530,000 Hondas, Acuras under expanded NHTSA investigation for steering problem

Earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the 2022 and 2023 Honda Civic. The agency had received 145 complaints from owners stating that the car suddenly exhibited “sticky steering” and increased steering effort. We’re now learning that the investigation is expanding to include hundreds of thousands more cars.

The original probe included around 238,000 Civics, but the NHTSA’s latest report, issued Friday, noted that the investigation is expanding to include more than 530,000 Hondas and Acura vehicles. The 2022 and 2023 Honda Civic, 2023 Honda CR-V, and 2023 Acura Integra are affected. A drastic increase in complaints drove the expansion, as the NHTSA said it had received 1,300 reports and was aware of at least 14 crashes related to the problem.

An alarming 11 of those crashes involved a roadway departure due to loss of steering control. Two of them came after the driver allegedly overcorrected, and there are three known injuries from the crashes. NHTSA’s report found that the problem happened primarily in the winter months and after the car had been driven in a straight line for an extended period to warm up the vehicle and gear.