In icy driving conditions the wiper develop chunks of ice between the blade and the windshield which renders the wiper blade useless at clearing the windshield. They do not sell for a "winter" blade as the wiper fluid emits from the actual blade.
Honda Civic wipers problems
114 of the 16,054 owner complaints about the Honda Civic describe windshield wiper failure, most of them for the 2007 model year.
- owner complaints
- 114
- worst model year
- 2007
- typical repair cost reported
- $400
- typical mileage
- 51,966
Is there a fix? There are 2 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Headlights 5Door locks 3Airbag light 3Key fob 2Fuel leak 2Fire or smoke 2Grinding brakes 2Battery drain 2
What owners say
The Body Control Module (BCM) on my 2017 Honda Civic suffered an internal failure, creating immediate safety hazards. The defect caused persistent parasitic battery drain, sudden vehicle power loss, and erratic electrical behavior. A faulty BCM can cause critical safety components—such as exterior lighting, turn signals, and windshield wipers—to fail without warning while driving. Honda has already recalled 2018–2020 Accords and 2019–2020 Insights for identical BCM programming and hardware failures (the federal safety agency Campaign 20V771000 / Honda Campaign X95). My 2017 Civic utilizes similar BCM architecture and exhibits the exact same dangerous failure symptoms. This component defect is widespread across multiple Honda platforms from this generation, and the safety recall must be expanded to include the Honda Civic before a catastrophic electrical failure results in a crash or injury. I had to replace the unit entirely out of pocket to ensure the vehicle was safe to operate.
Rear window wiper failed to operate when transmission put in reverse. Should have operated automatically. Rear window wiper failed to respond to switch position when selected to on. Scan tool shows body control module receiving switch input but no output to wiper motor. Rear window washer comes on without switch being moved to on position when car is turned on and will not turn off unless car is turned off or fuse is pulled. Unable to control wiper washer system. No warning lights noted and no faults found during scanning. There has been recalls on other model's of this year and brand of car for defective body control module. Rear wiper motor and switch stalk were replaced with known good parts, no fix.
The windshield wiper design and wiper fluid nozzle make visibility worse. The nozzle doesn’t spray until the wiper is at the top of the windshield amd sprays the fluid off the side of the car instead of onto the windshield for the wipers to clear. The little bit that does hit the windshield is enough to smear any smudge or bug right in front of drivers face making them extremely dangerous.
Windshield wipers fail to clear debris
The windshield wiper fluid is built into the wipers. The fluid sprays at the edge of my windshield, thus not spraying the windshield at all, and all fluid is lost. My windshield gets smeared worse than it was prior to tuening the fluid on and not cleaned at all. This presents a huge safety issue during the winter months when the windshield gets heavily soiled from sand on the road. Finding somewhere safe enough to pull over, and having Windex on hand will be necessary to keep visibility possible due to the unsafe design of the wiper fluid wipers. It also creates a safety issue when the sun is shining through the front windshield and visibility due to the smeared, dirty windshield. Honda said they ate not defective, it is how they were designed. This design is defective amd causes a large safety hazard.
The wiper blades accumulate ice during winter weather driving making visibility nearly impossible and dangerous.
While driving the dash showed a "12 volt battery charging system problem." Continued to drive to a safe location roughly a mile down the road and while enroute all the error lights illuminated and proceeded to state "Tire Pressure Monitor Problem" "Brake System Problem" "Brake Hold System Problem" "Power Steering Problem" and a couple others I don't recall. I lost my power steering while driving and my wipers proceeded to stop working, in a downpour. Contacted AAA who came and ran diagnostics which showed the alternator was dead. I then had to have my vehicle towed instead of driving it to work.
Left front lower control arm right front lower control arm left front strut assembly right front strut assembly power steering fluid leak engine oil leak gasket needed to be replaced rear brake light failed starter failed alternator failed air filter gets clogged prematurely power steering pump hoses cracked and leaked power steering air pressure hoses cracked and leaked power steering intake hose cracked and leaked power steering return hose cracked and leaked master window power switch on driver side window went out and had to be replaced rear brake light went out needs to be replaced so many problems with this car that are v very costly and known manufacturing defects at honda corp air bags were faulty and contained metal fragments that could kill occupants because they puncture a person's heart and kill them instantly if they get into an accident with unrecalled air bags many people have died from unrepaired recalls on the air bags because of the metal fragments puncturing their hearts causing them instant death or death after five minutes many chp officers have told me they have seen too many deaths from the airbags being unrepaired air bag light comes on even after honda repaired the air bag on passenger side a few years ago on a recall lighting- on the inside of the car to entry light on the right hand went out window wipers go out often and cost alot of money window wiper container/reservoir failed suspension shocks and struts gone alignment tires cupping and uneven wear and tear and tread lug nuts and wheel studs failed and caused the tire to fall off the axle and flew into traffic causing a very dangerous situation inside passenger and driver side window visors failed immobilizer failed and made the car alarm keep going off without stopping for three days car batteries prematurely fail multiple times starter failed multiple times alternator failed multiple times spark plugs failed multiple times emergency brake came out from the housing trunk light
Windshield wiper motor failed under cold conditions without warning. Vehicle is not safe to operate in adverse weather conditions due to failure of part. Issue has been formally diagnosed by OEM service center.
Related recalls
Visibility: glass, side/rear
- What is wrong
- On certain 2-door passenger vehicles, the rear windshield or rear quarter glass panels do not properly adhere to the body of the car due to improper window opening preparation.
- Risk
- The rear windshield or rear quarter glass panels may become loose, rattle or lift from the window opening or separate from the window while driving increasing the safety hazard to traffic.
- Remedy
- Dealers will repair the vehicle by removing the glass, properly preparing the window opening, and reinstalling the glass. The recall began on august 25, 2006. Owners may contact honda at 1‑800‑999‑1009.
Recall number 06V326000 · Recall details
Visibility: windshield
- What is wrong
- Poor adhesion may occur between paint layers in the windshield mounting area due to defective paint batches or overspraying.
- Risk
- Paint separation in the windshield areas would leadto non-compliance with fmvss 212 retention requirements. Loss of windshieldretention ability could cause winshield to separate from vehicle without warningand harm vehicle occupants and others in the vicinity.
- Remedy
- Reinstall windshield to insure proper retention.
Recall number 90V126000 · Recall details
Questions about the Honda Civic wipers
Which Honda Civic years have windshield wiper failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2007 (26 complaints), 2017 (13 complaints) and 2006 (12 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix windshield wiper failure on the Honda Civic?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $400 (median of 5 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used Honda Civic?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history