Honda Civic, representative photo
Representative model. Photo: Elise240SX, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recalls & complaints · NHTSA data

2003 Honda Civic recalls

Every recall campaign and owner complaint NHTSA has on file for the 2003 model year. Not every vehicle is affected by every campaign: check a specific car by VIN below.

Recall campaigns
24
Park-it warnings
0
Complaints
525
Latest campaign
Jun 27, 2019

Recall summary by component24

NHTSA Recalls API · cached ≤24 h
ComponentCampaignsLatestCampaign IDs
Exterior lighting13Mar 30, 2012
12V13600009E02500009E01200008E05000006E06400006E06000006E04400006E04000006E03800006E03200006E02600006E02500006E023000
Air bags8Jun 27, 2019
19V49900019V50100019V18200018V26800015V37000015V32000014V70000014V353000
Electrical system1Aug 5, 2010
10V364000
Visibility1Dec 11, 2007
07E104000
Fuel system, other1Nov 1, 2007
07V512000

Safety recalls24

NHTSA Recalls API · cached ≤24 h
0Park-it warnings
0Fixable over the air
Jun 27, 2019Latest campaign
Jun 27, 201919V499000

Air bags: frontal driver side

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

DetailsHide details for campaign 19V499000
What's wrong
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 2003-2006 MDX, 2001-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot and 2006 Ridgeline vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with driver frontal air bag inflators assembled as a recall remedy part or replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver 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 Q5A and Y58.
Filed under
Civic, Civic Gx, Civic Hybrid
Campaign
NHTSA 19V499000 · Jun 27, 2019
Jun 27, 201919V501000

Air bags: frontal passenger side

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

DetailsHide details for campaign 19V501000
What's wrong
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2012 RL, 2003-2007 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007-2008 Fit, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, and 2006-2014 Ridgeline vehicles. The vehicles are equipped with passenger frontal air bag inflators assembled as a recall remedy part or replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal airbag 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 E5D and X5C.
Filed under
Civic, Civic Gx, Civic Hybrid
Campaign
NHTSA 19V501000 · Jun 27, 2019
Mar 6, 201919V182000

Air bags: frontal driver side

An explosion of an inflator within the driver frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver, front seat passenger or other occupants…

DetailsHide details for campaign 19V182000
What's wrong
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling specific 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2013-2016 ILX, 2013-2014 ILX Hybrid, 2003-2006 MDX, 2007-2016 RDX, 2002-2003 3.2TL, 2004-2006, and 2009-2014 TL, 2010-2013 ZDX and 2001-2007 and 2009 Honda Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2003-2005 Civic Hybrid, 2001-2005 Civic GX NGV, 2002-2007 and 2010-2011 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007 Fit, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, and 2006-2014 Ridgeline vehicles. The affected vehicles received a replacement driver air bag inflator as part of a previous Takata inflator recall remedy or a replacement driver air bag module containing the same inflator type as a service part. Due to a manufacturing error, in the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver frontal air bag, these inflators may explode.
Risk
An explosion of an inflator within the driver frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver, front seat passenger or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began April 10, 2019. Honda owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is O41. Acura owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's number for this recall is U40.
Filed under
Civic, Civic Gx, Civic Hybrid
Campaign
NHTSA 19V182000 · Mar 6, 2019
Apr 26, 201818V268000

Air bags: frontal passenger side

An incorrectly installed air bag may deploy improperly in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

DetailsHide details for campaign 18V268000
What's wrong
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.
Remedy
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.
Filed under
Civic
Campaign
NHTSA 18V268000 · Apr 26, 2018
Jun 15, 201515V370000

Air bags: frontal passenger side

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the passenger seat occupant…

DetailsHide details for campaign 15V370000
What's wrong
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2001-2005 Honda Civic vehicles manufactured March 21, 2000, to January 20, 2005, 2001-2004 Honda Civic GX vehicles manufactured June 14, 2000, to August 19, 2004, 2003-2005 Honda Civic Hybrid vehicles manufactured February 24, 2002, to January 18, 2005, 2003-2007 Honda Accord vehicles manufactured February 21, 2002, to August 28, 2007, 2002-2004 Honda CR-V vehicles, 2002-2003 Honda Odyssey vehicles manufactured June 19, 2001, to July 12, 2003, 2003 Acura MDX vehicles manufactured September 19, 2002, to June 19, 2003, 2003 Honda Element vehicles manufactured June 25, 2002, to July 31, 2003, and 2003 Honda Pilot vehicles manufactured November 26, 2001, to August 21, 2003. The affected vehicles have a passenger side frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture upon its deployment.
Risk
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the passenger seat occupant or other occupants possibly causing serious injury or death.
Remedy
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on July 1, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are JU4, JU5, JU6, and JU7. Note: Vehicles that have already received a replacement passenger air bag inflator as part of the recall remedy for an earlier campaign such as 14V353 or 14V700 (Honda recall numbers S95, JH6, JH7, JH8, JH9, JJ0, JJ1, JJ2, JJ6, JM5 and JM6) are not included in this recall. However, this recall does supersede 13V132 and 14V349. Note: On December 18, 2015 Honda informed NHTSA of an expansion of this recall to include certain model year 2004 Honda CR-V vehicles in addition to additional model year 2003 CR-V vehicles.
Filed under
Civic, Civic Gx, Civic Hybrid
Campaign
NHTSA 15V370000 · Jun 15, 2015
May 28, 201515V320000

Air bags: frontal driver side

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants…

DetailsHide details for campaign 15V320000
What's wrong
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2001-2007 Accord, 2001-2005 Civic, 2001-2004 Honda Civic GX, 2003-2005 Honda Civic Hybrid, 2002-2006 CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2002-2004 Odyssey, 2003-2008 Pilot, 2006 Ridgeline, 2003 Acura 3.2CL, 2003-2006 Acura MDX, and 2002-2003 Acura 3.2TL vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion and other factors, including manufacturing variability that, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
Risk
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on July 1, 2015. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Owners may contact Acura customer service at 1-800-382-2238, select option 4. Note: Vehicles that have had their driver frontal air bag replaced previously as part of a recall remedy prior to September 12, 2014 need to have their air bag replaced under this recall as well. Vehicles that, on or after September 12, 2014, received a remedy for a prior driver frontal air bag inflator recall already received an inflator of a different design, and therefore are not included in this recall and do not require additional servicing. Note: This recall fully supersedes recalls 08V-593, 09V-259, 10V-041, 11V-260, 14V-351 and 15V-153. Honda's numbers for this recall are JQ9, JR0, JR1, JR2, JR3, JR4, JR5, JR6, JR7, and JR8.
Filed under
Civic, Civic Gx, Civic Hybrid
Campaign
NHTSA 15V320000 · May 28, 2015

Merged from NHTSA model names: Civic, Civic Gx, Civic Hybrid. Not every vehicle of a model year is affected by every campaign.

To see whether a recall is still open on your car, enter the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or the Honda recall lookup. Recall repairs are free at a franchised dealer (federal law; see limits).

Owner complaints by component525

NHTSA Complaints API · cached ≤24 h
525Complaints filed
94Involving a crash
6Involving a fire
73Injuries reported · 13 deaths
ComponentShareComplaints%CrashesFiresInjuries
Air bags1472851150
Power train10320704
Electrical system5210626
Engine and engine cooling377321
Service brakes3671509
Vehicle speed control3461205
Structure2855013
Exterior lighting234300
Hydraulic234801
Unknown or other214404
Seat belts204503
Tires194200
Steering163602
Visibility153000
Equipment143322

16 more components with fewer complaints not shown. An owner can tag several components, so percentages add up to more than 100. Complaints are unverified owner reports, de-duplicated by NHTSA ODI number, merged from NHTSA model names Civic, Civic GX.

Latest reports

  • Air bags

    “The contact owned a 2003 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving at approximately 30 MPH and attempting to proceed at a green light, the front passenger side of the vehicle crashed into the front driver-side of…”

    Filed 09/25/2024 · ODI 11616517
  • Air bags

    “Air bag light came on for no reason. [XXX]”

    Filed 07/12/2023 · ODI 11531822
  • Air bags

    “The contact owned a 2003 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at 55 MPH, a semi-truck unexpectedly crossed into his lane which caused him to crash the truck's land gear.”

    Filed 04/03/2023 · ODI 11515177

Other Honda Civic model years

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Other Honda models

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2003 Honda Civic recall questions

How many recalls does the 2003 Honda Civic have?

NHTSA lists 24 safety recall campaigns for the 2003 Honda Civic. The most recent, 19V499000 (reported June 27, 2019), concerns air bags. Not every vehicle is covered by every campaign; check a specific car by VIN.

What are the 2003 Honda Civic recalls for?

The largest group is exterior lighting, with 13 campaigns. Others: air bags (8), electrical system (1), visibility (1). Each campaign below lists the defect, the risk and the free remedy.

What is the most common complaint about the 2003 Honda Civic?

Air bags is the most-reported component, named in 147 complaints out of 525 filed with NHTSA (28%). Across all complaints, owners reported 94 crashs and 6 fires. Complaints are unverified owner reports.

How do I check if a recall is open on my 2003 Honda Civic?

Enter the 17-character VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or the Honda recall lookup. That shows campaigns still unrepaired on that exact car. Safety recall repairs are free at a franchised Honda dealer.

Check a specific Honda by VIN

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