2023 Acura Integra

The steering wheel in my car has been getting, what I can best describe as, "stuck" intermittently at various speeds. It's most noticeable when attempting to do minor corrections while driving straight. The wheel acts as though it does not want to budge prompting the driver to yank on it a bit to get it out of the "stuck" spot which then overcorrects. It was mostly annoying at first but is becoming dangerous. I went to the dealership today and the service tech told me this is an issue that others have reported but there's no recall or service bulletin for it. The car shows no warning lamps or messages but the problem is getting progressively worse and driving it is beginning to cause me anxiety. The car is less than a year old.

Steering difficulty at cruising speeds. Above 35mph, steering can become difficult to move. When the issue occurs, making any adjustment to the wheel requires increased effort. Vehicle feels unsafe and difficult to control. It seems to be an intermittent problem with electric power steering. Occurred September 30, 2023, October 1 2023, October 7 2023, and October 10, 2023. Conditions 65-75F and sunny near Raleigh, NC. Problem occurred in December/January 2023 on this vehicle at 4,400 miles. Has not occurred from February to September, now occurring again at 11,000 miles See also previous report 11549698 Problem has not been reproduced by dealer, happens intermittently. Not inspected by manufacturer and no warning lamps, messages or other indicators.

Driving at speeds above 35mph, steering requires extra effort. Intermittent problem, but began within 45 minutes of starting the vehicle. Once it occurs, it persists during the drive. At low speeds, steering feel is normal. When reaching 35mph and above the steering required significantly increased effort to adjust or correct. Prior to these incidents, steering was responsive and easy. However, when high effort is required, wheel would feel stuck in center position and require extra force to make small adjustments. At highway speeds this is more pronounced and feels unsafe, since it is more difficult to control the vehicle and requires strong grip with both hands. At the time it happened, vehicle was in Comfort mode with lane guidance disabled and lane departure assist disabled. Checked sport and normal modes too, no improvement. When it happens, switching drive modes or toggling assistance features do not make any difference. First occurrence was 12/19/2022. I made an appointment with the dealer on 01/25/2023. We were unable to reproduce the issue. No repair was made, and the vehicle indicated no fault codes. No warning lamps appeared. Conditions on 1/28/2023: 39F, Sunny. Drove 100mi in the morning (9AM-11AM). Parked for 6 hours and drove 100mi in the evening (5PM-7PM). Issue began at 9:45AM on Interstate 40 west of Durham NC and continued even after parking for 6 hours.

On Friday October 6, 2023 I was driving home from Goodson Acura of Dallas. I had brought my car here for service for a different issue. I noticed that on the highway the car's steering felt heavier than normal. I drove a bit more, and the steering seem to get "stuck" while the wheel was on center. The lane assistance option was turned off, even when turning the wheel slightly the car steering sort of got stuck in that point until I had to exert additional energy to turn it back to the position that I wanted. For five days I was driving a loaner 2023 Acura TLX while my Integra was being serviced for two separate issues. That vehicle did not exhibit any of the sticky steering behavior that I noticed on the Integra. This leads me to believe there is some type of defect in the part in the software, controlling the part potentially. Overall, I am not very confident in my car safety right now owning it for slightly under one year. Have not yet informed my Acura dealership and I'm a bit frustrated since they literally had my car from Monday when I dropped it off in the evening until Friday in the evening when I went to go pick it up. Upon further inspection it has been brought to my attention this is a known issue on certain Honda products, namely, the civic. The Integra the vehicle is based on the civic and shares many of the same components. I was hoping that by now there would be a permanent fix in place. Replacing a steering rack on a vehicle with less than 8000 miles seems extreme. I've been thinking about trading this car in, but it's likely that the new owner will run into the same issue, not to mention taking a financial hit from selling a one year old vehicle versus when I bought it new. I'm hoping the issue goes away on its own but I'm not feeling super confident right now.

If you search up Civic or “Integra sticky steering” on google theres been complaints about this. Basically the steering wheel developed a problem where it feels “sticky” when trying to adjust yourself while driving. I sometimes have to put more effort into a slight turn because theres resistance like theres a notch you have to get past to free the steering wheel. Sometimes the steering wheel does not adjust itself back to the nuetral position as if i have no power steering.

An issue with the electric power steering rack causes the steering to feel “sticky” or “notchy” when making small steering adjustments above 35 MPH, such as staying in the lane on the highway. The wheel tends to feel stuck at a certain position momentarily and requires additional force to “break loose”, then the power steering assist kicks back in and causes excessive steering input and swerving. Making small adjustments precisely is very difficult, and it severity increases could cause loss of control or unintentional swerving into other lanes. Dealer confirmed upon inspection that it was the same issue with the electric power steering rack that is currently under investigation by the NHTSA in the Integra’s sister car, the Honda Civic. The vehicles share a modular chassis platform. The Integra specifically shares a drivetrain and suspension components with the Civic Si. No warning lights or malfunctions are indicated in-vehicle. Knowing this led me to believe my vehicle was having this issue, which the dealership confirmed. Their tech believes the vehicle safe to drive, and I was denied a service loaner due to “not purchasing the vehicle at that dealer”. There is no ETA for arrival of replacement parts to the dealer. I was told the Honda equivalents were in stock, leading me to believe Honda/Acura and the dealership are aware of the malfunction or faulty design.

While driving, especially at speeds over 40 mph, the steering wheel will become slightly "frozen" where minor corrections or adjustments to the steering wheel cause the wheel to jerk or over-correct. This is especially noticeable at highway speeds. So far, the over-correction is not severe enough to cause me to depart my existing lane but at highway speeds, I've had a few close calls where simply the speed combined with traffic have made me very nervous and not fully in control. At first it would only happen occasionally but over the past several weeks, it has become a constant occurrence, every time I drive. Although the car is equipped with adaptive steering and lane keep assist, I do not have these functions active. It does not result in any warning lights or alarms. Additionally, I have tried changing the drive "modes" and found that it occurs in all modes, including normal, comfort, and sport. My vehicle currently has 9,000 miles. I took the vehicle to my local dealer last week (9/21/23) and after test driving it, they advised that the steering was functioning "as intended" and any oddities I was noticing were intentional. I do not accept this response and will be returning to the dealer again in the coming week or so to have them test again, once my schedule allows.