2009 Honda Civic

greatesttommy

I bought a 2010 Honda Civic new. At 12,000 miles the rear tires started roaring and vibrating the car due to cupping. My dealer agreed that the car had an issue but then told Honda America it was my fault because I didn't rotate. A second dealer didn't blame me but refused to do anything. Bridgestone was sure it was not a tire problem and had nothing to do with rotation but would give me nothing in writing. I then sent a certified letter demanding American Honda take the car back under my state's lemon law. At that point I was contacted by a good rep at American Honda who had the two rear tires replaced and a four wheel allingment performed. Now I have a car that still ruins tires but is quiet for right now.

My problem is if I don't rotate the tires I will ruin the rear tires in 12,000 miles and if I do rotate I will ruin 4 tires in 24,000. Has anyone had success in fixing this problem?

I had the same problem with my 2006 Civic. They blamed me then for not rotating. At 100,000 miles I discovered Honda service bulletin 008-001 dated Feb. 8, 2008. I had the rear control arms replaced and the problem disappeardd even though I subsequently never rotated the tires.

greatesttommy

I bought a 2010 Honda Civic new. At 12,000 miles the rear tires started roaring and vibrating the car due to cupping. My dealer agreed that the car had an issue but then told Honda America it was my fault because I didn't rotate. A second dealer didn't blame me but refused to do anything. Bridgestone was sure it was not a tire problem and had nothing to do with rotation but would give me nothing in writing. I then sent a certified letter demanding American Honda take the car back under my state's lemon law. At that point I was contacted by a good rep at American Honda who had the two rear tires replaced and a four wheel allingment performed. Now I have a car that still ruins tires but is quiet for right now.

My problem is if I don't rotate the tires I will ruin the rear tires in 12,000 miles and if I do rotate I will ruin 4 tires in 24,000. Has anyone had success in fixing this problem?

I had the same problem with my 2006 Civic. They blamed me then for not rotating. At 100,000 miles I discovered Honda service bulletin 008-001 dated Feb. 8, 2008. I had the rear control arms replaced and the problem disappeard even though I subsequently never rotated the tires.

targettuning

While the Bridgestone tires that many (most?) Civics come with are junk as compared with other brands there are several items I would address. All opinions are mine feel free to disagree.
A) Yes, Honda had, and it seems, still has mechanical problems in the rear suspension components. As noted there was a TSB or Honda service bulletin issued to correct the rear suspension problem by replacing the rear control arms with "improved" parts. This was issued to fix 2006-2007 model years. I did not know it could be an ongoing problem.
As noted tire rotation plays a very, very big part in getting all the tire life possible. Front tires in a FWD car do double duty. They are the drive wheels and steer as well whereas the rear tires are along for the ride. All things being equal (proper inflation, alignment and tire balance) the rear tires will outlast the fronts by far if not rotated regularly. Rotate at 6K miles.
C) All that being said for a pair of tires to go from being recently inspected ( and deemed to be acceptable) to "completely bald" in that short time frame seems to be well....unbelievable. I guess it could depend on what criteria the Honda techs. used when it was decided what was "good" during that inspection. Did they say they were on the edge of being worn out but still legal in your state (for inspection purposes, assuming you have state inspections) or having quite a lot of tread left?
I have a 2006 Civic and while the uneven tire wear problem was not an issue with our car the original Bridgestone tires did wear to the point I chose not to use them last fall to go through one more Pa winter (good choice that) and replaced them at about 24,000 miles. They were regularly rotated, carried the correct tire pressure, wore out evenly (more or less) but wore out prematurely in my opinion. I replaced all 4 with Kumho Solus KR21"s that I know can last many more miles than 24K from experience on another car I own.
So, it seems Honda still has a problem or two with the Civic, rear alignment and a poor choice for OEM tires.

robtroxel

Have any of you had any issues with the rear brakes wearing prematurely? Our 11 month old 2009 EX has 10,500 mostly highway miles (70%H) (30% city)and our Honda rep wants to replace the rear pads soon. I do recall some service bulletin on the 2008/09 Accords. In my mind the front pads should be the first to go if the brake proportioning valve is set up properly. Our other earlier Accords and Civic have easily gone 40000 miles before pad replacement was needed. Just trying to see if this is a one off issue.
Thanks

rrbhokies

Just traded in my 2008 Accord in part because of poor body integrity and the fact that I replaced both front and rear brakes before 24K miles. The 2008 Accord has been a thorough disappointment. I sure hope that the Civic doesn't suffer from the same brake issues as the Accord. I was under the impression that the Accord issues are isolated to the Accords. I'm sorry that you are experiencing this problem with your Civic. Like you, I've owned more than a half dozen Honda's prior to this Accord and some of them went almost 50K miles before needing brakes. Good Luck.

mariabarron

So what did ur insurance company say?
Because I just had my honda accord stolen from work, and i have all my keys as well and the insurance says that they dont understand how someone could of stole my car without a key?

onedmc

Well it seems that "valet" key (3rd key) was used. Car was found 7 days later with body damage. I had to pay only my deductible for repairs.

mariabarron

but i have all tree of my keys. is it possible for them to steal it any other way?
bc my insurance doesnt think so. they told me that its really hard for someone to steal that kind of car without the key due to the chip in it?
what did ur insurance tell u?

rrbhokies

I may be wrong, but I've always been of the impression that ANY car can be stolen regardless of what security system or chip in the key someone has. They are all "deterrent" devices, but no car is absolutely steal proof if the right thief wants to steal your car.

decy316

I was getting ready to ask the same question. I have the same exact car and my rear brakes are making noises that makes me think that I need to replace the pads. I thought it was odd that I would have to do that already, but evidently I'm not the only one with this problem. Any suggestions?

robtroxel

Thanks for the note. I haven't done anything since I pulled the earlier dealer service records which shows plenty of pad left 2500 miles earlier...Actually their inspection reports on the tire and brakes ,which are done at every oil change show more tire tread and disk pad material at 7500 miles than at 5000 miles. Looks like they are not really checking after all; I'm not getting any noise so far at 11000 miles so I think I will have an indepentant take a look too.

rrbhokies

Has anyone experienced similar problems with their Civics? We've had our 2010 Civic EX for about a month now, and have found the following:

1. Ignition. Sometimes inserting the key into the ignition is hard and it seems to catch. Also, on occassion, when trying to pull the key out, it will stick and not want to come out. Have to yank it. I'm not talking about turning the ignition off because I understand that the steering column comes into play. I'm talking about actually inserting and removing the key from the ignition.

2. Paint chips. Geez, one month and already have a half dozen chips on our hood and a few on the side panel. Very small chips. We have the Black color. It just seems as if the paint is very thin and not bonded well to the surface.

Thanks

j_khan

Hi. I'm looking for a friction dash mount for my phone/gps (I do not want to stick a disc on the dash), but if you know the dashboard of the 09 Civic then you know one is hard to find that will sit flat on the dash easily. Does anyone have ideas? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Kirstie_H

A reporter is looking for owners who have had premature wear on the their Honda Accord and Honda Civic brakes. If you would agree to be interviewed by this reporter, please send your contact information to pr@edmunds.com by Wednesday, December 14, 2011.