2020 Honda Civic Powertrain & Transmission Problems

This model Civic Si was build by Honda with a defective clutch. Mine began to fail at less than 60K miles. It started in the higher RPM 5K to 6K in the taller overdrive gears. This clutch design was unable to support the torque of the motor, which led to its premature failure. It's well documented in Honda forums that the clutch is weak and prone to early failure. It usually starts to fail in the upper gears under moderate acceleration. Once it starts to fail it does become a problem. Honda appears to be aware of the problem as they did have a TSB out that allowed for replacement for 5 years of 60K miles. However, reports on the internet seem to state Honda charges $2K just to tear down the car to look at the clutch. My car was low mileage and still hasn't hit 60K miles but outside the 5 year warranty. However, even if Honda had agreed to replace the clutch they reportedly leave the original dual mass flywheel, which would contribute to a shorter life span for the new clutch they just installed. The OEM manufacturer Exedy won't sell you the same clutch that Honda put into this car, and will only sell you the clutch from the type R. Thus it does appear clear that both Exedy and Honda were fully aware of the manufacturer defective clutch. A clutch like this should last over 100K miles. However, Honda rather then recalling them appears to have just thrown it to the wind and is willing to just let whatever happens pan out and see what's left . The failure of this clutch once it starts to slip does appear to be a relatively short process before total failure. Although it appears there has been no deaths so far there is a good chance someone will delay replacing that clutch because of cost, which could lead to a severe auto-accident or death. Even if Honda doesn't want to do a recall or reimburse their car owners they should at least issue an alert to owners about their defective clutch with free inspections. Respectfully submitted.

Honda CVT transmission fluid seal leak cause by failed torque converter. Car has a perfect maintenance history, all fluid changes done on time with Allen Honda at Bryan Texas including filters associated. Car is garage kept, not driven hard. Always driven in economy mode for smooth efficiency. Failure occurred at 86,165 miles. Significant enough I am reporting this, as it is a safety issue, however don't know if other Honda civics have had this issue. A normal CVT transmission should last 150,000 miles before issues start according to manufacturer (Honda) who built the car. Two photos attached displaying the leak and puddle on my driveway. Leak is a slow drip, fixing it in the morning at a shop which will put me out of almost $3000 not under warranty because car is 6 years of age instead of 5 years. Honda needs to be made aware this is a serious safety concern, had I not caught it, it could have led to crash possibly, or fire from overheating. Leaking areas circled in red. Car currently not drivable, having to tow it in the morning to replace failed parts.

My 2020 Civic Si had a total clutch failure at <32,000 miles matching TSB22-017 exactly. The vehicle failed to accelerate on a major interstate. The posted speed limit is 65 mph. While attempting to reach that speed the vehicle was revving at >6000RPM in all gears. I was able to reach 50 mph for short periods, but the vehicle would then slow to 45 or lower. An extreme safety risk on a busy highway. When the vehicle was pulled to the shoulder and stopped, the car would not go into 1st gear at all, leaving me stranded on the side of a busy interstate highway. This vehicle has been properly maintained with no modifications and no abusive driving.

Researched and found this has been a common issue with this make and model. Clutch slippage at random times when accelerating, reported to Honda dealership multiple times, stated there wasn’t any issue with vehicle and denied this was a common issue even though it has been reported by multiple owners of this year/make/model. 3-4 days ago, clutch started disengaging while driving and constantly had the burning friction smell. Fortunately I was able to get my vehicle to the dealership without having to be towed but it was a slow with lots of praying to the car gods. Now the dealership is charging me an outrageous amount to repair, even though I reported this months ago (prior to it getting this bad) and was told there wasn’t nothing wrong with it. My estimate for repairs came to just under $5k for something that should’ve been fixed when it was first reported (which probably would’ve been way less in cost to fix at that time). AND…I had to tell them what the issue was in detail because they treated me like I was stupid. This should’ve been a recall a long time ago with all the reports and complaints from so many people instead of Honda treating people like they’re stupid.

Clutch started slipping all of a sudden. Check to see if it was under warranty said the warranty had expired because the car was over 36,000 MI did not know about the extended clutch warranty at the time that Honda was extending it due to defective parts so we replaced it ourselves. Upon tear down it was discovered that the clutch disc was only about 30% worn down there were no hot spots in the flywheel or the clutch cover so the problem was related to the holding force of the clutch cover have we continued to drive the car the way it was it would have burnt it up because it would barely move. I've been in Autotech for 50 years never seen a clutch slipping with this much material left on it and the parts in this condition it is obviously a defect with the part and I submitted a claim to Honda and they denied it had I had known Honda would have taken care of it I would have brought it to them.

2020 Honda Civic EX-L Bought In 2021, December 2024 car has 102K miles and transmission went out. No warning at all, in the middle of highway. It's now Febuary 2025 a used transmission provided under the power train warranty got installed. That transmission is also failing on the vehicle. Dealership service manager doesn't know what the problem is nor why it is showing failure. I have no update on repair as of now. My only options were to trade in or buy a brand new $10k transmission out of pocket. HIGHLY disappointed and stressed out. - Regular maintenance/service on vehicle performed at shop. - All documentation was provided to dealership and warranty, all documents were accepted. - vehicle never gave me a warning of any failure. - No car, no rental, no replacement. ***dealership and warranty have not provided any information in writing or documentation as requested.

Clutch has begun slipping very badly at 40,000 miles, sometimes to the point of not being able to accelerate. It is worse at highway speeds. There is a known service bulletin 22-017 outlining this issue. According to the VIN, this vehicle was assembled in the Alliston, Ontario, Canada plant and further online research has found multiple others having the same issue on vehicles from the same plant.

I turn my car on To go to work realized I didn’t have my phone. Car was in park. I hadn’t touch the gearshift at all I get out of the car. Approximate 20 seconds after I walk away from the car, my home security camera shows the car creeping extremely slowly backwards up into my driveway going up across the crown of the road… across the street and falls into a 10 foot deep ditch. I am 100% certain that Car was in Park… There were no sounds when I open the door to alert me that it would be anything other than park.. The back up camera was not engaged, so it was definitely not in Reverse… When the tow truck pulled it out of the ditch, it was Still running It had stopped vertically before it hit the bottom of the ditch, and rear tire got stuck in muddy water…. There were no ruts from tire, spinning from the front end at all in the ditch or the grass above the ditch… There is a recall of some 2020 civics for brake failure, parking brake failure…. I strongly believe my car needs to be part of this recall, because obviously something is wrong… My road is 55 mph and a car had to stop to avoid hitting my car… I have video from my home camera That shows a clear delay between when I get out of my car and shut the door and the car starts crawling. I tested it after he pulled it out of the ditch just to see if I had it in reverse from the same exact spot wouldn’t move and it immediately moved so I’m certain something is wrong… Right now the body shop can’t even duplicated can’t even get it to get caught between Park and reverse. Please investigate And this could’ve easily been a fatality. I need to send more photos and videos, but it won’t allow me to do it but there’s definitely more for me to send If someone can give me an email

TSB 22-017 failing clutch on all M/T civic 2020&2021. Failed on highway almost caused severe accident. Honda is refusing to repair/replace under warranty.

Over the last few months, I noticed that the vehicle had poor acceleration when merging onto the highway. When I tried to accelerate, the RPMs shot up as the turbo kicked in, but the car did not move any faster. Previous to this, I had trouble getting the car into 1st while sitting still (50+ times). The final incident occurred during a short trip to a local store. The engine revved high and I couldn't get over 35MPH. Upon stopping, there was a burning smell coming from the car. I was able to drive it a short distance to a local transmission shop which diagnosed clutch failure. I purchased the car new from a Honda dealer in 2020 and am the only person to drive the car. There are only 70k miles on the car and everyone that I've talked to was surprised that it went out so soon. I don't abuse the clutch (never burned one out before even while living in the mountains). I see that I'm not the only one who has had this issue. Honda should issue a recall and reimburse the owners affected by this defect.

Bought my 2020 Honda Civic si at 48 k miles. Noticed mild clutch slip and vibration on the shift knob. Dealership states I don't know how to drive manual transmission. I've driven manual transmission for 18 years. I'm not stupid. Dealership states it's wear and tear and not part of the warranty. My window motor auto feature does not work. Bluetooth connectivity issues. Collision braking system activated with no vehicle in front of me while I was going 40 miles an hour. Could have been rear ended. I'm at 50k miles not a good buy and bad service from the dealership. Mossy Honda lemon grove ca

The car has a problem where the clutch prematurely wears out and the cars acceleration cuts out. this happens at different RPM ranges and in all gears. it is very unpredictable. Several others have had to repair their drivetrains and honda claims its due to a production issue with the clutch. they have a dealer service bulletin for this issue however Honda needs to recall the part since this problem doesn't come on gradually. it is a sudden loss of a connection in the drivetrain which has caused several issues merging on the highway.

On March 29, 2023 around 6:30PM on my way home from work, my car stopped me in the middle of I-78. The engine just kept revving when i push the accelerator but won't move forward. I was able to safely pull over to the side. No warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem noted prior to the failure. The following day (March 30, 2023), I dropped off my car to Planet Honda at 2285 US-22, Union, NJ 07083. Tel #'s: (866)226-2469; (609)236-2393. Then, I was informed that the transmission is broken or cannot be fixed, and a new transmission (Part #: 06200-5DJ-040-RM) were ordered and was told that it is covered by warranty. It's been 67 days now (2 months and 6 days) that Honda Corporate cannot give me the timeframe when will my car be repaired after numerous conversations from calls, and texts. My Case Number Honda Corporate Customer Service gave me is: 13736133.

Manual transmission slipping when Turbo kicks in and you are unable to accelerate. We are contacting dealer tomorrow as they are closed. No warning lights on Just started happening .

2nd incident of clutch failure within a year and both almost caused a serious accident.

I purchased a brand new 2020 Honda Civic SI in April 2020. Around 24,000 miles, the clutch started slipping. I took the vehicle into a Honda dealership where I purchased the vehicle and was informed the clutch assembly failed and the cost of the repair was $4,400. The dealership told me it was due to abuse of the clutch and clutches are considered wear and tear items so I would be responsible for the entire repair. I have owned 10 manual transmission vehicles prior to this Civic and I have never burned out a clutch--I was able to get more than 125,000 miles from one of my cars before the clutch had to be replaced. There are 15 complaints on this site regarding clutches wearing out on 2020 Honda Civics so could this be a problem on Honda's end. I placed several calls to American Honda customer service and their response is always the same, they don't see a problem with their clutches so they are not going to reimburse me for the repair. After many calls to the dealer, they finally agreed to cover 50% of the repair so ended up paying around $2,300.

Clutch went out at 25k miles - never stalled this car. Have several manual transmission Hondas no problems except this one. Lost engine power and had to pull over on the highway. manufacturer error causing pre mature burnt clutch. This should not be happening. Honda will not take responsibility

With my car just reached over 19k miles the clutch started slipping when driving on highway, problem continued to become more noticeable overtime. Many drivers with the same car have experienced the same issue with clutch slipping.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the clutch became unresponsive which resulted in the vehicle losing motive power. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over and the vehicle was towed to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 16,275.

Clutch System/Transmission Failure 1st Occurrence: Driving on the highway one evening at 65 mph in July of 2021. The engine began revving and the clutch was no longer functional. The engine would rev and there was no ability for me to accelerate. The vehicle decelerated placing myself at risk of getting rear ended or side swiped by other vehicles on the highway until coming to an eventual stop on the side of the highway. The vehicle was no longer operational and was towed to the nearest Honda dealership which was John Eagle Honda. The inspection, service, and repair should be available for review at John Eagle Honda. 2nd Occurrence: May of 2023. As I was making a left turn, the clutch slipped significantly and the engine revved however, the clutch was still engaging but, acceleration was significantly hindered and increased the risk of getting into an accident as I was not able to pick up speed quick enough. The vehicle was serviced and repaired at David McDavid Honda of Irving in May of 2023. 3rd Occurrence: June of 2024. I was driving on the road when I noticed that the clutch was experiencing some slight slippage. Overall the vehicle was stable and it didn't cause much of an issue but, it was similar to what had happened previously. I still was not able to accelerate as I normally could. It still poses a risk of getting into an accident and hinders my ability to maneuver quickly if needed. The vehicle was service and repaired by David McDavid Honda. In either of these occurrences there was warning light indicators or other symptoms prior to the failures and slippage. John Eagle Honda of Dallas and David McDavid Honda of Irving are dealer centers. The vehicle was serviced by John Eagle 1 time and David McDavid Honda of Irving two times. In a span of 3 years. 3 clutch failures and the vehicle is under 43,000 miles. The dealers stated no recalls out on my vehicle and that everything is fine otherwise.