The Lemon Index$1,800 middle bill · most between $1,300 and $2,000
Higher than the $1,400 middle bill owners of all 72 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 52,000 miles (18 reports).
Honda Civic owners reported paying a median of $1,800 for a AC compressor replacement, with the middle half of bills between $1,300 and $2,000. That's from 31 owner reports (31 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $5003%
- $500–$1,0006%
- $1,000–$2,50081%
- $2,500–$5,00010%
- $5,000 and up0%
Share of the 31 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2000 Honda Civic1too few for a middle
- 2007 Honda Civic2too few for a middle
- 2008 Honda Civic1too few for a middle
- 2010 Honda Civic1too few for a middle
- 2016 Honda Civic18$1,800 middle bill
- 2017 Honda Civic5$2,100 middle bill
- 2018 Honda Civic2too few for a middle
- 2019 Honda Civic1too few for a middle
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2016 Honda Civic98 complaints name it9% of that year's complaints
- 2017 Honda Civic56 complaints name it9% of that year's complaints
- 2018 Honda Civic34 complaints name it4% of that year's complaints
- 2019 Honda Civic17 complaints name it4% of that year's complaints
- 2020 Honda Civic8 complaints name it3% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a a/c compressor. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
1.3 L hybrid (Honda IMA) · 1.5 L turbo (L15B7 / L15BA / L15CA) · 1.6 L D16 (D16A6 / D16Z6 / D16Y7 / D16Y8) · 1.8 L R18 (R18A1 / R18Z1) · 2.0 L K20 (Si) (K20A3 / K20Z3) · 2.0 L K20C (K20C2 / K20C9) · 2.0 L turbo (Type R) (K20C1)
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Keep going
- Honda Civic reliability by year
- AC compressor replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs Honda Civic owners reported
Transmission replacement (53) · Steering rack replacement (41) · AC condenser replacement (37) · AC evaporator replacement (35) · Brake repair (18) · Wiring harness repair (17) · Engine replacement (16) · Control arm replacement (12) · Clutch replacement (10) · Car battery replacement (9)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11764527, 11465241, 11441767, 11429200, 11429124, 11418534, 11416613, 11408388, 11385066, 11383464, 11355519, 11354532 and more.
Quick answers
How much does AC compressor replacement cost on a Honda Civic?
Honda Civic owners reported a median of $1,800, and the middle half paid $1,300 to $2,000, from 31 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a Honda Civic AC compressor replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The Honda Civic middle bill of $1,800 is higher than the $1,400 owners of all 72 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these Honda Civic repair costs come from?
From 31 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which Honda Civic years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2016 (98), 2017 (56), 2018 (34) Honda Civic named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.