What are the common problems with the 1989 Honda Civic?
Owners of the 1989 Honda Civic have filed 69 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the seat belts (18) and the electrical system (11). In NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, 3 of its 69 complaints list a mileage (90,000 to 192,000 miles), too few to say when problems were reported; a complaint is an owner's report, not a proven defect.
Buying this 1989 Civic? Enter its VIN.
Complaint figures describe the model year, not one vehicle. The decode is free; the original ClearVIN PDF is $14.99 one time, with no account: odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for that VIN.
Title brands · Odometer records · Auction history, where reported
No subscription. No charge to check the VIN. Report contents vary by vehicle; applicable tax is shown at checkout.
See what the paid report includes →NHTSA's file holds 69 owner complaints on the 1989 Honda Civic. Owners named the seat belts most often: 18 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 69 complaints, 15 report a crash, 2 report a fire and 13 report an injury (18 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Check the records on file before you buy
VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 1989 Honda Civic.
One VIN. One $14.99 history report.
For $14.99, VIN Lookup delivers an original ClearVIN vehicle-history PDF for the 1989 Honda Civic VIN you enter: title brands, odometer readings, accident and auction records on file. ClearVIN is on the U.S. Department of Justice’s list of approved NMVTIS data providers; VIN Lookup sells that original report. The records returned vary by VIN.
The VIN decode is free. No card is needed until you choose to buy; applicable tax is shown at checkout. A missing record is not proof that an event never happened.No account · Refund reviewed if not delivered, unopenable or wrong VIN by our error · Sold by VIN Lookup (SH LLC, Sheridan, WY)Original provider PDF
One time, no subscription
Common problems with the 1989 Civic
NHTSA's file holds 69 owner complaints on the 1989 Honda Civic. Owners named the seat belts most often: 18 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat Belts | 18 | 1 | Under 5 mileages |
| Electrical System | 11 | 1 | Under 5 mileages |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 9 | 0 | Under 5 mileages |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 8 | 1 | Under 5 mileages |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 7 | 0 | Under 5 mileages |
Of the 69 complaints, 15 report a crash, 2 report a fire and 13 report an injury (18 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Mileage when owners reported a problem with the 1989 Civic
Too few complaints on the 1989 Civic list a mileage to say when owners reported problems: 3 of its 69 complaints list a mileage (90,000 to 192,000 miles), and a median is given here only with 10 or more.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 1989 Civic wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Every model year together: Half of the 8,312 NHTSA owner complaints on the Honda Civic that list mileage came after 54,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Honda Civic last? →
Is the 1989 Civic a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 1989 is a good or a bad Civic: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 1989 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 69 complaints, the 1989 ranks 37th of the 42 Honda Civic model years from 1985 to 2026 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2006 (1,459). The fewest: the 1985 (15).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 Civic | 15 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1986 Civic | 35 | 2 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1987 Civic | 39 | 3 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1988 Civic | 46 | 1 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1989 (this page) | 69 | 3 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1990 Civic | 91 | 6 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1991 Civic | 110 | 12 | 150,000 |
| 1992 Civic | 98 | 11 | 116,754 |
| 1993 Civic | 146 | 17 | 140,000 |
| 1994 Civic | 135 | 6 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1995 Civic | 199 | 21 | 131,000 |
| 1996 Civic | 305 | 40 | 98,000 |
| 1997 Civic | 373 | 93 | 88,000 |
| 1998 Civic | 435 | 113 | 95,000 |
| 1999 Civic | 338 | 145 | 120,000 |
| 2000 Civic | 287 | 113 | 74,000 |
| 2001 Civic | 1,079 | 692 | 89,000 |
| 2002 Civic | 703 | 483 | 90,000 |
| 2003 Civic | 550 | 409 | 80,000 |
| 2004 Civic | 385 | 268 | 85,000 |
| 2005 Civic | 364 | 255 | 75,000 |
| 2006 Civic | 1,459 | 1,130 | 60,500 |
| 2007 Civic | 1,268 | 938 | 47,000 |
| 2008 Civic | 980 | 732 | 50,500 |
| 2009 Civic | 424 | 288 | 32,000 |
| 2010 Civic | 410 | 271 | 39,960 |
| 2011 Civic | 170 | 123 | 32,000 |
| 2012 Civic | 468 | 330 | 30,150 |
| 2013 Civic | 328 | 200 | 24,000 |
| 2014 Civic | 298 | 178 | 33,000 |
| 2015 Civic | 386 | 205 | 50,000 |
| 2016 Civic | 1,083 | 494 | 30,000 |
| 2017 Civic | 608 | 219 | 23,400 |
| 2018 Civic | 754 | 209 | 33,000 |
| 2019 Civic | 447 | 118 | 16,400 |
| 2020 Civic | 240 | 54 | 15,400 |
| 2021 Civic | 151 | 16 | 30,000 |
| 2022 Civic | 889 | 52 | 27,000 |
| 2023 Civic | 264 | 24 | 10,000 |
| 2024 Civic | 136 | 21 | 11,000 |
| 2025 Civic | 103 | 16 | 8,000 |
| 2026 Civic | 32 | 1 | Under 10 mileages |
The linked 2015–2022 pages show NHTSA's September 15, 2026 collection, so their counts can differ from this table's.
Every Civic year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Honda Civic years to avoid →
1989 Honda Civic recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 6 recall campaigns that name the 1989 Honda Civic (1 vehicle campaign and 5 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 09E025000 | May 11, 2009 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS |
| 09E012000 | Apr 7, 2009 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING |
| 06E049000 | May 24, 2006 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING |
| 06E032000 | Apr 18, 2006 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING |
| 06E026000 | Mar 23, 2006 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 1989 Civic lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 1989 Civic.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 66 of the 69 complaints on the 1989 Honda Civic give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA names counted: CIVIC, CIVIC HYBRID, CIVIC HATCHBACK and CIVIC HATCHBACK HYBRID. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only these.
- Recall-file names matched: CIVIC, CIVIC HATCHBACK, CIVIC HATCHBACK HYBRID and CIVIC HYBRID.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
1989 Honda Civic questions
What are the most common 1989 Honda Civic problems?
NHTSA's file holds 69 owner complaints on the 1989 Honda Civic. Owners named the seat belts most often: 18 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 69 complaints, 15 report a crash, 2 report a fire and 13 report an injury (18 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
At what mileage do owners report problems with the 1989 Honda Civic?
NHTSA's file gives no mileage figure for the 1989 Honda Civic: 3 of its 69 complaints list a mileage (90,000 to 192,000 miles), and this page gives a median only with 10 or more. These are mileages at a reported problem; they do not say how many miles a 1989 Civic can cover.
Is the 1989 Honda Civic a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 1989 is a good or a bad Civic: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 1989 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 69 complaints, the 1989 ranks 37th of the 42 Honda Civic model years from 1985 to 2026 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2006 (1,459). The fewest: the 1985 (15).
How many recalls does the 1989 Honda Civic have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 6 recall campaigns that name the 1989 Honda Civic (1 vehicle campaign and 5 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 1989 Honda Civic before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 1989 Honda Civic.