Total Complaints
1 filings
Honda Civic · model year
1981 Honda Civic
1 NHTSA complaints. A VIN lookup is required to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
- Complaints
- 1
- Recalls
- 0
The verdict
The 1981 Honda Civic posts top-5% complaint standing among its own model-year siblings.
- Top 2%
- fewest complaints, own model years
- 0
- recall campaigns
The 1981HondaCivic carries 1 consumer safety complaint in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 1 fire, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
The most frequently selected component label in reports for the 1981 Civic is engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:emission control:catalytic convertor with 1 filings. Complaint categories reflect owner reports and intake categorization; they do not establish a defect pattern or cause.
NHTSA currently has 3 investigation files overlapping the 1981 Civic. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should read the complaint-by-year trend as report volume, not a causal diagnosis. Use the related-complaint feed and the official recall lookup when researching a specific vehicle.
1
Complaints
0
Crashes
1
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
F
PlainCars Safety Score
0/100
1981 Honda Civic
PlainCars' own composite of NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings and rollover-risk assessment, each dimension normalized against the federal scale or the full national model-year corpus. Not an official NHTSA figure, and not a substitute for a specific vehicle's VIN-level recall check.
NHTSA Overall Rating N/A
Not rated
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program overall crash-test rating.
Front Crash N/A
Not rated
Frontal barrier crash-test rating.
Side Crash N/A
Not rated
Side barrier and pole crash-test rating.
Rollover Resistance N/A
Not rated
Static stability factor + dynamic rollover test rating.
Rollover Risk N/A
Not reported
NHTSA single-vehicle rollover probability, dynamic test.
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
Complaints vs. fleet median (215)
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
Complaints by Component
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR | 1 |
Recent Complaints
19960509FireENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR
DRIVING DOWN ROAD, STOPPED COMPLETELY, TRIED TO GET BACK HOME, NOTICE SMOKE FROM UNDERNEATH, THEN VEHICLE BURST INTO FLAMES NEAR PASSENGER SIDE. *AK
Compare 1981HondaCivic to Similar Vehicles
NHTSA Investigations
Vehicle Safety Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
How many complaints does the 1981 Honda Civic have?▼
The 1981 Honda Civic has 1 NHTSA complaints, 0 crashes, 1 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 deaths reported.
What are the most common problems with the 1981 Honda Civic?▼
The most-complained component for the 1981 Honda Civic is ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR with 1 complaints. Other frequently reported areas include various components.
Is the 1981 Honda Civic safe to buy?▼
Review the complaint history, crash and fire reports, safety ratings, and recall status on this page to make an informed decision. No NHTSA crash test rating is available for this model year. Compare with other model years using the links above.
Where does this data come from?▼
All complaint, recall, and safety rating data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaints are filed by vehicle owners through NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.
Data vintage: August 2026. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. This year-specific record is rendered from NHTSA ODI, recall, and NCAP rows for the 1981 Honda Civic; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.