NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2023 Honda Civic. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
"Sticky" steering is the problem. Not constant but now almost every time I drive the vehicle. Most of my driving is in town so some 30mph - 55mph roads. It happens at any speed in that range. Rather than the normal smooth steering, the steering wheel gets stuck, not like you can't control the vehicle but little 1/8 to 1/4" spaces where you have to turn the wheel harder left or right to break the "hold" and sometimes back and forth in both directions it will just continue. It does make it difficult to stay in your center space of your lane without bebopping back and forth. I don't know for sure but a police officer might even suspect something is wrong with you if following from behind. No warning lights on dash. I brought the 2023 Civic into the dealer for recall 23-085 + the sticky steering I described. The service advisor told me they could not duplicate it, which I expected but the car was ready for me to pick up! She even told me a service manager with the most years of experience took it out and couldn't duplicate it. That was mildly impressive bringing in the veteran of the group but when I left with the car, I looked on the invoice and saw that Mileage in was 2218 and Mileage out was 2219. 1 mile (or less) to try to duplicate a problem, with steering? The way I came to this conclusion of the problem was by searching for on the internet and I found that it was already being looked into by the NHTSA. I even shared a link with the service provider before picking the car up hoping for some actual service and was told: "I fully understand the concern but if we cant duplicate it i cant just order a part and hope it fails when honda corporate gets the part for inspection we have to duplicate it to be sure we are ordering the part based on actual findings. If that happens, then Honda will make us take the part back and "own" it. I love my Honda dealership overall and the Service Advisor was great but I think her hands are tied. This was disappointing.
About 30 minutes into a drive the steering wheel or electronic steering will begin to malfunction. When driving at high speeds, you are unable to make small minor corrections to stay center in your lane due to the steering wheel feeling like it’s sticking in one direction. It takes a considerable amount of force in order to make the correction resulting in an over correction. When traveling at high speed this can put the driver and passangers at risk because an over correction can cause the car to lose traction with the road. I’ve taken the car into Honda and it is currently being inspected. They told me yesterday that they were ‘having trouble replicating the problem’ which doesn’t mean the problem isn’t there. As far as I know and seen there have no being any light indicators on.
When driving at freeway speeds and some in town speeds 40 mph and up and also when turning at those speed especially on banked turns the steering becomes stuck and takes a lot to unstick and momentarily scary. And you can hear a click or clunking noise when it unsticks. Sometimes after driving the car for a long period you can feel it get stuck by just sitting still and turning the wheel to the left and holding it for a few seconds as you would be in a real turn and it will stick and clunk. I’ve even went into a bank to turn a couple times and was able to let go of the wheel and it maintained the turning angle by itself without any lane keep assist options on at all and it has done this multiple times. Also after driving for a good amount of time when you were on the freeway at speeds of 60 to 70 and maybe even faster the car will not drive straight it will click to the left or just click to the right so I basically zigzag down the lanes. It is not smooth like traditional steering. I took it to the dealer and they said they took it on a drive and it could not replicate the issue but I think they did not even take it on the freeway because there is no way it did not do that again because when I left it was still sticking. They said they checked the EPS and it passed inspection no repair necessary but it is still sticking. The Honda dealer I took it to just kept telling me this is normal driving conditions and everyone complains of the same thing and they tell them that it’s all normal. The safety risk is when you give it a hard push to unstick it sometimes it goes almost into the next lane like over correction and could possibly hit another car and cause an accident. No lights or sensors came on the dash at all this has been going on for the last I would say 10,000 miles getting progressively worse. I don’t think the dealer actually drove it long or far enoughThey seem like they wanted me out of there and I was making this up.
When driving the car after about 30-35 MPH, the steering wheel becomes a tug of war. Steering will continuously get stuck in a certain direction, causing operator to continuously over correct steering. This is becoming more and more of a problem, which is now a danger in driving. The dealership has confirmed the issue after inspecting the system and driving the car. There has not been any warning lights what so ever when this failure started. Honda should be switching drivers out of there cars for newer year. Car has only 9800 miles.
Sticky steering
My 2023 civic steering wheel seems to stick when I'm driving. If the wheel is kept straight for a second it "sticks" and requires a good bit of force to become "unstuck". When driving at highway speeds getting it unstuck usually causes it to jerk and in turn overcorrect constantly. There are no warning lights and I currently have an appointment to take it to the dealer for inspection.
My steering wheel gets stuck when I’m driving on the highway, causing me to have to pull the wheel to unstick. This happens frequently, every couple of seconds and makes driving feel less safe and I feel like I’m zig zagging while driving. I’ve notified my dealership since late December of last year and still have not been able to get a repair, there is no estimated time for getting the part which Honda says is on back order. Honda has denied to provide a rental while I wait and offered no alternative solution while I wait. I’m worried that driving the car like this puts me and others at risk for a car accident. I bought the car brand new last September. Any help you can provide to at least make Honda provide speedier repairs.
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.
On my 2023 Honda civic sport the steering wheel is sticking specially during freeways speeds. I took the vehicle to Stockton Honda in Stockton Ca . According to the tech he was unable to reproduce the sticky steering wheel. (To be noted the car had the same miles as when I dropped it off at Stockton Honda ) this vehicle is unsafe for me to drive.
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.
Sticky steering at highway speeds. Seems to be worse when turning the wheels slightly to the right. Started right before 12k miles.
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.
Rear hatchback fills internally with water and only drains when tailgate is raised. Standing water and freeze/thaw cycle has potential to damage electrical components (taillights, rear camera, license plate light, rear defroster, rear wiper). This issue has been confirmed by Honda dealer, but they have been unable to fix it after 3 attempts.
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
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.
While operating the vehicle on roadways the steering feels sticky and unresponsive.
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.
The contact owns a 2023 Honda Civic Hatchback. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V744000 (STEERING). The contact stated that while driving at 75 MPH, the driver-side air bag deployed on its own without a crash or impact with an object. As a result, the driver lost visibility and control of the vehicle, resulting in a crash with another vehicle. The contact's vehicle veered into oncoming traffic. The contact was unsure whether there was a warning light illuminated. The paramedics were called, and the contact was transported to the hospital. The contact suffered injuries to the stomach. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a towing yard. The insurance company was notified and is pending an investigation. Weeks before the accident, the contact notified the manufacturer to report issues with the vehicle. The manufacturer advised the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer to have it inspected. The dealer rotated the tires and changed the oil. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,200.
The electric power steering is sticking when you turn the wheel slightly. My local dealership failed to fix the recall on my vehicle and labeled it as fixed, when they simply verified the recall matched serial numbers on my car and did not fix the issue.
Transmission constantly jerking and feeling rough while shifting especially at lower speeds.
Steering feels sticky. Almost where it feels like it locks up when making minor adjustments.
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.
Sticky steering at highway speeds
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.
Steering wheel sticks in position. More apparent on highway when trying to make minor steering corrections. Sometimes taking significant force to free the wheel from its stuck position.
My vehicle was giving me the “you’re going to collide with something warning which is a loud alarm. I wasn’t even close to anything. I called and they said they had people stopping by all day with the same complaint. Then he told me that it can even do it when there is a hard rain.
The component / system failed is steering, and it is available for inspection. My safety (and others safety) was put at risk because the steering is sticky - it forces me to overcorrect when I am driving straight at highway speeds. While driving the car on the highway on mostly straightaway stretches, my steering sticks and forces me to correct to stay on a straight course. When I try to do that it overcorrects and forces me to move in an unexpected and unsafe way. I almost hit the car next to me when this first happened because it was so unexpected. I brought the car into Plaza Honda dealership at 2700 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn NY 11210 on 9/28/23. We told them about the recall info and problems we were having with the car. We were told there were no current recalls on the car, and they advised that the car was "operating as designed". (See attached documents) There are no warnings, no warning lamps and no other symptoms - just sudden inability to control my vehicle The first time this occurred earlier in 2023 when the car hit about 10,000 miles
The Electric Power Steering unit is faulty. The steering locks up when driving above 30 MPH. A bit on input is required to unlock the steering wheel from the current position. The vehicle is difficult to maneuver as the steering wheel will lock in a direction, which means I have to constantly correct the steering wheel. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealership and noted that the part is defective. There were no warnings or messages. I started to feel the wheel get stiffer and harder to drive. This occurred around November of 2023. The parts have been backordered since December of 2023 with no estimated delivery date.
Intermittently, and only within the past 2000 miles or so, the steering will begin to have a notchy feel during highway driving. The steering requires excessive force to move the wheel and then the wheel jerks and causes the steering to do the same. It is very dangerous and unsettling at highway speeds. The issue seems to only occur above 45mph, but again, it is not happening every time I drive above 45mph.
Steering wheel feels stickey when I am driving on the highway. I need to apply extra pressure to keep the vehicle in the proper lane. I just completed a four hour trip and became very tired due to having to make constant corrections
On 12/03/2023, We were involved in serious accident. During this accident, only driver door air bag was deployed. No other air bags were deployed.My wife was on passenger side. She was seriously injured and hospitalized for several days. She is still under medical care. I think air bags on passenger side was defective. Due to defective air bags system, my wife had serious injury and had to go for medical treatment, pain and suffering. We like to investigate defect in air bags. My wife was wearing lap and shoulder seat belt.However, seat belt was not activated and remain loose. Due to loose seat belt, she was injured. Please help. Thank you.
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.
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.
Driving on freeway on 12/2/2023 and the steering became difficult to handle. It felt that I lost my power steering. I exited the freeway and the car's steering seemed ok after all. The steering was fine for the remainder of the day. The next day, the problem happened again on a freeway. I can steer the car, but it requires more effort and it seems a bit jerky.
The steering like to jerk or stick. It’s sometimes hard to control. It looks like I’m drunk driving to stay in the lane. I think the component that controls the lane assist or lane keep is malfunctioning. Driving on the highway is even more terrifying. Just trying to keep the vehicle in the lane. The dealerships have found nothing wrong and have no idea what I’m talking about. No lights or warnings came on.
I have a steering wheel that sticks at highway speeds around 50-70 mph while driving straight, my steering wheel sticks. The honda dealership says it's fine. I believe they greased something during my recall inspection that made my steering not as noticeable. He said everyone has sticky steering but that honda has no fix. My tires are balding at an extreme rate and very uneven wear. I have been arguing with the dealership and have given up. I also have a valve cover that is leaking oil. My car has 35k miles
When driving the wheels feels sticky and would sometimes get stuck in positions only when driving highway speeds above 30 mph. Making minor adjustments while driving feel harsh.
My steering is very stiff/sticky when traveling at highway speeds. A lot of other cars of the same year, make and model are recalled for faulty steering rack. However, mine is not included in the recall therefore I’m stuck with a brand new car that is unsafe to drive.
I was driving at highway speeds and my steering wheel started to "stick". It also started "sticking" when turning slightly. In order to stop the steering from sticking I had to make drastic steering adjustments. This puts not only myself but others at risk because it lessens the control I have of the vehicle. As this issue started happening more and more I took the vehicle to the dealership multiple times in order to find out and fix what the problem was. The dealership would never drive the car long enough to replicate the issue as it usually begins after driving for about 30 - 45 minutes.
When I was driving my new 2023 Honda Civic Touring’s the engine started running rough and the check light indicators came on with the following items to “See your dealer” despite this car being less than 3 months old and with just over 1,000 miles on the odometer: - Brake System Problem… - Electric Power Steering System Problem… - Electric Parking Brake System Problem… - Tire Pressure Monitor System Problem… - Emission System Problem… Some of these above items negatively affect the safe operation of the vehicle and increase risk to the occupant(s). After coordinating with the Honda dealership where we purchased this Civic and the Honda Roadside Assistance, they towed our disabled Civic to the closest Honda dealership. A Honda Service Advisor informed us our Civic had a major engine issue (cracked engine block) which was a manufacturer's defect. After 36 days they completed the major warranty repairs totaling over $6,000 (primarily replaced the engine short block which eliminated the above listed issues). It should be noted, the two local Honda dealerships and Honda Roadside Assistance (1-800-864-5211) were very professional and helpful. However, to our surprise the American Honda Motor Co, Inc; Honda Automotive Customer Service, [XXX] ) has been unresponsive. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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.
Sticky steering when travelling above 25mph--both driving straight and in a turn. Must over-correct to compensate for sticky electronic steering. Trunk/hatch leaks water
The contact owns a 2023 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle jumped and veered to the right independently. The contact stated that the failure recurred several times while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the steering rack was replaced under NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V704000 (Steering) however; the failure recurred several weeks later. The contact stated that the failure had recurred while driving and exceeding 50 MPH. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the steering rack had failed and needed to be replaced; however, the parts to repair the vehicle was not available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 9,776.
The steering intermittently sticks. While driving, both at speed and slow speeds, there is a noticeable sometimes unnerving sticking that occurs, where I have to push the wheel to get it to return to wheels straight. I can reproduce while stopped when it occurs. When driving at highways speeds it makes keeping the car driving straight difficult and i have to be careful to not over push the wheel for fear of losing control.
Experiencing sticky or notchy steering at moderate and highway speeds. Started when odometer hit 4500 miles. I called the dealer and referenced Service Bulletin 23-037. Dealer informed me I would have to pay a $148 diagnostic fee for them to even look at it.
I believe my steering has failed. I got it looked at, the dealership reported that nothing was wrong with it. My safety is at risk because it is hard to steer. It jerks on the highway. I believe it is cause my wheels/tires to also jerks and swivel. My car feels very shaky on the highway. I have not taken it to another mechanic because the dealership has already said they would not reimburse me if someone else replaced it. I have a warranty and do not want to pay a crazy amount of money if the dealership will cover it anyways.
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.
The steering wheel sticks at the 12:00 position when driving at cruising speeds. Then, I have to use force to adjust the steering wheel while tracking down the road. The steering wheel breaks free and causes me to oversteer in that direction and I have to quickly steer back. It happens 50% of the time I’m driving over 60mph.
Electronic Power Steering Gear Box. See TSB 23-037. Steering does not respond as it should. When driving either in a straight line or in a turn, the EPS (electronic power steering) motor fails to sufficiently adhere to driver input (left or right turn). Problem was witnessed by service manager Tony Rocha of Ed Morse Honda 3790 W Blue Heron Blvd, Riviera Beach, FL 33404, (561) 508-8639. Tony drove my car with 36,616 miles and agreed that the steering is "sticking". In order to maintain a lane or make turns, extra force application is required by driver resulting in extremely dangerous oversteering. I am afraid to drive because I cannot sufficiently maintain control of the vehicle. The part has not been inspected because Honda does not employ electrical engineers at their service centers and no mechanic is qualified to understand this system. The only way to identify the problem part is through the symptoms of sticking steering as outlined in TSB 23-037. No warning message or code appears. The problem is persistent not intermittent. It is important to note that Honda recently issued recall 23V-703 in regards to incorrect stroke length of steering rack but this is a separate issue that is being confused/conflated by the service department. Problem is apparent from a standstill and at all speeds. Problem persists with or without LKAS and Lane Departure Mitigation.
At approximately 15,000 miles we started noticing steering issues. We've had the steering wheel lock up on the highway. I was attempting to make a minute correction to stay in my lane and was unable to move to the steering wheel. I had to grab the wheel with both hands and jerk forcefully to free the wheel up. Most of the time the steering issue is more subtle. Varies between momentary locking to momentary steering lash. The dealer stated no service bulletins or recalls affecting my VIN. No vehicle warning lights associated with the steering issue. I have not yet had the dealer test drive it. I feel the issue is too subtle most of the time for someone who had not been driving the vehicle since new to notice.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026