2002 Honda Civic Airbag Problems

Which parts fail

• Frontal
  43
• Frontal › Sensor/control module
  21
• Frontal › Driver side › Inflator module
  5
• Side/window
  4

Components named in complaints (front, side and curtain air bags, sensors and inflators).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  118%
• 25k–50k
  2316%
• 50k–75k
  3726%
• 75k–100k
  2115%
• 100k–150k
  2920%
• 150k+
  2316%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2002 Honda Civic owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

The death investigator's decedent owned a 2002 Honda Civic. The contact stated that after the decedent stopped at a stop sign, they attempted to make a left turn and struck another vehicle on the passenger side. The decedent's air bag was deployed which caused trauma to the decedent's neck. The decedent's vehicle caught fire shortly after impact. The other driver attempted to remove the decedent from the vehicle as authorities were called to the scene. The decedent received medical treatment at the scene and was later transported to the hospital. The decedent was pronounced deceased approximately 30 minutes after arriving at the emergency room. The other driver did not sustain any injuries. A police officer who arrived at the scene managed to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher. The fire department later arrived at the scene to ensure that the fire was extinguished. …

The contact owned a 2002 Honda Civic. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 15V370000 (Air Bags) and 15V320000 (Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not contacted.

The contact owns a 2002 Honda Civic. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V501000(Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were contacted.

Had an accident on the way to work. Hit a car straight on in the back. I was in motion. My front end was totally smashed in. I would like to know why the passenger side airbag deployed and no one was in that seat and my driver's side airbag did not deploy at all. I am now suffering substantial pain and bruises across my chest, right breast and across my entire lower abdomen. Yes, the outcome could have been worse or even fatal, but I'm blessed to have walked away from this. I love my Honda and been a Honda owner since about 2003. I would like to purchase another Honda but I have my doubts now. If this should happen again can I trust that the next car will do the job that it was meant to do as far as the air bag is concerned I have taken my car twice to have it serviced for the Takata recalls. …

Tl* Takata recall- the contact owns a 2002 Honda Civic the contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 19V501000 (air bags). The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, when another vehicle on his passenger side enter his lane and impacted his rear passenger side fender. The contact stated he steered to the left causing his bumper to impacted a second vehicle's rear passenger side fender. The driver side air bag did not deploy but the passenger side air bag did deploy. The contact stated no warning light were illuminated. The contact stated the next day he sustained chest pains but had not seek medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not drivable and was towed to his residence. The contact called local dealer robertson's palmdale Honda located at 455 auto vista dr, palmdale, ca 93551, but was unable to contact to them. …

Received notices in the mail for NHTSA recall 14v-351, 11v-260, 14v-319, 15v-320, and maybe others? Brought vehicle in for service (invoices attached). According to credit card receipt, I picked up vehicle from service station on 12/19/2015. To summarize, the passenger airbag was said to be part of the recall and was therefore replaced. The driver airbag was said to not be part of the recall and the original was reinstalled into the vehicle. On 3/10/2016, an SUV drove out from a side street with stop sign and our vehicles collided. The SUV was struck on its left side toward the front end and my vehicle was struck on the front end toward the right side. My vehicle's passenger airbag inflated but my vehicle's driver airbag did not deploy. Photos attached. My head struck the windshield twice during the impact of the accident. …

Tl* the contact owned a 2002 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving about 20 MPH, another vehicle ran through a stop sign and crashed into the contact's front driver's side. The air bags did not deploy. The contact was unaware of any warning. A police report was filed. The contact sustained unknown injuries that required medical attention. The vehicle was totaled and was towed to a tow yard. The dealer was not called. The manufacturer was not called. The contact stated that an air bag recall repair was performed on the vehicle in 2018 (NHTSA campaign number: 15V320000 (air bag)) by the manchester Honda [phone], located at 24 adams st, manchester, ct 06042). The contact also stated that an unknown follow-up recall notice about driver's air bag was received after the crash. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.

Takata airbag issue: I was in a front end collision at a speed of about 20mph on a city street with no one in the passenger seat. The vehicle sustained significant front end damage, resulting in loss of the front bumper, damage to the hood and to the front engine components, including leaking of window washer and transmission fluids. The driver's air bag did not deploy, but in my estimation, is should have done so. I was not injured since I was wearing a seat belt. The air bag is a replacement air bag that was replaced by a Honda dealer in virginia, at the very beginning of the Takata air bag recall. I am simply reporting this as a potential safety issue, since I believe that the replacement air bag should have deployed as naturally as a factory installed one.

4 cars were dead stopped on the hwy 50. My husband's Honda Civic was struck first by a Ford explorer - going at least 50 plus miles according the chp......updated 12/08/15 everyone's airbags went off except ours, car was totally crunched front and back and airbag sensors were even smashed. According to a mechanic that looked at the car, the bags should have gone off. Mel rapton (in sacramento, ca) worked on the car at least 5 different times because my SRS kept coming on. The last time was 12/6/14. Consumer sent copies of paperwork showing that they took the car to dealer repeatedly because the SRS light kept coming on. Updated 6/11/18

Tl* the contact owned a 2002 Honda Civic. While the contact's vehicle was stopped, a second vehicle crashed into the rear bumper pushing the vehicle into a third vehicle and caused significant damage to the front end. During the incident, the front passenger side air bag deployed but the front driver side air bag did not deploy. The driver sustained injuries to the neck, back, left arm, both knees, and bruising of the chest. Medical attention was required and a police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 178,000.

Related recalls

NHTSA investigations

Airbag complaints in other Civic years