What 1,064 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Honda Civic Cng

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, she became aware that the electronic power steering was not functioning properly, requiring the steering wheel to be manually returned to center after completing a turn. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 84,000.

NHTSA ODI 11684528

Component that failed: The air conditioning system evaporator core failed, causing refrigerant leakage. The vehicle was inspected and diagnosed by a Honda dealership, which confirmed the failure and provided a written quote for replacement. The component is still installed and available for inspection. Safety risk: When the evaporator leaks, the A/C system loses refrigerant and stops cooling. This prevents the defrost/defog system from working properly, which can lead to poor visibility through the windshield in humid or rainy weather. In hot conditions, lack of cooling can also cause driver fatigue and heat stress, creating a safety risk for occupants. Confirmation of problem: Yes, the problem was confirmed by a Honda dealership after the condenser was already replaced under Honda’s extended warranty. Inspection by manufacturer/others: Yes, the vehicle was inspected by a Honda dealership. Honda corporate was contacted but declined to cover the evaporator, even though the condenser was covered under warranty due to a known defect in the A/C system. Warning lamps or symptoms: There were no warning lamps or dashboard messages. The only symptom was a loss of A/C cooling. After recharging the system, the A/C worked temporarily but will lose effectiveness again as refrigerant continues to leak. Summary: This is a premature failure of a critical climate control component that is widespread among 2016–2018 Honda Civics. Honda already extended warranty coverage for defective condensers in these models, but evaporator failures are also common and part of the same defective A/C system. The high cost of repair (quoted over $2,000) combined with the safety risks of poor windshield defogging and cabin overheating warrant NHTSA investigation and corrective action.

NHTSA ODI 11684110

I purchased my '16 civic in 2018. The following summer, I started to notice that the steering wheel would "stick" in straight or shallow turn positions, requiring excessive force to break free and start turning. This is especially noticeable during highway driving, when the sticking steering wheel results in minor corrections being impossible. The end result is the car is impossible to keep in the center of the lane all the time, and must continuously be corrected, over-corrected, and over-corrected again. Being unable to correctly control the car is a major safety problem, especially for older drivers that may have difficulty overcoming the force of the steering wheel "sticking." This problem has reappeared every spring. 11th generation civics have this problem and a recall/warranty for the offending components, but not the 10th generation. There are no warning lights or messages from the vehicle about this problem.

NHTSA ODI 11683840

After about 30mins of driving car would start pulling to left even if the steering wheel was straight. When trying to correct it the steering wheel would feel stuck like to magnet and when it would release car would over correct to the right. Found out its a common issue among hondas 2015 and above no matter the model, took my car in to the dealer to replace the gearbox and the rack and pinion which fixed the problem. There are no warning lights or codes for this.

NHTSA ODI 11682999

Body: underneath part came unsecured out of nowhere on my collage daughters car. It was scary for her as it scraped bottom and rattled out of no where on highway. She stopped and since nothing on hand, she had to push it up with feet and it bent to hold till she got to shop. They quick fix with zip tie or something. Someone hit her from back and she took to shop. I mentioned it that some noise coming after the fix and was supposed to to bring it to them this week. It just rattled but nothing else. Drivable still. Than middle of no where, that bottom popped again and she panicked. It was Sunday so no one is open. I had to have her park at work and pick her up which is an hour away. This is very dangerous as when we googled, this has happened to soooo many Honda civic owners! Need to do recall and fix this issue for good. It’s underneath the car so hard to tell till it drops to flow. We love the car but this issue is greater. Also, she has tire sensor light always comes up. We got new tires also!

NHTSA ODI 11682666

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at 55 MPH, there was an abnormally loud pop coming from the sunroof. There was no warning light. Illuminated. Upon inspection, the contact became aware of a large hole in the sunroof glass. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 166,655.

NHTSA ODI 11682010

2016 Honda civic has 28 000 miles and the air conditioning went out. took it to Honda dealership, compressor, and evaporator and gasket is not working. everything but the evaporator is covered. Been driving in hot weather and unable to maintain comfortable temperature. Unsafe during hot weather to be driving in a car that has no air conditioning, may lead to heat related illness such as heat stoke in long drives. this is a well documented issue with these Hondas. Has been inspected by Honda dealership. unknown.

NHTSA ODI 11680752

Sometimes when driving the steering wheel will tend to “jerk”, or appear “stuck” when trying to turn. This has started to happen recently and I have noticed it when NOT using lane “assistance” this issue has not only been seen from me, but rather by many others as seen in forms such as the following: [XXX] This issue has yet to cause a wreck for me, but this does pose a safety risk as it could prevent me from moving out of the way of cars, or worse prevent me from turning causing me to hit someone or something around my environment. I hope that this is something that can be fixed or recalled for as I am not the only one experiencing this and does genuinely pose a risk. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11679729

Driving on highway steering wheel is sticky requires extra effort to control steering has gotten worse since 2025

NHTSA ODI 11679285

PURCHASED AS CERTIFIED USED HONDA. I FEEL THIS VIN SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE RECALL FOR THE SAME ISSUE IN OTHER 2016 HONDA CIVIC STEERING GEAR BAX FAILURE RECALLS AND HONDA SHOULD HAVE TO RECTIFY THE FAILURE. 1 YEAR AGO MY CAR STEERING SEEMED TO BE STICKING. I TOOK IT INTO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD MY SWAY BAR WAS LEAKING. I HAD THAT REPLACED AND THE ISSUE SEEMED TO NOT BE NOTICED. AGAIN THIS YEAR IT BECAME MUSH MORE PRONOUNCED ESPECIALLY WHEN DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE. THE STEERING SEEMS TO GET IN A GROVE AND THE STEETING WHEEL NEEDS TO BE ALMOST JERKED TO GET IT FROM VEERING IN A SPECIFIC DIRECTION. (RIGHT) IF I CONTINUALLY JIGGLE THE STEERING WHEEL IT DOES NOT HAPPEN. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND UPON DIAGNOSIS THEY DETERMINED THAT THE STEERING GEAR BOX IS FAILING. I DID RESEARCH AND SOME 2016 HONDA CIVIC MODELS HAD A RECALL ON THIS ISSUE. I REACHED OUT TO HONDA AND THEY SAID THAT MINE WAS NOT IN THAT RECALL. I FIND IT HARD TO THINK THAT IT SHOULD NOT SINCE IT WAS A KNOWN ISSUE FOR OTHER VEHICLES. MY TIRES ARE WEARING FAST DUE TO THE ISSUE AS WELL. HONDA STATED I WOULD HAVE TO FILE A REPORT WITH YOU.

NHTSA ODI 11679148

The steering wheel sticks when you try to turn it. The best example of what happens is when you're driving on a fairly straight road, you typically make small steering adustments to keep your car in it's lane. What happens is, when you try to turn the steering wheel it "sticks" and doesn't move and so you turn harder than what would be normal to turn it. So you have to turn the wheel harder to make the steering wheel move. When it finally does break free and turn, the result is that instead of turning the car a small amount left or right as you would like, it turns it more than you expect it to and then the car moves more than you expected it to which causes a dangerous situation. I've noticed this more on hotter days when going over 50 MPH but it has occurred at lower speeds. Honda did a recall for this issue for newer Civics, but not the 2016 that I have.

NHTSA ODI 11678285

After driving for over 30 minutes, the steering becomes sticky. When I try to make minor corrections to stay in the lane, the steering gets stuck, requiring a little extra force, resulting in a slight over correction. At high speeds this slight over correction is very dangerous. This happens on all extended drives. It happens at all speeds.

NHTSA ODI 11678062

Civic EX 4D bought new in 2016, Steering wheel is “sticking” seems to be a common issue on 10th gen Civic’s but is only recalled on 11th generation models. When driving straight at highway speed, steering wheel does not want to stay in the middle. Car has been aligned (twice) and has 4 new tires and it seems the issue is even MORE felt. The car does not PULL either side, it is just impossible to keep the steering wheel centered. It causes it to be extremely jerky and hard to drive long distances. Can be felt at lower speeds when turning the wheel left to right in quick succession, feels as though there is a pop in the middle/something gets caught causing the wheel to pop back.

NHTSA ODI 11678069

The steering is sticky and it is hard to keep the car in the lane requiring you to over correct. I have been told it is an issue with the steering rack and needs to be replaced. This repair is very expensive. This has been an issue for several years but I did not associate it with a problem until I started doing some research. No warning lights. My car has low mileage and has been maintained. This is a known issue but a recall was only done on newer vehicles.

NHTSA ODI 11677987

While driving on the freeway at approximately 70 mph, maintaing speed and direction, not changing lanes I noticed that the steering becomes "sticky". This means that as I make very slight 1 to 2 degree maneuvers to maintain a straight path the steering is almost stuck and in order to make those slight maneuvers I have to use more force than should be necessary to keep the car on a straight course. The car has been inspected by twice by my local Honda Dealership and they have been unable to find anything wrong by running diagnostics and test drive. There are no warning lamps on. This symptom has been intermittent for at least a year or more and seems to happen when driving at constant speeds.

NHTSA ODI 11677283

*When driving my 2016 Honda Civic LX at any speed you can feel the steering wheel stick then gets loose. This has been happening since 2018. I thought it was an Alignment issue, so i had an alignment completed, then another alignment completed in March 2025. However that was not the issue. *This is a SAFETY issue and puts me and others on the highway at risk, this is a safety issue every time i drive, it puts everyone in danger. It hinders my steering effort and with difficulty, potentially can lead to a crash. There is excessive friction and that makes it difficult to steer. *YES the problem have been confirmed by a Honda Dealership on 7.2025. this is my 2nd notice to NHTSA. I have also called AMERICAN HONDA no response yet. *It has been inspected by the HONDA dealership service department. *NO warning at all. (documents attached)

NHTSA ODI 11676633

While driving, the steering wheel occasionally starts to stick. There have been several instances where it became severely jammed while turning, making it extremely difficult to steer. On a few occasions, it nearly led to a crash because the wheel locked up. This issue has occurred multiple times and seems to be getting progressively worse.

NHTSA ODI 11675602

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds during hot weather, the steering wheel felt sticky and failed to turn to the left or the right as intended. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure was not determined. The contact related the failure to an unknown recall however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000.

NHTSA ODI 11675659

This report is on the paint defect issue on the 10th generation Honda Civic that can potentially impact the vehicle's structural integrity from the windshield damage. The white paint on my vehicle started peeling around the perimeter of the rear window with the rain groove. I am uncertain of the exact time it started, but the paint defect became noticeable to the naked eye just past the 5 years of ownership. The size of the paint chip has now extended to the rear body of the vehicle. A section of bare steel body around the rear window is exposed to the elements. Based on the inspection and evaluation by the authorized Honda paint and body shop that was recommended by the dealership, I have been informed that the cause is commonly due to improper paint priming during the manufacturing process. According to the paint and body shop owner, such paint peeling is a widely known issue with certain color paint for many auto manufacturers that use the same paint primer. I was warned that paint peeling will likely worsen with the water being captured underneath the paint. I am reporting this incident as a safety concern because the rust on the bare metal chassis of the vehicle can cause corrosion under the windshield adhesive over time and lead to the window breaking. The windshield is critical to the vehicle's structural rigidity as it contributes to both the roof support and the airbag deployment. The Honda dealership service manager submitted goodwill on my vehicle past warranty for a paint defect from the manufacturing process, but American Honda Motor Company has denied the claim as they determined it as cosmetic damage only. There are multiple reports online on paint defects from other Honda Civic owners from various places. There was a lawsuit settlement on older generation Honda Civic vehicles, but it looks like the known issue is still present on the newer generation. Based on the location of the paint defect, it can become a safety concern.

NHTSA ODI 11675778

Failed power steering gearbox. Rack and Pinion. Steering wheel gets stuck at center position when driving 4k+ repair quote

NHTSA ODI 11675053

While driving my 2016 Honda Civic on the freeway, I consistently experience a sticky or notchy steering wheel—especially when making small adjustments near the center position. The steering resists input slightly, then suddenly gives way, making it difficult to make smooth lane corrections. This issue is more noticeable at higher speeds and creates a safety concern, as it affects my ability to maintain proper lane control and react quickly when needed. This issue appears to be a known problem with the EPS (Electric Power Steering) system on 2016 Honda Civics, and I’ve seen reports of a Honda-issued TSB (17-014) that addresses similar symptoms via a software update. However, this issue should warrant broader attention, as it affects vehicle handling and road safety. I’m submitting this complaint to request further investigation and to urge Honda to issue a recall or mandatory repair for affected vehicles.

NHTSA ODI 11675161

Steering rack is malfunctioning; I've taken my vehicle to different Honda dealerships and have paid for multiple diagnostics regarding the steering rack. The last time I took my vehicle to dealership was Wednesday July 16 2025 at 8:00 am Honda of Mishawaka, IN I told them the steering wheel was getting sticky and that it was affecting my alignment. Honda took a look and realigned my wheels, but did NOT fix the issue with my steering.

NHTSA ODI 11674815

While driving my 2016 Honda Civic at highway speeds (typically 55–75 mph), especially in warm or hot weather, I experience a significant issue with the steering system. The steering wheel becomes “sticky” or stiff and resists minor directional inputs. Instead of responding smoothly, the wheel feels like it is temporarily stuck in place and then jerks when force is applied to adjust the direction. This issue makes it difficult to make small corrections while driving straight and causes the car to feel unstable or difficult to control, which results in abrupt movements that compromise safety, particularly at high speeds. The problem is more noticeable after the vehicle has been driven for a while or during warm weather, suggesting a potential link to heat or prolonged use. There are currently no warning lights or diagnostic alerts on the dashboard, but the steering issue is consistent and reproducible. The issue has been reproduced by an independent service center, to which they said was an issue with a failing power steering where its losing pressure.

NHTSA ODI 11674546

The steering wheels becomes stiff/sticky & notchy after driving for sometime. It is most prevalent at interstate speeds & ramps. It causes me to have to constantly overcorrect to stay in my line & often doesn't return to center. This is a serious safety concern which has been addressed in Class action lawsuit for 22-23 models of the Civic, but it has yet to be recalled or fixed for later models with the same issue.

NHTSA ODI 11674580

Upon a quick right turn into traffic, the right front drive axle shaft snapped in two, leaving the vehicle without propulsion.

NHTSA ODI 11673913