Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 507,593 tests

Pass rate climbs 17.9 points across the cohorts — newer Civic examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 459,823

Pass

71.4%

Fail

21.5%

PRS

6.4%

Avg mileage at test

98,770 mi

2018–2020 cohort 47,378

Pass

88.5%

Fail

8.4%

PRS

2.8%

Avg mileage at test

40,058 mi

2021+ cohort 392

Pass

89.3%

Fail

8.2%

PRS

2.0%

Avg mileage at test

27,915 mi

Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.

Generations on file · 7

Honda Civic · UK market

Photos: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC BY / public domain.

The picture

Honda Civic: mixed MOT record across 362,550 tests

The Honda Civic is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. As of 2023, the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Honda Accord in Honda's global passenger car line-up.

MOT data from 362,550 tests puts this car on a 72.5% first-time pass rate, below the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 90,859 miles. The most common fail item is failed number plate light, followed by steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated.

Honest John owner records point to brake component wear and gearbox noise or CVT reliability as the recurring problems to check before buying used.

Buyers weighing up a used Civic should treat the failure breakdown as a pre-purchase checklist. The pass rate is reasonable, but the gap between first attempt and a clean sheet narrows with age and mileage.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 14–30

Around the UK fleet average for insurance cost. Lower groups cost less to insure; UK fleet average is around Group 22.

Source: ABI Group Rating Panel · administered by Thatcham Research · groups cover standard variants; performance trims may sit higher. Browse all insurance groups →

14–30

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

Hide wear items to see the model's real defects.

01

Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated

23,481 occurrences · 4.6% of tests
02

A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

20,933 occurrences · 4.1% of tests
03

Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

19,910 occurrences · 3.9% of tests
04

A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated

19,419 occurrences · 3.8% of tests
05

The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements

15,507 occurrences · 3.1% of tests
06

A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

13,440 occurrences · 2.6% of tests
07

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

11,002 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
08

a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

9,664 occurrences · 1.9% of tests
09

The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired

8,511 occurrences · 1.7% of tests
10

Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

8,216 occurrences · 1.6% of tests

Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.

Worst-case fix budget · top 5 failures

£188–£675

If every one of this Civic's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →

Try the calculator

Build your own retest budget.

Year-band analysis

Best year to buy. Worst to avoid.

First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 17.9-point gap between bands means the year you buy Honda Civic has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

89.3%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 89.3% — a 17.9-point improvement. Tests in this band average 27,915 miles — roughly 71K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: blade defective, excessively tinted but not adversely affecting driver's view — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. Post-2020 examples are early in their MOT life and generally show the cleanest records.

Band to be cautious about

71.4%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 71.4% pass rate against a fleet average of 89.3% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt, inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…, and lens slightly defective. Average mileage on test for this band is 98,770 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme. Honest John records: "Report of 2018 Honda Civic 1.0 VTEC having to go back to the dealer for faults to be fixed 5 times in its first year."

Best band to buy: 2021+ (89.3% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (71.4% pass). That's a 17.9-point spread across 459,823 older tests and 392 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.

Year-spread leaderboard →

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.

Item 01 · Amazon UK

H7 / W21W bulb pack

A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.

Search Amazon UK

Item 02 · Amazon UK

Headlight restoration kit

Yellowed lenses fail the light-output test. A restoration kit lifts the haze in an afternoon for £20.

Search Amazon UK

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

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Draper

Draper Drain Plug Key, 3/8 Square x 3/8 Sq. Dr.

£15.39

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Hycote

Hycote Honda Nighthawk Black Pearlescent Double Acrylic Spray Paint 150ml

£6.59

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Hycote Honda Milano Red Double Acrylic Spray Paint 150ml

£6.59

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Hycote Honda Satin Silver Metallic Double Acrylic Spray Paint 150ml

£6.59

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Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

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Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.

What's good

The Honda Civic is a really solid choice in the family hatchback class. It drives really well, the engines are perky yet efficient, it’s pretty affordable and full with clever safety kit

Recent owner-reported faults

10 Jun 2021
Alternator failure on 2017 Honda Civic 1.0 petrol. Car has covered 33,000 miles and the owner has been quoted £1100 for the repair. The dealer has contacted Honda but no offer of financial assistance. Sigma-Aldrich Allylmagnesium Bromide Solution, CAS 1730-25-2, 1.0 m In Diethyl Ether 100 Ml(Prop-2-en-1-yl)magnesium bromide; 2-Propenylmagnesium bromide; Allyl magnesium bromide; Allylbromomagnesium; Allylmagnesiumbromide; Brom...Sigma-Aldrich
31 Mar 2021
Report of oil dilution on 2019 Honda Civic 1.0 VTEC. Car recently showed a service indicator for an oil change. The dealer inspected the vehicle and stated that the cause was 'oil dilution' probably resulting from short, local journeys during the Covid period and charged £80 for an oil/filter change.
10 Jun 2020
Report of a timing belt snapping on 2017 1.0 petrol Civic. Car had previously had two turbo failures. Engine replacement/repair covered by Honda warranty.
16 Mar 2020
Report of sunroof rattle, which dealer is unable to fix. Vehicle also suffers from faulty adaptive cruise control and auto windscreen wiper system, with the dealer fitting a new c amera module under warranty.
2 Aug 2019
Report of repeated problems with a/c of 2017 Honda Civic. Discharged itself. Owner took it into a Honda garage who said it was not under warranty for such issues. They said it had to be serviced regularly and charged £120 to re-gas the system. This failed again some days later. Since then they took it in for a week and did various other tests on it, saying they replaced something and to let them know if it had worked. Yet again it has failed. (Possibly due to R1234YF refrigerant.)
7 Jun 2019
Report of poor paint on two successive Honda Civics, both silver: The first had so many problems that a local bodyshop could not rectify it satisfactorily so it went back to Swindon; the second, an April 2019 1.5 182 VTEC Turbo, has thin paint on the rear quarter, plus a problem spark plug, plus a failed instrument head.
24 Apr 2019
Report of "continual whistle" from the air conditioning system of a June 2018 Honda Civic 1.5 VTEC Turbo. (This is a known fault and is fixed by replacing a pipe on the system - service bulletin number ST.09-001-00. See: 7-3-2019, 21-4-2017.) At 10 months old and 7500 miles the car has also developed a clutch judder when taking off in first gear and changing down from third gear into second gear. The dealer will investigate this at the same time as the aircon rectification.
10 Dec 2018
Report of 2018 Honda Civic 1.0 VTEC having to go back to the dealer for faults to be fixed 5 times in its first year.
2 Nov 2018
Report of two successive turbo failures on 2017 Honda Civic 1.0 VTEC. Honda Germany claims its related to the turbocharger only, but they are also on back order.
23 Apr 2018
Squealing front brakes of 2017 Honda Civic 1.5 VTEC 180 (21-1-18) now acknowledged by Honda as an issue on some Civics and a fix is being worked on.
18 Apr 2018
Complaint of numerous defects and irritations on new Honda Civic 1.5 VTEC Sport bought in July 2017: Alarm going off randomly; blisters and imperfections in paint; parking sensors and anti collision control issues; door seals coming off; seal around the spoiler coming out; scratched paintwork from dealership valet; noises from steering rack when on full lock.
30 Jan 2018
Report of problem with intruder alarm of October 2017 Honda Civic 1.0 VTEC SR CVT. "The Intruder alarm siren goes off randomly and when it does there is no way of switching it off. This is being investigated at the dealership for the third time. The dealership is currently working with Honda UK Technical Department on the intruder alarm system but as yet they have not been able to find and fix the exact problem that is causing the siren to go off. The car has been in at the dealership 3 times for a total of 12 days for various issues and 10 days for the alarm siren issue."

Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 13 reports indexed, top 12 shown

Buying or keeping a Civic?

Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.

If you own a Civic and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.