2009 Honda Civic: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed Jan 24, 2024 · Steering, Suspension · 220,000 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2009 Honda Civic. The contact stated that on several occasions while making left or right turns, there was an abnormal clicking and clacking sound coming from the front of the vehicle and the steering column. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the lower control arm needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 220,000.

Filed Apr 11, 2016 · Suspension · 120,000 miles · MA

The rear lower control arm snapped while driving straight on the highway at approximately 65 MPH. This could have caused a significant accident, and upon investigation I realize that this is what has been causing significant tire wear on my car over the years as well as shaking and loud buzzing while driving at higher speeds. The tow truck driver had a significant amount of difficulty loading and unloading the car due to the rear bumper coming within inches of hitting the ground because it was no longer being supported by the control arm. This is a serious safety hazard.

Filed Aug 19, 2014 · Suspension, Tires · 25,970 miles · AL

We have had to replace an incredible number of tires, including michelins, due to very irregular wear and extreme vibration, beginning with our first set of tires in 2009. The rear end has been the worst, where one wouldn't think great tire wear and flat spots etc. Would be normal -- as we are very busy people and live in a rural area, we have just put on new tires, got repeated alignments, and moved on etc. Finally, our local mechanic has finally advised us just a few days ago our problems have been due to the control arm interaction with tires issue from the factory, that have reportedly occurred with this 2009 honda civic model (that he would solve with new control arm ass'y and alignment for $842.29).

Filed Sep 1, 2012 · Lights, Suspension · 26,000 miles · NY

This is happening right now, again.. 2012, not just in 2010 tires are abnormally wearing extremely fast. About every year someone is telling me I need new tires because they are 'chopped' and wearing really fast. This lead me to the internet to do research and found it is common with the 2006-2009 civics. Something about the control arms not working properly, in turn causing this problem and a whole lot of others like suspension. I cannot afford and shouldn't have to put new tires on my new car every year or 20000 miles. I am so frustrated and at a loss of what to do. I have a call into honda but haven't heard back, I can only image what they're going to say. The other failure is my 'headlights are still on' indicator noise stopped working a year after I bought the car brand new. Ugh, so frustrating.

Filed Mar 21, 2012 · Suspension · 36,000 miles · TX

We purchased 2009 honda civic lx new in late 2009. By july of 2010 we had to replace all 4 tires due to excessive wear (36k miles). I regularly rotated tires every 7000k miles. 3/20/12- I replaced all 4 tires again due to severe cupping on both rear tires. Honda dealership states it is a control arm issue causing tire damage but would not pay for part or labor. This is a serious problem and needs to be corrected by honda for free before someone gets hurt.

Filed Sep 18, 2011 · Suspension · 20,707 miles · WI

Defective rear upper control arms of our 2009 honda civic caused the tires to cup severely, making it hard to handle the car, especially on wet roads. All four tires needed to be replaced. It is such a common problem that, without even looking at the car, american honda agreed to pay for two of the tires and the dealership agreed to pay for one, after we called complaining of the problem. They did not replace the control arms however, as there is no better version to replace them with. Because of that, the problem is not solved. The new tires will also wear unevenly. Unless we were to put new tires on every single year, if not sooner, we will be driving on dangerous tires. What happens when the warranty is up? Will drivers pay for four new tires per year, or be unsafe on the road because they can't afford to pay for honda's defect? The sad thing is we didn't learn the first time. We owned a 2007 civic with the same problem. Honda changed the control arms and paid for two of the tires after 20,000 miles, then when it happened again at 35,000 miles, we traded the car in for the 2009 model, hoping the problem had been solved in the newer model. Foolish us.

Filed Aug 3, 2011 · Suspension · 32,000 miles · IL

I own a 2009 honda civic lx-s. It now has 32,000 miles on it and the rear tires are completely bald. I did some online research and found this seems to be a common problem with honda civic's. Honda has a tsb about the problem but they refuse to fix the problem. The tsb says there is a problem with the rear control arms and that is what causes the excessive wear on the tires. I contacted a couple of dealers about getting my car fixed under warranty and they give you the run around and don't want to do what the tsb says they need to do. If there are this many people with the same excessive tire wear then they should issue a recall and fix the problem before a tire blows and causes a wreck and someone gets hurt. I even noticed that there is a class action lawsuit to try and force honda do what is right and have a recall and fix the control arms.

Filed Jul 30, 2011 · Suspension · 38,000 miles · AL

Bought 2009 honda civic late nov of 2010. Vehicle had aprox 28000 when purchased. Dealer installed 4 new tires (balanced) and wheel alignment. Rotated tires every 5000 miles. Owner started noticing uneven (cupping) of both rear tire aprox 10k after purchasing vehicle (vehicle mileage aprox 38000. Kept driving vehicle for an additional 5k miles, noticed 2 rear tires were balding. Took vehicle to auto shop, was informed struts and shocks were in good condition. Alignment not the problem either. Read so many blogs online about 2009 honda civic problem with upper control arm. By dealer not recalling upper control arm (causing abnormal tire wear on the rear of vehicle), it can cause many consumers(drivers) on the highway to be driving at risk because cupped tires or bald tires is very unsafe for any vehicle. It does not make sense for a semi-new vehicle to be cupping tires only after 15k miles of use.

Filed Jun 13, 2011 · Suspension · 20,458 miles · GA

Premature wear of rear tires. Rotated ties after 20k miles and noted significant road noise coming from the tires now mounted in the front. Dealer indicated the cause was irregular tire wear caused 'cupping' of the tires when they were mounted in the back. I experienced even worse tire wear with my 2006 honda civic. Honda issued a tsb to repair the rear upper control arms in that model. I would have thought honda engineers would have rectified this problem in newer models but the problem still persists. This car still "eats" tires.

Filed Apr 29, 2011 · Tires · 25,000 miles · PA

I purchased a 2009 honda civic in july 2009 - manufactured 11/2008. Rotated tires every 5k mi. At 25k mi - june 2010, informed that tires needed to be replaced. Replaced all four tires with 40k mi rated tires, alignment performed and in dec 2010 and rear tire were bald - 15k mi tot, 10 k on rear and 5 k on front. Replace these - all 4 - with 60 k mi rated tires and after 5 k mi rear tire were severely cupped. Replaced rear tires with the current front tires and 2 new tires for the front, alignment performed. Ran this set for another 5k mi and again the rear tires were severely cupped - 10 k total 5k on front and 5 k on rear. If there is any precipitation on the roadway what so ever, the rear end tends to lose traction. The mechanic (non-dealer) asked if I carry alot of weight around in the trunk and I said "no, 90% of the time I am the only one in the car". He did say that he had seen other makes of car that would "chew-up" tires quickly. I went home and did a search on the web for "excessive tire wear honda civic" and came up with a bunch hits that said there was a tsb for a control arm. I went to the dealer and asked if they have ever heard anyone else complain of excessive tire wear on a civic and they said "no". So I told them that I found that there was a tsb for control arms on the web and they started researching 2009 civic tsbs and said that there were none. I said that it seems very strange that many people are complaining about this problem and there are tsbs for 2007 and 2008 models but nothing for 2009 models. Dealer said since there is no tsb for the 2009 and since there are 50k mi on the car the warranty is expired - there is nothing they can do. They did offer to do an alignment for $75, I said "no thanks I'll resolve this by another means" and left.

Filed Oct 22, 2010 · Suspension · 33,000 miles · KS

I have a 2009 honda civic that has 35,000 miles on it. I have taken care of my vehicle in the 1 year I have owned it. My car recently started making a loud thumping noise driven at all speeds. I brought the vehicle in to the local honda dealership where I bought it and they first tried to tell me that my tires were wearing down and I needed an alignment. I said wait I had this same issue with my 2008 honda and the control arm was recalled. The dealer kept saying that my tires have uneven wear and cupping. Which is the exact description of what would cause such dramatic wear is such a quick time. The dealer then said that since there has not been a recall there is nothing that they could do. My car is still under full warranty, but technically they can say the cause for the uneven wear " cupping." it sounds like a helicopter is hitting my car when I drive my new car. This is not safe, and this is excessive for new vehicles and not owners faults. Hazard for all.

Filed Jan 26, 2009 · Suspension · 3,500 miles · NY

Front wheel areas making creeking sound as if there is a bad ball joint or bushing. The car is only 4000 miles on it. It's a 2009 civic coupe lx. Sound is getting worse. I am starting it hear it from the back side as well time to time. It's been going on for almost a month now.