2020 Honda Civic Steering
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
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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.
The steering wheel becomes "sticky" and requires more force than usual to move it to the right or left. This is particularly noticeable when driving in a straight line, and the issue becomes apparent after driving for roughly 10 minutes. This causes an overcorrection when making minor adjustments to stay centered in a lane. Doing further research online reveals that many others are having the same issue with their 10th generation Honda Civics, and many dealers are attributing the issue to the Electronic Power Steering system (EPS). A replacement EPS rack costs thousands to replace, making it unobtainable for some. There have been no codes or warning lights, and the issue has been going on for at least a year.
While driving vehicle down the road the steering wheel sticks for a second or two then releases. This caused the car to veer off course until corrected. This has happened on a regular basis. I took it to dealership but they stated there were no recalls for the vehicle
The steering wheel tightens up when going on the highway. Researching the internet it is for a lot of Honda Civic models. People in the internet call it "sticky steering wheel" & that is exactly how it feels. It is a safety concern.
Steering is very sticky and fights me to correct to center. It is especially bad at high speeds and wet road conditions. It is unsafe to have to fight my steering wheel when correcting back to straight after a curve in the road. Dealership has been notified and was dismissed as caused by wind. Alignment has been corrected and it is still an issue. No dash warning lights. Just difficulty steering on a daily basis.
At high speeds and exceptionally worse during rainy weather, my steering is very sticky and fights me to maintain my lane. It is tough to make micro adjustments to stay straight and it sticks harder making a curve and coming back to straight. I have made my concerns with my dealership who said they felt it but blamed it on high winds at the time. It has not been rectified in non windy weather. It feels very unsafe while driving highway speeds. There are several of the same complaints from the same make and model year of this car on many forums
After about twenty minutes of driving the vehicle, the steering wheel will become notchy and sticky feeling, making it hard to perform slight adjustments in the steering while driving in a straight line. This sticky steering feeling causes me to overcorrect in my steering because I am forced to fight the steering wheel. This becomes a larger issue at highway speeds, as this sticky steering issue can make it hard to keep the vehicle in a straight line which poses a safety concern for me and other drivers on the road. My vehicle has not been inspected by anyone. I am open to having my vehicle inspected for this issue. My vehicle has around 54,000 miles.
The steering wheel will often stick while turning at high speeds on the high way, causing forceful correction of the steering wheel for it to un stick. This also happens at moderate speeds on city roads. The force required to unstick the steering wheel can cause sharp swerving motions with the car. This can be unsafe.
Electronic power steering was checked at Honda Jeff Wyler.Cost me $179.00. They are charging me $3200.00 and I have to fix this because this has been going on for a yr and has become increasingly difficult to drive. I am fixing it this week, with our savings.The steering sticks and then over corrects constantly. I am an UBER DRIVER, so driving others. Someone asked me if I was ok because they saw the jerking and was concerned. No warning lights. I searched Google and saw the beginning of a class action for the 2022 and 2023 civic. But not for 2020. We have to do something before I risk my and others lives. Another concern is that my wife and 2 daughters have 2020 Hondas as well. The cost is extremely high for cars that normally take 6 yrs to pay for. We are [XXX] and don't have an income that can easily afford this. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Steering sticks while driving causing over correction in turns. And sticks in turnes Brought the car to doggett honda of beaumont and they found that the gear box eps has internal failure.
Steering sticks to one side, especially at highway speeds. For example, if you're going around a left hand curve, you can let go of the wheel and the car will continue turning left. When changing the steering direction at highway speeds, especially to maintain lane position, the steering initially has high resistance, then seems to suddenly release and the vehicle darts to the side. Confirmed that no driver assist was active when seeing this behavior. Have not taken it in to be examined, no warning lamps or messages.
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was drifting to the left. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that after a while, the contact started to hear an abnormal ticking sound coming from the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer and was informed that the power steering rack was defective and needed to be replaced; however, the part needed for the repair the vehicle was on backorder. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.
When turning the steering wheel, there is a clicking sound and a notchy feeling where the steering wheel seems to become stuck for a split second when making steering adjustments. It is worse when turning to the right but happens when turning left as well. During high speed driving such as the highway or roads above 45 mph, this can cause issues with maintaining the car's direction and leads to overcorrecting when the wheel becomes stuck and then breaks loose causing dangerous swerving into nearby lanes. The vehicle has never been in an accident and has not had any modifications. The problem arose around the 30k mile mark and has gotten progressively worse. The issue has not been inspected by any organization or separate party yet. There are no warning lights of error codes showing, only the sound and the feeling of the sticky steering. Component is available for inspection upon request.
THE STEERING IS VERY STICKY. IT CATCHES MOSTLY TO THE LEFT AND WILL HOLD ITS POSITION TAKING YOU INTO OTHER LANE UNLESS YOU YANK IT BACK. IT STARTED ONLY AT HIGH SPEEDS NOW IT DOES IT ALL THE TIME. CAR SEEMS TO PULL TO LEFT IF YOU HAVE HAND ON WHEEL BUT GOES STRAIGHT IF YOU LET GO. IT WILL CATCH AND DART SHARPLY IN AND OUT OF LANES WITH THE SLIGHTEST MOVE. NOT ENJOYABLE DRIVING AT ALL.THERES BEEN NO WARNING LIGHTS OF ANY KIND. I GOT CAR AT 45000 MILES AND THIS STARTED AT 50000.DONT KNOW IF ITS RACK OR STEERING MOTOR BUT IT NEEDS TO BE RECALLED.CAUSES EXTREMLY ERATIC DRIVING.SO DAYS ITS ALMOST UNDRIVABLE.
The steering wheel sticks at times. Driving straight and in turns. It's a slight stick, but increasingly more noticeable. While driving straight it happens if I don't touch the wheel for a few seconds. Then I'll need to make a minor correction and it's stuck. I have to put some decent pressure on the wheel to make it unstuck, which causes an over-correction. If i steadily make corrections it doesn't stick. Same in a turn. If I am making a slow or wide turn, wheel stays in same position for a second, it doesn't just roll out of the turn easily. I have to force it to come out of the turn. Again once it's unstuck it feels fine. Leaving it in one position for more than a second or two initiates the stuck
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the steering wheel inadvertently seized, causing him to temporarily lose control of the vehicle. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle; however, the failure persisted. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to his residence nearby using his physical strength to steer the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the electrical wiring harness had been chewed by rodents, which caused the electrical failure. The contact notified a second unknown dealer for second opinion, and the second dealer advised that the failure could also be a manufacturing defect. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
The contact owned a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact's son was driving the vehicle at 30 mph and while making a right turn, the vehicle failed to turn to cause the driver to crash into a city bus head-on. The air bags on the driver's side and the passenger side did deploy but did not fully inflate. The contact's son and passenger were not taken to the hospital or received medical treatment. The contact's son later went to seek medical attention and was found to have suffered a concussion. The passenger in the front seat hit his head on the windshield and also did seek medical attention. The police were on the scene and filed a report. The vehicle was declared a total loss by the contact's insurance company. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.
My steering wheel was not aligned after multiple services. I also heard a weird sound coming from the left of the car. Moreover, I feel like the car is not even and pulling to the left. Therefore, I bought this car for about a year and I need to do alignment 3 times. It is strange because the new car cannot so many problems unless the car is lemon.
Twice within a one week period, some type of animal, most likely a rodent, ate through my power steering harness rendering all safety features on the car inoperable. The car was undriveable as the steering wheel could not be turned. The dealership advised that the wiring for this vehicle is made of soy which is a food source for animals. Honda is aware of this issue and now stocks rodent tape to use over the wires. Honda should not be building automobiles with soy based wiring. No other vehicle sin my lot were affected--just mine because it was a Honda. I have the harnesses from the dealership showing where they were chewed on. The dealership is aware of other customers with this same problem. It is most definitely a safety hazard. Wires that were not completely chewed through could fail while the car is operating causing injury and/or fatality. This issue has existed for several years with Honda and they have not changed their manufacturing. Class action lawsuits were necessary. These vehicles should be recalled for replacement of a power steering harness that is not made of soy. My complaint to Honda was given a case number, but I have not been provided any status even after calling for same.
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Quick Summary
The 2020 Honda Civic has 19 Steering complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.