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt	Steering	5.6	0.9
Headlamp: lens slightly defective	Lights and electrics	5.5	2.0

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 15 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Brakes
3 years	25,317	1.7	0.1	1.2
4 years	37,328	1.9	0.2	2.0
5 years	46,919	2.3	0.3	3.1
6 years	57,431	3.2	0.4	3.6
7 years	59,711	3.8	0.6	3.7
8 years	60,576	6.0	0.9	4.0
9 years	61,332	8.3	1.5	4.3
10 years	58,492	10.5	2.1	5.1
11 years	54,791	15.1	4.9	5.8
12 years	57,965	19.9	9.3	6.6
13 years	63,504	23.6	13.3	7.6
14 years	74,100	26.1	16.9	8.7
15 years	88,735	26.8	17.9	9.9
16 years	86,175	26.9	18.7	10.7
17 years	76,146	26.6	18.7	12.3
18 years	62,744	26.0	18.4	13.4
19 years	47,645	25.0	18.7	13.7
20 years	40,289	24.2	18.6	14.1
21 years	31,448	24.2	18.9	13.3
22 years	21,226	24.3	18.8	13.1
23 years	14,519	23.5	17.1	12.8
24 years	8,811	19.7	14.3	11.3
25 years	5,377	18.1	11.4	11.3

Mileage

At 15 years, Honda Civic cars showing 30,000 to 60,000 miles failed 30.1% of MOTs (n=5,646); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 49.9% (n=13,107). For pass and fail rates by age, see Honda Civic MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Honda Civic, testers most often record side/position light not working; headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect; brake light not working. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Honda Civic?

At 15 years, the age with the most MOT tests (88,735), the fail items testers record most often on the Honda Civic are side/position light not working (8.3 per 100 MOTs), headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect (6.6 per 100 MOTs), brake light not working (6.1 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (17.8) and brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (11.9).

Which parts of the Honda Civic fail more often than on other cars?

At 15 years: lights and electrics (26.8 per 100 MOTs against 19.5 for all cars); suspension (17.9 per 100 MOTs against 16.7 for all cars). Compared with 5,591,675 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Honda Civic problems by area

Other Honda models

All Honda models · Common problems by make

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Honda Civic?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources