2018 Honda Civic

This vehicle has what sounds like the "Honda Civic Sticky Steering" issue that I've read about. I thought I was imagining the problem. At times, after the vehicle is warmed up and has been driven for 30 to 60 minutes, when small corrections are made to the steering wheel the wheel resists a little and additional force must be applied to the wheel to get the car to respond. This can cause the car to jerk slightly in the direction that the force is being applied by the steering wheel. The car will travel a bit too much and require a small amount of force to be applied to the steering wheel in the opposite direction. This causes the car to jerk back and forth a small amount. All appears to be good till the next change in the direction of travel is required and the same response occurs. I read last week about a lawsuit involving 2022 and 2023 Civics for this same type of issue. Online searches over the weekend turned up numerous complaints on 2016 - 2023 Honda Civic vehicles for this type of problem. Appreciate any feedback related to this issue from a safety standpoint. In my car this has been going on for quite some time, but, I thought I was imagining it till I noticed that other people have a similar problem. No warning lamps light up in the car at this point. Once it starts happening this happens repeatedly at speeds over 30 mph.

Failed component/system: Some portion of the steering system. Vehicle is available for inspection. When the vehicle warms up and is driven 20 to 40 mins, power steering becomes "sticky," requiring additional effort for driver input in order to overcome, which causes excessive oversteer (in either direction). At highway speeds, while making "micro-corrections" to the vehicle's trajectory, driving becomes unsafe as the unintended oversteer can get quite pronounced and often results in oversteer both in directions, in rapid succession. This issue has not been confirmed by a dealer or independent service center and would require a service tech to drive the automobile for up to 40 mins to confirm. The issue has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police insurance representatives or others. No warning lamps, messages or other symptoms associated with this issue have occurred. This issue occurs 100% of the time it's driven more than 20-40 minutes.

The contact’s daughter owns a 2018 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked abnormally while turning to the left or the right. The contact stated that on multiple occasions while making a left or a right turn, the steering wheel seized and required an aggressive turn of the steering wheel in the opposite direction to keep the vehicle straight. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering gear box assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V663000 (Steering). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered to cover half the cost of the repair. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 89,000. The VIN was unavailable.

At highway speeds, the steering wheel sticks in the center position. When turning to the right or left, it has a 3-4 inch free travel after the initial “stickiness” is broken. Honda dealer was unable to find any issues and recommended an alignment. Nothing changed. On second trip to the dealership they determined it was a faulty EPS which would require the replacement of the entire EPS rack at a cost of $4,200. The vehicle currently has 81,000 miles. The problem first appeared around 50-60K miles.

Steering wheel is starting to stick at high speeds, typically while driving on the highway. When you make small adjustments to stay straight/in the lane there is momentary resistance as if the power steering isn't working. I know this has been reported on 22-23 Civics, but if you look on forums it is happening in 16-18 models, and people are being told they need a whole new steering column for $3000 since it's out of warranty.

While driving at high speeds (>40mph) without turns, the steering wheel sticks at the center. It then requires relatively significant force and results in a jerk and steering overcorrection. The steering overcorrections is very dangerous when on high speed roads with oncoming traffic right next to you. The problem is reproducable at these speeds. No warning signals for this has occured. This has been occuring for a ~a month now 3/1/23.

I currently have 29, 078 MI on the car. It's an excellent condition. About a thousand miles ago it started to have a problem where the steering starts to stick in place and requires extra effort to turn it sometimes causing overcorrection. I started to look up online to see if there was a way to reset the power steering and found several other reports that alarmed me about the pattern of this issue. I'm still trying to figure out more detailed pattern to the problem and hopeful solution without having to replace the entire steering rack. The worst incident was on the highway in dry weather in which the steering kept sticking in place and would require extra pressure to adjust the steering wheel which repeatedly was causing overcorrection and near loss of control.

When I attempt to make minor adjustments at highway speeds to remain within the lines on straight roads it feels like the steering wheel is sticky and resists steering adjustments. In order to make steering adjustments due to this issue, I must greatly increase the pressure that I am exerting on the steering wheel to the left or right direction. Once the steering wheel finally gives to the pressure necessary that I have to exert to turn it, the pressure ends up being so great that it causes the vehicle to jerk in the direction I am steering. I then have to overcorrect back the opposite direction. This has been happening for several months at minimum and the vehicle has less than 26000 miles on it. When I purchased the vehicle 8 months ago it only had 12500 miles on it. This also has been occurring when turning through curves lately, however instead of resisting my attempt to turn the wheel it feels as though it pulls harder into the direction that I am turning. After some research it appears as though the malfunction comes from the EPS system. No warning lights have illuminated for the duration that I have owned or driven the car. I am concerned that this problem could cause an accident due to not being able to control the car or react effectively in a defensive driving scenario. The car has not been inspected by any dealership or manufacturer.

At highway speeds, the steering 'sticks' - thus requiring more significant effort to make minor adjustments (sometimes leading to over-correction). The problem is difficult to reproduce for a dealer or service center as it only happens at highway speeds and seems to be most prevalent when holding a straight steering path for a period of time and then trying to make a minor adjustment.