Problems · by component

2020 Honda Civic electrical system problems

38 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2020 Honda Civic cite electrical system, 16% of all 240 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
38
16% of all complaints
Crashes
3
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
3
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the electrical system

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“On September 27, 2026, at approximately 90,800 miles, the body control module (BCM) in my 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback failed. Symptoms included the alarm sounding on its own, warning lights illuminating on the dash, the vehicle turning its accessories on unprompted while parked (key fob was present), the battery draining, and the key fob intermittently not being recognized.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 9, 2026Electrical systemODI 11770226
“Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2020 Honda Civic. It was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the mileage was 87,000. At the time of registration, it was discovered that the mileage was 247,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 4, 2026Electrical systemODI 11762116
“The turbocharger bypass control solenoid valve circuit on my 2020 Civic Si has developed an intermittent open, setting DTC P0035. I diagnosed it myself: the solenoid coil measures 45 ohms and functions when commanded via bi-directional scan tool, and supply voltage is present at the harness connector. However, the control circuit reads approximately 9V in the off state when it should be near ground, and the reading fluctuates when the harness is flexed near the connector — indicating a partial break in the wiring consistent with vibration fatigue. This is a safety concern because the ECM fault cascades to other systems. My scan report shows U0401-68 in the ABS module and U0416-68 in both the EPS and Integrated Driver Assistance modules. The result is that VSA stability control is disabled. I first noticed the problem because warning lights appear during hard cornering — precisely when stability control is most needed. Honda has acknowledged this exact failure mode. Service Bulletin 18-044 (NHTSA ID 10142655), issued June 2018, covers the 2017 Civic Type R for DTC P0035 and states the cause as: heat and the natural frequency of the harness cause the coupler wire…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 30, 2026Electrical system, EngineODI 11760752
“I have owned my vehicle for nearly 18 months and absolutely NO ACTION has been taken on Honda's part to remedy this solution with the capacitor in the circuit board of the front passenger seat weight sensor. Tired of waiting! I want results. This could lead to the front passenger frontal and knee airbags deploying unexpectedly.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 22, 2026Electrical systemODI 11733043
“The air conditioning system in my 2020 Honda Civic EX has a refrigerant leak at the evaporator assembly, causing very weak or almost no cooling even when set to the lowest temperature settings. This happens consistently, including in moderate to hot outside temperatures, making the cabin uncomfortably warm during drives as it could get pretty hot in inland southern California. The A/C evaporator assembly is the failed component, and the part remains in the vehicle available for inspection if requested. This issue creates a safety risk because reduced visibility from window fogging in humid or rainy conditions (due to lack of proper dehumidification and cooling) can impair safe driving. In extreme heat, it also increases driver fatigue and distraction from discomfort. The problem was confirmed by a Honda dealership through diagnostic testing, which identified the evaporator leaking refrigerant. They previously repaired a related condenser leak under warranty, but the cooling issue persisted and was later traced to the evaporator. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealership (manufacturer-authorized) on multiple occasions for this A/C concern. No specific…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 30, 2026Electrical system, Unknown or otherODI 11714611
“The navigation on the civic would reset and cut out for no reason and sometimes takes a long time to come back on or it never reboots and the screen stays black until you have to turn off the car and wait and then turn it back on. My experience was I was on a trip 2 hours away and I had my family in the car. We were traveling to somewhere new. During the trip, approximately 30 minutes into the drive, the navigation went out. Screen went black and took 3 minutes to come back on with my set destination on the navigation. The 2nd time it cut out was when we were on a mountain road. There were quite a bit of twist and turns and then when I lost the navigation, there were exits I missed because I was relying on the navigation to guide me to my destination. I had to ask my wife to use the GPS on her phone so we could resume back to our destination after a bit of a detour. The navigate never came back on for the next 20 minutes until I pulled over to a nearby gas station and turned the car completely off and waited 5 minutes to turn it back on. After a long reboot, it came back on. My point is that Honda should resolve this issue because I feel like it is potentially…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Nov 23, 2025Electrical systemODI 11701031

Showing 6 of 38 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 2, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Other 2020 Civic problem areas