There are 10 owner-reported brakes complaints for the 2021 Honda Civicin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The contact owns a 2021 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving approximately 37 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The check engine, master cylinder, and adaptive cruise control warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the brake master cylinder, fuel pump, and ignition coils needed to be replaced. The contact researched and was made aware of an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000.
Nov 9th, 3:00pm, Fruitridge Rd 35 mph, driving with foot on the gas The safety brake feature overrode my ability to drive by forcefully coming to a complete stop while flashing 'brake' messege appeared on dashboard. No car, item or person was in front of me. The car behind me (who was also going around 35 mph) almost hit me and drove off angrily.
On multiple occasions my car has applied the brake while driving on the highway as well as my caliper has become frozen and I have replaced brakes 3 times in less than one calendar year. I have all old brakes that have needed to be replaced and there is uneven wear on them.
I have had dozens of incidents where I will be driving down the road and my car will just break for no apparent reason. It is totally random and at times terrifying. It happens with no other vehicles in front of my vehicle as well as while I am just driving in traffic with cars behind me. Many times, after it happens initially, I cannot accelerate the car due to the breaks locking up. I have to put the car in park and then drive to accelerate. I have asked my service providers at HONDA the dealership about this, and they have no idea why this is happening. This is so dangerous and frightening.
The front sensor is too sensitive. If there is another car using a turn lane, the Civic will try to brake and will not pass the car. If another car is ahead on a curve, the automatic braking kicks in. This tends to only happen when using cruise control. It is dangerous on the freeway. The sudden braking could cause me to be rearended. I've been lucky, so far, and have only received dirty looks from the drivers that were behind me as they passed. Since it doesn't happen every single time, there seems no way to reproduce it. No one has inspected it for defects. No warning lights, beeps or messages appear before the braking starts. This has been happening since I first bought the car in 2022, but seems to be more frequent now. Probably the reason it was returned... in my opinion.
The front sensor is too sensitive. If there is another car using a turn lane, the Civic will try to brake and will not pass the car. If another car is ahead on a curve, the automatic braking kicks in. This tends to only happen when using cruise control. It is dangerous on the freeway. The sudden braking could cause me to be rearended. I've been lucky, so far, and have only received dirty looks from the drivers that were behind me as they passed. Since it doesn't happen every single time, there seems no way to reproduce it. No one has inspected it for defects. No warning lights, beeps or messages appear before the braking starts. This has been happening since I first bought the car in 2022, but seems to be more frequent now. Probably the reason it was returned... in my opinion.
While driving on a city street at about 25 to 30 MPH with no cars or people in front of me and on a clear day, my Civic's Collision Mitigation Braking System flashed "Brakes" on my heads up display and at the same time, it forcefully applied the brakes without me touching the brake pedal. This has happened to me at least twice in six weeks. In both instances, I tried to press on the gas pedal, but it did not let up on the brakes right away. I was nearly rear-ended by other cars both times, putting me and others at risk. I took the car to the dealership, and they told me they couldn't find any issues or codes, nor could they replicate the problem.
The front sensor is too sensitive. If there is another car using a turn lane, the Civic will try to brake and will not pass the car. If another car is ahead on a curve, the automatic braking kicks in. This tends to only happen when using cruise control. It is dangerous on the freeway. The sudden braking could cause me to be rearended. I've been lucky, so far, and have only received dirty looks from the drivers that were behind me as they passed. Since it doesn't happen every single time, there seems no way to reproduce it. No one has inspected it for defects. No warning lights, beeps or messages appear before the braking starts. This has been happening since I first bought the car in 2022, but seems to be more frequent now. Probably the reason it was returned... in my opinion.
The problem is unintended braking. It is possible for this malfunction would cause the car to be rear ended. Have not taken it to the dealer... yet. There is no warning, the car suddenly starts to brake while in cruise control mode without any other cars being near.
My Important Safety Recall is not showing up on my dealer's system or the following sites: Check for Recalls: Vehicle, Car Seat, Tire, Equipment | NHTSA Recall Information for Safety & Defects | Honda Owners Site Honda Campaign Number: AEV, VEW Service Bulletin Number: 23-051, 23-052 Brake Booster Assembly during production.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026