Honda Civic vs Toyota Corolla
Reliability comparison based on 33,822 federal complaints.
Source: NHTSA Complaint Data
The Verdict
Based on federal complaint data, the Toyota Corolla has a stronger reliability record than the Honda Civic. This reflects complaint patterns across all model years — individual years may vary.
Head-to-Head
| Metric | Honda Civic | Toyota Corolla |
|---|---|---|
| Years of Data | 36 | 36 |
| Total Complaints | 19,567 | 14,255 |
| Avg Complaints/Year | 543.5 | 396 |
| Recent 5-Year Rate | 359.2 | 158.3 |
| Crashes Reported | 2,308 | 2,502 |
| Deaths Reported | 192 | 26 |
| Total Recalls | 357 | 190 |
Lower complaints and crashes = better. Green highlights the better number in each row.
What Breaks Most
Honda Civic
STEERING
2,116
AIR BAGS
2,099
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
1,218
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
1,059
ENGINE
998
POWER TRAIN
705
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
608
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
516
Toyota Corolla
AIR BAGS
4,310
STEERING
1,053
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
1,021
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
673
ENGINE
567
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
536
POWER TRAIN
420
SERVICE BRAKES
322
Best & Worst Years
Honda Civic Best
2025
80 complaints
Honda Civic Worst
2006
1,708 complaints
Toyota Corolla Best
2025
28 complaints
Toyota Corolla Worst
2009
1,769 complaints
Year-by-Year Comparison
Click any year to see full details.
Honda Civic
1990 (110)
1991 (143)
1992 (113)
1993 (178)
1994 (171)
1995 (252)
1996 (383)
1997 (452)
1998 (502)
1999 (404)
2000 (350)
2001 (1357)
2002 (876)
2003 (618)
2004 (424)
2005 (396)
2006 (1708)
2007 (1464)
2008 (1078)
2009 (497)
2010 (485)
2011 (220)
2012 (618)
2013 (430)
2014 (377)
2015 (480)
2016 (1301)
2017 (726)
2018 (807)
2019 (492)
2020 (281)
2021 (181)
2022 (1136)
2023 (318)
2024 (159)
2025 (80)
Toyota Corolla
1990 (31)
1991 (96)
1992 (115)
1993 (154)
1994 (199)
1995 (226)
1996 (151)
1997 (149)
1998 (278)
1999 (188)
2000 (176)
2001 (163)
2002 (141)
2003 (857)
2004 (558)
2005 (969)
2006 (970)
2007 (983)
2008 (378)
2009 (1769)
2010 (1567)
2011 (689)
2012 (496)
2013 (269)
2014 (379)
2015 (303)
2016 (306)
2017 (271)
2018 (193)
2019 (281)
2020 (380)
2021 (234)
2022 (111)
2023 (108)
2024 (89)
2025 (28)
Complaint counts reflect consumer-reported issues to NHTSA and do not represent failure rates. Higher sales volume typically means more complaints. This comparison is based on aggregate data across all model years — reliability can vary significantly between individual years. See our disclaimers and methodology.
Page generated: 2026-03-29