Steering Problems of Honda Civic - part 1

While driving, my steering wheel sticks in position. The steering wheel will remain in that position until I break it free using more than normal force. At speed, this can often result in overcorrection once the steering finally breaks loose. It is most noticable on the highway when trying to make micro-adjustments to the steering to maintain my lane. The micro-adjustments are not possible since more force is needed to loosen the steering wheel from it's stuck position. I've tried to look this issue up online, and it appears this is a common issue experienced by owners of this generation of Honda Civic. The issue is bad enough that steering racks are on back order due to so many being replaced.

See all problems of the 2018 Honda Civic 🔎.

There is a recall regarding my Honda 2023 that has not been fixed and I did not know about.

See all problems of the 2023 Honda Civic 🔎.

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the electronic power steering, evaporative emission control system, check engine, and antilock braking system lights were illuminated; however, the contact had not experienced any failures or malfunctions while operating the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 102,192.

See all problems of the 2017 Honda Civic 🔎.

My steering gradually stiffens then suddenly releases while traveling the highway. It cycled this way during the entire trip. It acted this way for the first time oct 22, 2025 on the outgoing part of my hour long trip. It acted this way the second time oct 25, 2025 on the hour long return drive home. I was the only one in the car at the time. Therefor, it put my own safety in jeopardy plus those traveling the highway at the same time I was traveling on the highway. I am calling my Honda dealership in the morning, Monday October 27, 2025, to set up an appointment to bring my car in. There were no warning lamps, messages nor other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure and when it first appeared on oct 22, 2025. I find that I am not the only one experiencing this problem with a 2020 Honda Civic si a 10th generation Civic.

See all problems of the 2020 Honda Civic 🔎.

Steering wheel seems to get stuck with minor corrections, and then “gives way” causing a serious over correction. This is mostly noticeable at high way speeds (45+) but can be felt even when the vehicle is stopped. Vehicle is not lane assist equipped. Appears to be a sticky rack or pinion gear.

See all problems of the 2016 Honda Civic 🔎.

Sticky steering, very difficult to handle on highway. It lasted about 2 weeks, then went away.

The steering on the vehicle exhibits unusual resistance when on center above 40mph - sort of a 'sticking' feeling. To properly correct the vehicles lane position at hwy speeds, driver needs both hands. To move the steering in these situations requires significantly more torque than normal, and when you have applied enough torque, the steering will suddenly move, making it easy to overcorrect.

While driving on a regular basis steering wheel is sticking. Have to jerk the wheel to get it unstuck. It is scary when having to jerk wheel and not lose control when it unsticks. Took it to dealership advised needs new steering rack for almost $4000.

See all problems of the 2022 Honda Civic 🔎.

When driving the vehicle the park brake abs and steering control lights come on the vehicle intermittently when driving the vehicle.

My steering sticks at all speeds and is difficult to drive on the highway.

The steering is sticky, the power steering does not return the wheel to center whenever I turn. It feels jerky whenever trying to remain center in the lane, especially at highway speeds. Makes slight noise when turning.

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds or making a turn, the steering wheel was shaking abnormally, and the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. A dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number:18v663000 (steering); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was 61,724.

I have received 2 recalls regarding my steering rack. I did have the gear box worm wheel spring replaced but that did not solve the problem my steering was sticking, hard to turn , clunking it would veer off to the right. I took it back to Honda dealer and was told it was dangerous to drive my whole power steering rack needed to be be replaced but Honda said it was not part of the recall I had to pay for the repair. They did give me a discount but my car experienced all the system under the recall to replace the power steering. My Honda is a 2023 and I had to pay over $2000 to have fixed. I would like to know why my car is not included in this recall.

The car has excessive play in the steering causing much vibrations in the seat and steering wheel while driving, the slightest movement will send you all over the road and presents itself extremely jerky and unstable handling. It should not have this much play in the steering. I see multiple complaints over the steering of this car model but oddly enough I have the opposite issue pertaining to the same components but either way it sounds like the steering system of these cars are not up to par in some way and it seems dangerous to continue driving with noticeable issues there. Im about to trade it in dispite im still paying on it and there is over 100,000 miles on it. It feels like an expensive fix that just aint that worth it to me.

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.

Sticky steering input when turning steering wheel, almost feels like the steering wheel slightly locks when doing turns. Most notably to the right.

See all problems of the 2019 Honda Civic 🔎.

Experiencing what is described as sticky steering. Driving the car on the highway the steering feels stuck and hard to maneuver, making correction tricky. This is dangerous and mostly occurs when driving on the highway at high speed.

While driving at interstate speeds and turning left into a curve the steering wheel sticks and you have to forcibly pull it back to drive straight jerking the vehicle dangerously. Possibly a known steering rack issue.

See all problems of the 2021 Honda Civic 🔎.

After driving the car at highway speed for about 30 minutes the steering wheel feels sticky and hard to maneuver. This is dangerous and occurs any time the car has been driven on the highway for a while.

Steering wheel is hard to move/ steer, makes clunking noises, can feel vibration in the steering wheel, way worse at higher speeds, definitely a safety issue if the steering locks up you can't steer the car!!! I see there are recalls on this make model and year car, but mine isn't included??, it should be and why not? this car has only 15k miles.

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.

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.

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.

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving at higher speeds, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. No warning lights illuminated. The contact mentioned the vehicle was still drivable, however his wife stated when she drives at any unknown speed the failure persist.  a dealer or independent were not contacted. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic for diagnoses. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was relating the failure to NHTSA campaign number : 18v663000(steering), however the VIN was included in the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and they informed him his VIN was not apart of the recall. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.

Steering is "sticky". It is only noticeable when turning toward the right. It is exactly like the steering gearbox recall Honda announced October 2024. [xxx] my vehicle (2018) doesn't fall under the years recall linked above but its definitely experiencing that same issue. It is dangerous and I can feel the same "stickiness" at low(and high) speeds like backing into a driveway. Especially driving 45+ mph, going around a right-curve on the highway and immediately when I start to straighten the steering wheel, it quickly jerks. This symptom happens consistently and easily duplicated. I've noticed it about a month ago and still happening every since then. I've never had this steering issues with any of the other vehicles I've owned and driven. There people are in the same generation(2016-2021) Civic forums and facebook groups experiences the same symptoms. The recall linked above should've been at least for the 2018 Civics too. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

At higher speeds the steering wheel sticks, this make making minor corrections to stay within the lane difficult, subsequently causing the vehicle to swerve while making these adjustments.

The electric power steering (eps) system failed/malfunctioned this past week. When going over 35 mph my steering wheel would become "knotchy/jerky" and lock up and be difficult to turn. As a result, I took it to Honda to which they stated my whole rack and pinion needed total replacement. No warning signs, messages, icons, or lights came on in my car.

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.

2025 Honda Civic hybrid just over 3000 miles has developed a ticking noise when I turn the steering. Took it to the dealership was told it was normal. If this is normal for Honda they just lost a future customer.

Rack and pinion steering failure. Sticking, hard to make wheel adjustments. Loss of steering control. Issue confirmed but Honda dealership. Honda dealership contacted Honda north America and was rejected as warranty issue. Repair will exceed $7500. This issue corresponded with the fuel pump recall and failure of the ac system which were covered under warranty recall. Due the high volume of failures of r & p for these Honda Civics locating replacement parts is difficult if not impossible.

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

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.

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.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? my steering rack is damaged and needs replacement (confirmed by Honda dealership). This causes the steering wheel to get stuck into place (mainly left side). To dislodge it you need to jerk it to the other side which causes the vehicle to become unstable. I first noticed this problem on March 20, 2025. I ignored it at first, but the problem got worse with time until last week my steering wheel locked into place and sent me into the left lane. Luckily there were no cars on the road, as this would have caused a major accident. This issue is life threatening to both myself and other drivers on the road. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? yes has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? yes, attached scan below. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? yes, by Honda dealership were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? no, no warnings, the problem just began. This problem was documented in NHTSA campaign #23v704000.

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).