RoadVitals

2020 Honda Civic Visibility Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the visibility system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Visibility reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
12
Latest Jul 2, 2026
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
5%
of 219 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
0
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
0

What this page shows

Reports naming windshields, glass, wipers, defrosters and mirrors. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2020 Honda Civic submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 12 reports on file name it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Owner reports naming visibility

Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed

Body & structureVisibility
Filed Jul 2, 2026

I reported this issue to insurance. The facts are that when I was watching a family member’s toddler, I went to my vehicle to grab a stack of papers. While holding her, I reached in and grabbed the papers sitting directly on the back seat of the coupe vehicle (I.e., easy to reach). Upon grabbing the papers in one hand and holding her on my left hip, I shut the drivers side door and began walking toward the home. Immediately, I heard an odd sound like a rustle or possibly an animal scurrying. I looked around confused because I hadn’t seen anything and it wasn’t too dark. Then I looked closer and the entirety of my back windshield was shattered into a billion pieces leaking into my back seats and onto the car seat placed there for when I frequently pick up the toddler. I can’t help but think of what would’ve happened if she was in her car seat and the glass shards (which were many, sharp and permeating through each crevice and likely will remain until somehow discovered or hurting someone) would’ve fell there. Many honda owners experienced this issue of combustion in the rear windshield. It’s not safe or right. A recall should be made.

NHTSA ID
11747930
Incident
Jul 1, 2026
Visibility
Filed May 26, 2026

The vehicle has experienced a complete failure of the A/C condenser unit due to refrigerant leaks originating from manufacturing defects in the tube walls. This matches the exact physical failure described in Honda Service Bulletin TSB #19-091. However, the manufacturer is refusing coverage because this specific VIN falls just outside their current arbitrary cutoff list. This component failure directly impacts vehicle safety by disabling the vehicle's capability to dehumidify the cabin and clear a heavily fogged windshield during sudden humidity or temperature changes, causing an immediate visibility hazard.

NHTSA ID
11740234
Incident
Feb 1, 2026
Visibility
Filed Nov 19, 2025

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while sitting in the vehicle with the vehicle turned off, the contact heard a pop. Upon inspection, the contact discovered that the rear windshield had cracked without impact. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,821. The VIN was unavailable.

NHTSA ID
11700290
Incident
Nov 18, 2025
Mileage
48,821 mi
Visibility
Filed Aug 1, 2025

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the air conditioner was blowing out hot air, and there was steam coming out of the passenger's side air conditioner vents. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where freon was added to the air conditioner system service port, and the contact was informed that there was no leak. The contact stated that the failure recurred a month later. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, where it diagnosed that the air conditioner condenser had failed and needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired twice and was currently in the process of being repaired a third time. The contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin Number: 19-091(Warranty Extension: 2016-21 Civic A/C Condenser). The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and informed the contact that the failure would be recorded. The failure mileage was approximately 58,000.

NHTSA ID
11677784
Incident
Jul 28, 2025
Mileage
58,000 mi
Visibility
Filed Jul 17, 2024

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving at approximately 25 MPH, the contact heard an abnormal popping sound and became aware that the passenger’s side rear-view mirror had detached from the vehicle. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the passenger’s side rear-view mirror needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 16,842.

NHTSA ID
11602970
Incident
Jul 12, 2024
Mileage
16,842 mi
BrakesElectricalVisibility
Filed Jun 21, 2024

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. The contact was concerned that the parking brake had engaged without driver input. The contact stated that after closing the windows, turning off the vehicle, and exiting the vehicle, she noticed that the windows and sunroof had opened independently upon her return. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 51,815.

NHTSA ID
11595726
Incident
Jun 13, 2024
Mileage
51,815 mi
Visibility
Filed Aug 10, 2023

Sunroof made loud noise and suddenly shattered without any warning while on freeway.

NHTSA ID
11537741
Incident
Aug 10, 2023
Driver assistanceElectricalVisibility
Filed May 1, 2023

My infotainment center has repeatedly failed during operation. It is distorted while driving, freezes, stuck on previous screen display. This causes all safety features to be inoperable. I can’t see the camera back up display. I can’t see the map or upcoming exit/next direction. The Honda genius features are impacted by this. My vehicle suddenly thinks I am exiting while I’m driving and randomly slams on breaks with no vehicle or object in front of me, it jerks my wheel even though there is no car or barrier next to me. I have resorted to turn off all of the safety features due to the infotainment center glitches making my vehicle very unsafe to operate. I have been in several near miss single vehicle accidents. Picture added to show screen distortion and no direction listed. Should be displaying navigation and upcoming turn but is frozen and distorted.

NHTSA ID
11519751
Incident
Apr 1, 2023
Visibility
Filed Feb 13, 2022

I was driving down the road and all of a sudden I heard a large explosion and pulled back the moonroof visor a little and could see the glass was all spiderwebbed and closed it again, I was about 3 miles from home and had my 80+ mother in the car so I got home before looking at the damage and found a huge blow out of my Moonroof glass. Not sure if it was a stone or something that hit it or if it just blew out spontaneously, was a frightening situation.

NHTSA ID
11451743
Incident
Feb 12, 2022
Driver assistancePowertrain (other)Visibility
Filed Apr 26, 2021

THIS 2020 HONDA CIVIC SI HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT TROUBLE. FROM THE START I HAD THE WINDSHIELD CRACK ON ME FROM WHAT HONDA SAID WAS A TINY CHIP. I WENT IN TO WORK WITH MY WINDSHIELD SEEMINGLY FINE ONLY TO COME OUT TO A SPIDER WEB SPLIT ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE WINDSHIELD. HONDA WOULD NOT COVER CITING IT TO BE JUST AN 'ACCIDENT' AND I WOULD HAVE TO GET IT FIXED. THE WINDSHIELD ABSOLUTELY HAD TO BE REPLACED WITH FACTORY OEM GLASS DUE TO SAFETY FEATURES WHICH WAS ON BACK ORDER SO I WAS FORCED TO DRIVE AROUND WITH A BROKEN WINDSHIELD FOR CLOSE TO 2 MONTHS. COMPANY THAT INSTALLED GLASS SAID THIS IS BECOMING MORE 'NORMAL' SO TO SAY AS THE GLASS THEY ARE USING IS PAPER THIN IN HIS WORDS. ON TOP OF THAT FROM DAY ONE OF OWNING THE CAR IT HAS THE 'SAFETY' FEATURE OF LANE KEEP ASSIST AND THIS FEATURE WILL LITERALLY PICK UP HEAVY SHADOWS ON THE ROAD FROM POWER LINES AND TRY TO CORRECT YOU AS IF YOU ARE DRIVING OUT OF A LANE! COUNTLESS TIMES I HAVE HAD TO HURRY AND OVER RIDE THE ASSISTANCE JUST TO KEEP IT FROM MAKING ME RUN OFF THE ROAD! HONDA SEVERELY NEEDS TO LOOK INTO THIS ON TOP OF THEIR UNSAFE THIN WINDSHIELDS WHICH CRACK FROM THE TINIEST OF PEBBLES HITTING THEM. ALSO, I JUST HAD TO REPLACE THE CLUTCH AND COMPONENTS IN THIS VEHICLE AFTER JUST 20K MILES AND LESS THAN A YEAR OF OWNING THE VEHICLE. HONDA OFFERED NOTHING BUT A ONE TIME GOOD WILL ASSIST IN PAYING FOR PARTIAL LABOR AND PARTS. THIS STARTED HAPPENING AFTER A NORMAL DRIVE TO WORK ONE DAY WHILE GOING UP A HILL THE CLUTCH STARTED SLIPPING. MADE AN APPOINTMENT AND TOOK THE CAR IN AND WAS TOLD TO PUT ANOTHER 100 MILES ON THE CAR AND BRING BACK TO THEM ALTHOUGH THEY SAID THEY FOUND A TRANSMISSION LEAK AND NEEDED TO FIND THE SOURCE . THIS WAS CERTAINLY VERY UNSAFE AS WHILE DOING THOSE 100 MILES THE CLUTCH COMPLETELY BURNT OUT AND I WAS LEFT STRANDED ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY AND I WAS PUT IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION.

NHTSA ID
11413922
Incident
Apr 4, 2021
Mileage
26,000 mi
Visibility
Filed Mar 4, 2021

ON 24 FEB 2021, WHILE DRIVING DOWN A STATE ROAD AT ABOUT 50 MPH, MY MOONROOF SUDDENLY EXPLODED OUTWARD. THE MOONROOF WAS CLOSED AT THE TIME OF THE EXPLOSION. I HAD NOT PASSED UNDER ANY OVERPASS (DROPPED OBJECT), NOR WAS I PASSING OR HAD I BEEN PASSED BY ANOTHER VEHICLE (THROWN DEBRIS). THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME WAS OVER 200 YARDS AWAY. WHEN THE MOONROOF UNEXPLAINABLY EXPLODED, MOONROOF GLASS WAS THROWN ACROSS MY ROOF AND TRUNK, SCRATCHING THE PAINT. THE REPAIR BILL FROM MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP FOR JUST THE MOONROOF REPAIR WAS $976.66. I FEEL THERE CAN BE NO OTHER EXPLANATION TO THE EXPLODED MOONROOF OTHER THAN SOME TYPE OF DEFECT WITH THE CAR. THE GLASS EXPLODED OUTWARD, AND THE ENTIRE GLASS WAS SHATTERED. IT WAS NOT A "ROCK CHIP" OR OTHER TYPE OF DAMAGE SINCE NOTHING ELSE WAS IN THE AREA.

NHTSA ID
11399120
Incident
Feb 24, 2021
Mileage
6,800 mi
Visibility
Filed Jun 18, 2020

(SUN) MOON ROOF SPONTANEOUSLY EXPLODED WITHOUT CONTACT FROM A FOREIGN OBJECT WHILE TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEED. ADDITIONAL DAMAGE CAUSED TO ROOF & TRUNK EXTERIOR PAINT. NO POLICE OR ACCIDENT REPORT WAS FILED. CONTACTED DEALERSHIP FOR WARRANTY CLAIM AND THEY DIRECTED ME TO MY AUTO INSURANCE PROVIDER. *TR

NHTSA ID
11329664
Incident
Jun 18, 2020
Mileage
15,400 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Other components reported on this vehicle

Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .