2012 Honda Civic: jerking or lurching

Filed Oct 7, 2023 · Seat belts · FL · crash · 1 injury

Front passenger seat belt pretensioner (Honda part #HP04814-TR3-A00ZA) deployed too late after a minor impact (<10 mph) causing passenger to lurch forward until seat belt engaged. The part is not available for inspection. Passenger's safety was at risk due to not being held firmly in place by the seat belt. Don't know if Honda has confirmed/reproduced this issue. Car was inspected by Honda dealership on 11/28/21. No other impact related damage or parts failure discovered by Honda during inspection. Honda replacement part (Honda part #HP04814-TR3-A00ZA) ordered at that time. Replacement part was backordered and did not arrive until 9/1/23. No warning lamps/messages/other symptoms prior to failure.

Filed Jun 13, 2018 · Brakes · 120,000 miles · TN · crash

My car (manual) was parked in first gear on an incline in my jobsite parking lot. The emergency brake was not engaged. Within 1-2hrs it rolled back nearly hitting my place of business and an AC unit. It is all on camera. It rolled some, then stopped, then again rolled and stopped. It has never done this in the past but I typically have the e-brake engaged. Days before, I was sitting in my same vehicle after it was parked for several minutes and it jerked suddenly. It did not roll back at this time.

Filed Dec 8, 2017 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 87,200 miles · CA

I have experienced acceleration problems for over a period of 3 months, similar to those listed by other honda owners online. Most recent incident occurred on 11/27/2017 ,10/6/2017,10/9/17 and in other several occasions when operating the vehicle and its inability to perform in a safe matter has greatly troubled me concerning my safety and the safety public. The following occurred on that day, while I was making a left hand turn crossing lanes of traffic and car would not accelerate when the gas pedal was being pushed all the way to the floor, nearly causing an accident. The car also launches forward while in the drive gear or on reverse after it has been parked for several hours. On other occasions , when pulling into or out of the garage/driveway the car clunked and lurched ahead. On other occasions the car has unattended gas control issue, the car also reaches top speeds of over 37 MPH without even touching the gas pedal once. This now happens daily, I have taken it to the dealership and they tell me this is a normal function of the car when I know that this is not true. I have owned several cars and I know this is not normal. I no longer feel comfortable driving this car because it is unsafe. I have reached out to the manufacturer and I feel they keep giving me the run ?around. I have also taken the car to the dealership where I purchased it, but they say there is nothing wrong with it. I have also contacted the manufacturer (american honda) requesting a field engineer have not been able to get any resolution and I?m getting nowhere with them. This car is dangerous to drive I fear for my safety and my families as well as the public safety. I have no other means of transportation and renting a car is not within my budget. I hope that with your help I can get this matter resolved. Thank you, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Feb 24, 2016 · Acceleration, Brakes · 74,000 miles · NY · crash

For manual transmissions rpms remain high even after foot is off the gas pedal consequently making it impossible to match rpms and causing premature failure to friction disks (clutch). Un necessary wear causing 1200+ in repairs. Brakes locked up on highway.. Lost control spun 5 times and even after new alternator.. The RPM never reduces properly.. Had in shop 3 x's set at your spec is wrong to make brake elease jerk, car shake at lights and causes me to rear end another car. 2/6/16

Filed May 6, 2014 · Driver assistance, Steering · 21,280 miles · WA · crash

First time driving this car in light snow. At the top of a hill, I turned left to traverse the hill to take a side street, following my co-workers. The civic slipped - just a bit- and the vsa light lit. I immediately lost all throttle control, brakes were wildly activating (seemingly 1 at a time), and the steering wheel was jerking. I was going very slow when the civic took all control away from me. I could not apply any throttle to pull out of a very minor slip and my car accelerated sideways down the slope into a curb which destroyed the right front wheel and suspension. I have spent $1125 so far to repair the damage and have not replaced the tire & wheel yet (another approx. $600). I told the 2 ford dealers who performed the repairs about this incident and neither gave it any thought. I requested they turn off the vsa system, both refused. I can not think of any reason, in the real world, any car should take complete control away from the driver like this, especially for such a minor occurrence as a slipping wheel. If a semi was behind me, there would have been no way for me to get out of it's way. It was just dumb luck I hit the curb where I did vs. Tobogganing into opposing traffic or picking up even more speed by continuing further down that hill before the car crashed. I have this incident on dash cam. It is at night, and not great, but it does plainly show what happened. Out of all the cars that drove that route, mine was the only one to crash and it was absolutely due to the vsa taking control away from me and not allowing me to drive my car.

Filed Apr 6, 2013 · Acceleration, Brakes · 20,000 miles · MO

When exiting a speed ramp off of the highway the RPM's speed up causing a horrible sound in the engine and the feeling that you may not be able to slow down in time to exit the ramp. Additionally, more than a numerous times the car is very unsteady going over 55mph if it encounters any type of "bump" in the highway upon merging into another lane it is unsteady and the whole car "jerks",(feels like it could rollover easily)you need to have a firm hold on the steering wheel or you could lose control. Glare on windshield at night presents a safety concern with night driving. The headrests are a hinder to being able to effectively see your blind spot and the car with its horrible steering control presents another area of concern, you will be in the other lane trying to look over your shoulder more than once!

Filed Jul 26, 2012 · Brakes, Transmission · 17,500 miles · FL · crash

My wife came to a stop at our security gate, used the remote for the gate but it wouldn't open. She backed up about 15 feet to turn around. When she put the car in drive, it lurched forward back towards the gate and wouldn't stop when she applied the brakes. It didn't speed up and it wouldn't stop. The car was making a grinding noise as it moved along. She was jamming on the brakes and it still went right through the closed gate, pushing it open as it went. It kept going for another 40-50 feet until she thought to pull on the emergency brake. The car stopped. She turned the car off and got out, badly shaken but not injured. After calming down, she got back in the car to see if it would start. It did. She drove it two more blocks to our house. She hasn't driven it since. She's terrified it will happen again.

Filed Jun 29, 2012 · Acceleration · 540 miles · RI

While trying to slow on a highway curve by pushing the brake, I was unable to do so. The car continued to speed up as I pushed the brake. I pulled my foot back and reapplied the brake with no affect, the car was continuing to speed up. I do not know if I removed my foot from the brake or just slammed the brake. The brake took hold the car jerked. I removed my foot from the brake and continued to drive. For a brief period I did not have control of the car.. This was not my first unexplained acceleration incident. The other 2 times I was slowing into a redlight by just removing my foot from the gas. The car slowed as I expected it to do then it just began to slowly speed up. I was not going down hill. The brakes worked and I was able to stop. The dealership was unable to duplicated those incidents.

Filed Jun 18, 2012 · Acceleration, Airbags · 8,023 miles · NJ · crash

I was trying to back into a parking space with my 8 month old, 2012 honda civic. As I took my foot off the gas pedal to put the car into reverse and before I could step on the brake, the car surged forward at a tremendous rate of speed, jumped a curb and went straight into a brick building. The car bounced backwards onto the parking lot and I was able to step on the brake and regain control. This happened in a matter of a split second with no time to jam the brake on as the car lurched forward. Even though the car jolted tremendously, the air bag did not go off, but a service light came on the dash board indicating "check airbag system."