2016 Honda Civic

I began to experience 'sticky steering' before reaching 90k miles on my vehicle. At its worst, the steering issue would cause the driver to overcorrect when attempting to overcome the notch in the steering while simply trying to stay in the center of a lane on the interstate. Because it is a steering issue I had the vehicle inspected at a cost of $236.34, at which time it was recommended that the eps rack and gearbox be replaced at a cost of over $3000 dollars. I declined at that time and went back to my home dealership where the repair was done at a cost of $2055. The rack and gearbox were faulty and the service manager affirmed that it was a known issue on these models, but that Honda had yet to do a recall even though they have done recalls on later models.

Beginning in April 2024, I noticed that my steering wheel would catch slightly when I was driving straight ahead, so that I needed to overcorrect left and right, with resistance in the steering wheel (like it was moving between two notches). This would happen whenever I drove my car straight ahead. I took my car to the local dealer and, after the first visit where they said I should get four new tires in case stretched bands in my tires were causing the steering problem, on a second visit they diagnosed an internal rack problem and advised a steering rack replacement. The car mileage was slightly under 33,000 miles at this time. I reached out to American Honda about the problem, and after they reviewed my case, they provided some goodwill toward the steering rack replacement, they said in part because I've routinely taken my car to the local dealership for service. The steering rack was replaced in September 2024.

Experiencing the same sticky steering issue that a number of other customers have also reported. After driving the vehicle on the highway for 15+ minutes you will start to feel the steeling wheel stick at the center position when turning the wheel from the center position to the right. Have not had the vehicle inspected yet. No lights or sensors indicate any issue.

While driving the steering wheel becomes sticky. It is difficult to turn and requires varying levels of force, reducing accuracy and resulting in jerky movements, difficulty staying in the lines, and increasing risk of crash. No warning lights or errors are coming up for this issue. No other symptoms. Issue has been going on for about a year. If necessary I can get supporting documentation from a mechanic for this issue. No inspection from insurance or police.

When driving at highway speeds (generally around 50 to 80 mph), the steering wheel has a "sticky" feeling when trying to maintain a straight line. Making minor adjustments with the steering wheel requires excessive force to correct minor lane adjustments. This, in turn, creates a very unpleasant and unsafe driving condition as it feels like you are constantly fighting the steering wheel, just to maintain the center of your lane. Driving long periods like this also causes the driver to some what "fight" against the issue causing fatigue in the drivers hands, wrists, and arms. The larger concern is if this issue continues, or gets worse, this could easily lead to an increased risk of loss of control of the vehicle and/or crash. This seems related to a similar recall just issued by Honda for 1.7 million vehicles (including Civics) for 2022 - 2025 models by NHTSA.

Anytime I drive on the highway, the steering wheel begins to stick, causing me to need more force to correct, which causes overcorrection. I then have to correct the overcorrection which causes an overcorrection in the other direction because the steering wheel does not move smoothly. It's extremely frustrating and almost every time someone is following me, they call to ask if I'm all right due to the swerving. This can be a serious safety issue because of constant swerving due to how difficult it is to correct the car in the lane without overcorrecting, starting an overcorrection snowball. It also doesn't stop until the car is shut off and turned back on, in which case it starts up again once getting over 45mph.