What 253 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 Honda Civic Hatchback

The issue typically occurs at highway speeds. When driving the steering wheel becomes very difficult to turn and binding or jerking when making minor corrections. Sometimes needing a lot of force to jerk the wheel back after it sticks. When making adjustments at cruising speeds, the steering wheel at times is difficult to turn away from the 12 o’clock position. Though no one has been injured at this time, there is serious concern that this issue could cause steering overcorrection resulting in a crash especially for my 17 year old daughter.

NHTSA ODI 11562324

Having issues where the steering is sticking on my 2023 Honda Civic. When I'm at speeds of 40 MPH and above and I attempt to make minor steering adjustments the steering begins to stick. It takes a greater amount of force to move the steering wheel and often results in an overcorrection within the steering. Have not taken to the dealer yet as I've heard there is no immediate fix other than replacing the steering rack with the same faulty one. There have been no warning lights of any kind.

NHTSA ODI 11562455

The contact owns a 2023 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, and at various speeds, while turning the steering wheels, the steering wheel failed to return to center, and the contact needed to manually turn the steering wheel back to center. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent at first but had become a recurring failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the electric power steering assist was failing and there was no fix available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000.

NHTSA ODI 11562055

Steering is sticking/notched at top dead center steering wheel position. Requires significant force to overcome and results in jerky steering control. Repeating issue causing difficult vehicle adjustments & control.

NHTSA ODI 11562057

The contact owns a 2023 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving 35-40 MPH, the steering wheel was sticky. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that it was a known failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: EA23003 (Steering). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.

NHTSA ODI 11562087

While trying to make small adjustments to the wheel, such as while driving on the freeway, the steering wheel sticks and has to be moved more harshly to adjust. This causes the car to jerk and makes it very difficult to make steering adjustments.

NHTSA ODI 11561824

Under multiple conditions, both intercity highways and two-lane country highways the cars adaptive cruise control with randomly slowdown/brakes extremely hard. In one specific instance I was driving home in the middle of the night with a vehicle behind me and with no other oncoming traffic or cars in passing lanes and the adaptive cruise "brake checked" the car behind me, I was able to react and cancel the adaptive cruise and avoid an accident. When adaptive cruise is set it will also aggressively approach the car in front, instead of gradually slowing down it will continue at the set speed until the car realizes it's to close and will slam on the brakes to slow down. When adaptive cruise is turned off the car will slam on the brakes if you attempt to accelerate to pass someone and coast back to set speed. in other words, the car will slam on the brakes to resume the set cruise speed. Fortunately, no cars have been behind me when this has happened. Nowhere does it say that this will happen when using normal cruise control? Speeds and conditions varied from city traffic going 20 - 40 mph, the highway going 55-65 and the interstate going 70-80 mph. some instances were at night others were during the day.

NHTSA ODI 11561942

No warning lights. Around 10k miles my car began being hard to steer, requiring more force on the highway to maintain the wheel. It was sticking. I took it to the honda dealership who told me nothing is wrong with the car and did nothing about it. It is under warranty. I feel unsafe when driving at high speeds and being able to maintain my lane.

NHTSA ODI 11561669

The steering in this car exhibits a kind of twitching. The steering wheel twitches very slightly as one travels along a smooth or grooved highway at posted speeds. It's feels like the system is always trying to auto-correct -- and NO lane holding or lane departure or auto-steer feature has been turned ON. It's almost as if something in the steering system is loose or that gears are not meshing as they should It's quite disconcerting. I've read your Honda Service Bulletin 23-037 and believe it described my issue.

NHTSA ODI 11561689

At high speeds (60-70) the steering wheel has resistance making micro adjustments. The common “sticky steering” issue that many have complained about. This started happening at 4000 miles.

NHTSA ODI 11561394

The brakes slam on there own causing all safety features to go out and the car to go out of control. This is the 3rd time this has happened in 3 months. The dealership is telling me they won’t look at it for 3 months I could be killed in that time my car is dangerous

NHTSA ODI 11561323

Sticky steering. Look at many online forums and there is ton of complaints about it. You can be driving straight down the highway and as soon as you want to make a little adjustment, it feels like you have to fight the steering wheel. By the time you overcome the force necessary to "break" the steering wheel from its stuck position, you're already headed into the other lane. It is even more dangerous when this occurs on curves and ten times more dangerous when this happens and the road is wet due to rainy conditions.

NHTSA ODI 11561018

Power steering has begun to require more effort to make fine adjustments with at highway speeds. Often sticking in one place and requiring more force than normal to make the adjustment. This can create an over correction situation which can result in an accident/loss of control of the car.

NHTSA ODI 11560583

While operating the vehicle on roadways the steering feels sticky and unresponsive.

NHTSA ODI 11560409

After about 15 minutes of highway driving, wheel feels stuck when trying to make small lane adjustments. It requires much more effort to move the wheel for a small increment, then releases. This process continues until turning off the highway. This was dangerous, as it was difficult to steer the vehicle properly without overcorrecting while traveling 40-60mph. Dealer was able to reproduce the issue and has since replaced power steering rack. Issue occurred under 3000 miles.

NHTSA ODI 11560380

UNKNOWN. Steering wheel problem on a left turn after a stop sign that veered offroad into a culvert crash.

NHTSA ODI 11560035

While driving on the freeway at normal freeway speeds, after 5-10 miles the steering gets sticky. When attempting to make minor steering adjustments to stay within the lane, it takes an extra measure of force to move the steering wheel. It is necessary to concentrate constantly in order to not overcorrect.

NHTSA ODI 11560204

Steering in a straight line has become virtually impossible. The Steering Wheel feels "stuck" in position when driving straight or even at a slight curve, with no self-centering or smooth motion. In order to correct, I have to push the steering out of its stuck position and as a result, it over-corrects, requiring another correction - i.e. zig zag motion. Every movement of the steering wheel near its center position requires extra effort and a "push" or "click" out of its stuck position. This has made navigating difficult and inaccurate, with 12-15 of this small "un freeze" movements per mile. The problem has gotten progressively worse, starting around 28,000 miles. I am now at 32,320 miles. Voss Honda in Tipp City performed a front end alignment and wheel balance to try to address the problem. This did not address the issue. I commute from Dayton to Cincinnati for work which is 140 highway round trip. This steering issue requires all of my focus just to maintain any sort of centering in my lane, without any smoothness or micro-adjustments. I am finding it particularly difficult in construction zones that are narrow. The problem is present every time I drive the vehicle, at highway speeds and even lower in the 35-45mph zone. It often sticks in position and will guide me off the road or into another lane unless I FORCE it out of its stuck position.

NHTSA ODI 11559818

The steering is the issue. After driving down the highway at highway speeds for about 30 miles, the steering becomes "sticky" or takes extra effort to pull the steering from its position. There were no warning lamps. The issue is getting fixed under warranty, but I had to do research and take the Honda Service Bulletin in on the issue for them to fix the problem. Before that the dealership stated they had never heard of the problem. There are obvious safety issues attributed with extra steering effort such as not being able to avoid collision.

NHTSA ODI 11559857

At about 7,000-8,000 miles, I noticed after driving several miles at highway speed, the steering starts to feel sticky, The steering wheel no longer moves smoothly. This makes minor steering adjustments more difficult. The problem seems more pronounced in warmer weather (50F or above). The lane assist is NOT on. I talked to my dealer and they claimed they have no reports of this type of problem. I told the dealer it is all over the internet of hundreds of reports of this steering issue in Civics. The dealer wants to test drive the car overnight but the issue is not as obvious since colder weather has moved in.

NHTSA ODI 11559992

Steering feels sticky. Almost where it feels like it locks up when making minor adjustments.

NHTSA ODI 11559756

Transmission constantly jerking and feeling rough while shifting especially at lower speeds.

NHTSA ODI 11559757

The steering wheel jerks at highway speeds. It has been to the dealer for steering rack recall from Honda and they said the part number did not qualify for replacement. All systems checked out as working properly. The problem still exists. New tires have been placed on the vehicle and the steering problem still exists. The dealer has been of no help in resolving this issue. Attached is the service receipt and the day they checked the recall for the vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11559481

Sticky steering at highway speeds

NHTSA ODI 11559323

The steering wheel "sticks" when I am driving straight down a road, at both high and low speeds. It is more noticeable at high speeds.

NHTSA ODI 11558688