The 2002 Honda Civic has 6 recalls, the most serious being a Takata passenger airbag inflator that can rupture during deployment and send metal fragments into the cabin, causing serious injury or death.
A separate airbag concern covers vehicles where the front passenger airbag may have been installed incorrectly during a prior replacement, meaning it could deploy improperly in a crash. On the engine side, a broken plastic piece from the air cleaner box cover can travel into the throttle body and cause the throttle to stick in a partially open position, though the vehicle can still be stopped by applying firm brake pressure. There is also a headlight concern: the low-beam wiring harness terminal can overheat and cause the low beams to fail without warning, reducing visibility at night or in poor conditions.