Problems · by component
2012 Honda Civic Hybrid structure problems
34 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid cite structure, 7% of all 454 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
34
7% of all complaints
Crashes
11
Reported by owners
Fires
1
Reported by owners
Injuries
6
Reported by owners
What owners say about the structure
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“Paint defect. Paint faded and clouded on vehicle due to cheap paint used during manufacturing. I was never notified about the extended warranty. I contacted Honda and let them know, but was told the warranty ended. I financed my vehicle through American Honda for 5 years, and serviced my vehicle via Honda dealerships. Never did this come up as a possible repair that I could have fixed by them. I was told that Honda used a third party to contact owners.”
“Paint on the Vehicle is chipping off and getting oxidized. It started happening an year ago and its never ending. We are able to see the patches almost everywhere on the body of the car.”
“About 2 years ago, I purchased my first Honda, on September 2019. It looked perfect. However, for the past 10 months its paint has been fading, specially on the car top. Now my car is looking absolutely aweful. If Honda does not fix this problem, I will switch back to Toyota because I never had this problem before.”
“CAR CLEAR COAT IS COMING OFF ON THE TRUNK AND ROOF IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS. IN AREAS WHERE THE CLEAR COAT IS GONE, THE PAINT IS NOW COMING OFF. VEHICLE IS A 2012 HONDA CIVIC PURCHASED NEW IN 2011. THE PROBLEM FIRST STARTED IN 2018 APPROXIMATELY 2 MONTHS AFTER EXTENDED PAINT WARRANTY EXPIRED. I CONTACTED HONDA CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THEY WOULD NOT COVER THE REPAIR COSTS AND SAID THERE WAS NO KNOWN PAINT DEFECT FOR MY VEHICLE YEAR/MODEL. THE PAINT IS DEGRADING AT AN ALARMING RATE. THE PROBLEM STARTED WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS 7 YEARS OLD. THE PROBLEM IS NOT CONSISTENT WITH NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR. I HAVE OWNED 2 OTHER HONDA'S AND NEVER HAD A PAINT ISSUE. THE NUMEROUS WEBSITES AND FACEBOOK GROUPS DEDICATED TO HONDA PAINT PROBLEMS SUGGESTS THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT THAT HONDA HAS CHOSEN NOT TO ADDRESS. THE CAR IS CURRENTLY REGISTERED IN FLORIDA AND WAS PREVIOUSLY IN ILLINOIS AND MARYLAND. THE CAR WAS TYPICALLY WASHED ONCE A MONTH AT A CAR WASH OR BY HAND AND WAXED AT LEAST TWICE PER YEAR. SINCE THE PROBLEM STARTED, I NO LONGER WASH THE EXTERIOR SINCE THAT EXACERBATES THE PAINT DEGRADATION.”
“FADING PAINT ON HOOD, ROOF, AND TRUCK OF THE VEHICLE. NOT ONLY HAVE I SEEN THE FADING OF PAINT ON MY CAR, BUT ON MANY MANY OTHER VEHICLES THE SAME ISSUE. I BELIEVE HONDA DID A VERY POOR PAINT JOB ON THESE VEHICLES.”
“PAINT COMING OFF OF CAR. WAS TOLD I WAS NOTIFIED BY A LETTER IN MAIL. NEVER WAS. ASKED FOR WHEN IT WAS MAILED, ASKED RIP WHAT ADDRESS IT WAS SENT AND ALSO ASKED FOR A COPY OF THIS SUPPOSED NOTIFICATION TO BE EMAILED TO ME. WAS TOLD BY MULTIPLE HONDA PEOPLE THEY DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION.... IT'S BECAUSE THEY DID NOT SEND IT. I WAS NEVER TOLD THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN BY ANYONE !”
Showing 6 of 34 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 9, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.