2008 Honda Civic Electrical System Problems
Owners have filed 51 complaints with NHTSA about electrical system problems on the 2008 Honda Civic, 6% of all complaints for this model year. Half of the reports with a mileage happened before 33,500 miles. The words owners use most often: “ima battery” (12% of reports).
- 51electrical system complaints
- 33,500median miles at failure
- 3mention a crash
- 1mention an injury
- 0related recalls
- 11%of reports with a speed happened at 50+ mph
What owners describe
Phrases that appear unusually often in these complaints compared with complaints about other cars.
- Ima battery: mentioned in 6 of 51 complaints (12%)
- Software upgrade: mentioned in 5 of 51 complaints (10%)
At what mileage do electrical system problems happen?
Based on 42 complaints that reported the odometer reading.
How serious are the reports?
Of 51 complaints, 3 mention a crash, 1 an injury.
Honda Civic electrical system complaints by model year
| Model year | Electrical System complaints | Share of that year | Median miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Civic | 5 | 16% | 300 |
| 2025 Civic | 6 | 8% | — |
| 2024 Civic | 7 | 6% | 11,000 |
| 2023 Civic | 17 | 7% | 200 |
| 2022 Civic | 38 | 4% | 37,900 |
| 2021 Civic | 18 | 12% | 251 |
| 2020 Civic | 37 | 16% | 9,000 |
| 2019 Civic | 36 | 8% | 9,638 |
| 2018 Civic | 61 | 8% | 11,775 |
| 2017 Civic | 103 | 17% | 19,000 |
| 2016 Civic | 119 | 11% | 26,575 |
| 2015 Civic | 28 | 7% | 32,000 |
| 2014 Civic | 39 | 13% | 40,780 |
| 2013 Civic | 39 | 12% | 35,000 |
| 2012 Civic | 60 | 13% | 40,000 |
| 2011 Civic | 16 | 9% | 31,000 |
| 2010 Civic | 23 | 6% | 50,000 |
| 2009 Civic | 36 | 9% | 13,300 |
| 2008 Civic | 51 | 6% | 33,500 |
| 2007 Civic | 67 | 6% | 40,000 |
| 2006 Civic | 100 | 7% | 53,000 |
| 2005 Civic | 26 | 8% | 78,100 |
| 2004 Civic | 32 | 9% | 91,000 |
| 2003 Civic | 51 | 10% | 101,223 |
| 2002 Civic | 49 | 7% | 110,000 |
| 2001 Civic | 59 | 5% | 91,750 |
| 2000 Civic | 38 | 13% | 122,925 |
| 1999 Civic | 118 | 35% | 149,569 |
| 1998 Civic | 88 | 20% | 128,000 |
| 1997 Civic | 30 | 8% | 85,000 |
| 1996 Civic | 17 | 6% | 170,000 |
| 1995 Civic | 12 | 6% | 115,500 |
When owners reported it
Related recalls (0)
No safety recall lists electrical system for the 2008 Honda Civic. A pattern of complaints does not always lead to a recall.
What owners report
Short excerpts of recent complaints, with personal details removed. Full reports are on NHTSA.gov.
This one happend to my 18yrs brother in law . He using my car to get to his school i dont know what happend he said brake didnt went through . No injury got a car crash thats all . But the sad thing is my insurance went up and the car history gonna be under my safety driver record . Dmv said im a…
Third (high) brake light did not function upon annual inspection. Appears a soldered connection was defective. Ordered a replacement 3rd brake light and it to, new out of the box, also did not work and again had a faulty solder joint at connection to light. Seems to be a manufacturing defect.
This vehicle has a demobilizer unit that controls vehicle starting and is connected to keys , when unit goes bad there is no way to start vehicle without it being replaced and reprogrammed by honda , there are unfortunately numerous things that cause this problem including jump starting ir even…
Frequently asked questions
Do all 2008 Honda Civics have electrical system problems?
No. NHTSA has 51 owner complaints about electrical system for the 2008 Honda Civic (6% of the 916 complaints for this model year). Complaint data shows that the problem is reported, not how many of all cars sold are affected.
Was there a recall on the 2008 Honda Civic electrical system?
No recall currently lists electrical system for this vehicle.
At what mileage do electrical system problems start?
The median reported mileage is 33,500 miles: half of the reports with a mileage came before that.
What do owners say about electrical system problems on the 2008 Honda Civic?
The most frequent phrase is “ima battery”, in 6 of 51 complaints, followed by “software upgrade” (5).
Other 2008 Honda Civic problems
- Air Bags problems (177)
- Engine problems (156)
- Visibility problems (112)
- Suspension problems (99)
- Structure problems (85)
- Engine and Engine Cooling problems (55)
- Power Train problems (52)
See all 2008 Honda Civic problems or electrical system problems across all Civic years.