2003 Honda Civic: jerking or lurching

Filed Oct 22, 2018 · Fuel system · 150,000 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda civic. While driving various speeds, the vehicle jerked back and forth. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and stated that the fuel system failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact to check the VIN on the federal safety agency website. The dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

Filed Apr 22, 2017 · Driver assistance, Steering · 127,027 miles · TX

Vehicle steering wheel violently jerks back and forth when shifting automatically resulting in no control of vehicle.vehicle does not lock doors.dealership failed to complete or inform me of any kinds of hazards as I overlooked these major problems when purchased used car. I paid over 3400 dollars for junk.

Filed Dec 31, 2014 · Transmission · 300,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda civic. While attempting to accelerate, the vehicle jerked and failed to accelerate. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the CVT transmission needed to be drained and burnished. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 300,000.

Filed May 18, 2011 · Tires · 39,954 miles · CO

I installed 4 goodyear integrity tires on my 2003 honda civic hybrid. On 5/17/2011 I drove it on rain grooved concrete (us 287) and when it hit the grooved pavement, it went into a violent shimmy. There was a cross wind but the tires performed normally on smooth concrete, asphalt, and in the same cross wind on e-w and n-s highways. When I came to the rain grooves I was driving between 60-65 MPH and I had to slow to less than 45 MPH to have any secure control of the car. It felt like the steering column had come loose or the wheels were going wildly. The car lurched 1-2 inches laterally while on the rain grooved concrete. I had to check a box for which tire position but it was at all tire positions that the car was shimmying. This tire is definitely not a safe tire on rain-grooved concrete highways.

Filed Sep 20, 2010 · Engine · 52,000 miles · AZ

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda civic hybrid. The contact was driving 5 MPH when the vehicle began to jerk abnormally and stalled without warning. The accelerator pedal went straight to the floorboard when depressed and the vehicle would not accelerate. The contact then released the accelerator pedal and the vehicle proceeded without stalling. The dealer was informed of the failure and they diagnosed and replaced a valve. The failure persisted after the repairs. The vehicle was not further repaired. The failure mileage was 52,000 and the current mileage was 53,000.

Filed Feb 16, 2010 · Transmission · 47,000 miles · CA

I feel a big jerk when decelerate my car from 70miles/hour with my foot off the gas pedal. There has been no accident but I feel that if the car breaks down as a result of this jerk or if the jerk is strong enough, then I may run into some accident. The problem is intermittent. I took the care to honda dealer, but the problem didn't happen during test drive. A lot of people are having the same issue with this model. It looks like a manufacturing defect. Car detail: honda civic hybrid 2003. It's an ongoing problem.

Filed Feb 16, 2010 · Acceleration · 47,531 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda civic hybrid. While parking the RPM's began to increase rapidly and the vehicle lunged forward. The contact was forced to shift gears into park to avoid crashing into another vehicle. The contact confirmed that the pedal was not stuck when the vehicle accelerated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and stated that there were no failures. The dealer concluded that the floor mat pushed the accelerator pedal down causing the RPM's to increase; however they trimmed the floor mats around the pedal. The failure mileage was 47,531. The consumer stated she put the vehicle in reverse while attempting to parallel park, the vehicle lurched backwards on a flat steer after her foot was off the accelerator. She quickly braked to avoid hitting the parked car that was behind her. The vehicle did stop, but simultaneously the engine accelerated greatly to an RPM far greater than flooring the accelerator. She quickly out the gear shift in park and turned the ignition off, which stopped everything. The consumer stated the sudden acceleration, occurred three separate times. All three incidents happened, at very low speeds. The consumer has since sold the vehicle. Updated 12/02/14

Filed Jan 8, 2010 · Fuel system, Transmission · 155,000 miles · TX

We purchased a 2003 honda chc in 2006 with approximately 34,000 miles. As of january 2010, the car has 155,010 miles. From the date of purchase, there has been a shudder when decelerating from 40+ MPH. We have only taken the car to our local honda dealership for repair and maintenance and have been repeatedly told that there is nothing wrong with the car and that shudder is from an "overload". Taking the service department at their word, we have never had any repair work done to remove the shudder or taken the car to another dealer. Over time the shudder has gotten worse. We have also experienced a hesitation when accelerating and then the car will suddenly lurch forward when it hits gear. Again, we were told that there wasn't anything wrong with the car and that we should expect hesitation when the car is switching from battery power to engine power. About 4 months ago, the check engine light came on and we were told that the catalytic converter was in need of replacement. We were given two options-immediate repair or drive until the catalytic converter completely fails. Recently the ima light came on and we took the car for diagnosis. The response was that the battery pack needed to be replaced. In addition, we were told that the transmission is beginning to fail. To replace the CVT transmission, battery pack and catalytic converter will cost approximately $7,500. As I have read the other complaints not only from this site, but also other sites on the internet, I now suspect that we have been experiencing transmission problems all along. We have had several other honda vehicles. We purchased this vehicle because of the reliability we have come to expect from honda. $7,500 or more in repairs is unreasonable for any car under 8 years old, especially a honda.

Filed Feb 26, 2009 · Acceleration, Transmission · 52,000 miles · CA · crash · 1 injury

2003 honda civic hybrid. Original owner car has 52 k. Recently I experienced a near death accident because the engine rapidly accelerated by itself as I exited a slight uphill driveway. As I approached the end of the driveway I stopped before turning onto the road, I heard a thud or clunk and then the car lurched and sped rapidly into the road which was wet from rain. The car skidded and fishtailed l tried to apply the brakes but they were unresponsive. I tried the emergency brake which did not respond either. The car did a 360 turn and had gone almost 200 yards from where it exited the driveway. The engine sounded like it was going to blow up. I could smell smoke. All of this happened in under 30 seconds. By some merciful force, the car hit the mud embankment on the side of the road and thankfully no other cars were on the road. I jumped out of the car because the engine was still racing and I could not turn it off, I ran across the road because I wasn't sure if the car would blow up or keep going. After a few seconds I ran over again and could turn it off but the emergency lights did not work . The car was towed to the oakland, ca honda dealer where I purchased it. They performed a basic diagnostic test and told me the car is ok to drive and nothing is visibly wrong with it except for the dent on the front bumper. They have closed the case. In the past this car has been serviced several times for a recall due to a problem with the CVT (continuously variable transmission) because it judders after coming to a stop. I do not believe that honda has adequately researched my case. A car should not accelerate as mine did and I believe that the fact this model has already had a recall on the transmission warrants a more than cursory evaluation. Honda is risking the safety of hundreds and thousands of peoples safety by not trying to determine why my vehicle sped out of control by itself. I plan to investigate further in thanks that I am alive.

Filed Jun 23, 2008 · Transmission · 140,000 miles · OR

I own a honda civic hybrid 2003. Several months ago the vehicle started to jerk (judder') upon acceleration at low speeds. I took my vehicle in to be serviced, and they 'burnished' the transmission and said to come back if the problem persisted. The performance was fine for a few thousand miles, when the judder returned. Once again, I went back and they performed a second burnishing. The problem has since returned.

Filed Sep 9, 2007 · Transmission · 52,000 miles · VA

My 2003 honda civic hybrid (hch) with its CVT transmission (52,500 miles) exhibits severe bucking, hesitation and lurching. During low speed maneuvering in a parking lot or turning a corner, less than 20 MPH, the car will lurch and buck. It will become so pronounced and violent that the car will lurch forward and your head will hit the headrest. I took the car to honda of tyson?s corner in virginia in early august 2007 and their solution was to replace the CVT fluid. This did not solve the problem. Now in september 2007 the issue is becoming worse and a lurching or slippage is noticed at speed up to 50 MPH. I took the car to an independent garage and they confirmed a major transmission issue but due to lack of technical information they were not equipped to repair the CVT. They also reported that no engine trouble codes were detected. Searching the internet it appears other hch owners are experiencing the same problem. The only fix seems to be replacing the CVT fluid progressing to rebuilding or replacing the CVT without correcting the core problem. You just end up with a transmission with the same technology doomed to failure again. I am afraid that honda is not helping the dealers fix the defect and instead just taking a band aid approach.

Filed Aug 21, 2007 · Transmission · 30,000 miles · NC

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 honda civic-hybrid. The contact stated that the vehicle shutters and jerks when shifting gears. The failure occurs at all gears, with the greatest difficulty shifting out of second gear. The dealer replaced the catalytic converter, starter clutch, and flushed the transmission, however, the failure still persists. The dealer stated that some jerking was normal. The speed was unknown. The current mileage was 71,000 and failure mileage was 30,000.