2018 Honda Civic: What to check before buying

Sticking near center is the main failure. The wheel catches, then breaks free and jerks the car, so drivers overcorrect to stay in the lane. Reports describe notchy or heavy effort, a clicking noise, and a wheel that will not return to center. It is often worse at highway speed or once the car warms up. Onset falls between about 30,000 and 89,000 miles. Dealers blame the steering rack, with quotes as high as $6500, and a steering box recall leaves out many VINs. Of 253 complaints, 8 involve crashes, some after power steering suddenly failed or locked.

Most of these reports concern fuel system recall 23V858000, which owners cannot get done because dealers have no parts. Many say the wait has gone past a reasonable time, and one car failed a state inspection because the recall was still open. While they wait, some cars stall, start hard, or hesitate. The 2 crash reports describe a stall followed by loss of power steering and brake response, ending in an impact with air bag deployment.

Stalling, power loss on hills, and hesitation tie back to the fuel pump module recall, and most complaints are about getting that repair done. Owners describe waits from 6 months to more than a year. Recall letters say parts are ready while dealers say they are not, and one dealer refused the repair because no check engine light was on. Outside the recall, fuel injectors fail around 60,000 miles on the 1.5L turbo, and the fuel door actuator can buzz nonstop.

A failing body control module drains the battery, sets off the alarm, locks owners out, or keeps the engine running after shutdown. Some cars need the module replaced twice. The collision braking system can brake hard with nothing ahead, and lane keep and cruise control can cut out with false warnings. Air conditioning failures show up here too, in one case at 50000 and again at 75000 miles. One fire started inside the driver door of a parked car, and one owner suffered severe burns from a seat heater.

Gasoline gets into the engine oil. The oil reads overfull and smells of fuel, and some owners also smell gas in the cabin. These reports come from nearly new cars, some under 5,000 miles. Other owners describe misfires, rough idle, and sudden power loss traced to failed fuel injectors or a leaking head gasket. One dealer quoted $13,000 for a replacement engine. Another found a fractured short block after the car stalled and smoked at 36,000 miles.

Deployment fails in both directions. In several crashes, including rear impacts and a front driver-side hit, the bags do not deploy or only the passenger bag fires. In other cases a driver or passenger bag deploys with no impact at all, during a turn, over a speed bump, or at a few mph. These deployments crack the windshield and injure hands and lips. Some owners also see a warning light that comes and goes. The 19 complaints include 6 crashes and 13 injuries.

Paint peels, chips, and bubbles, most often on the hood, mirrors, and door handles, and some hoods begin to corrode. Owners of black and Sonic Gray Pearl cars say Honda denies coverage because their VIN or color is excluded. Glass also breaks with no impact: a sunroof shattered on the highway and a rear window broke on a parked car. Other reports cover a loose front bumper or skid plate and cracked window weather strips around 50,000 miles.

On manual cars, the transmission grinds or will not fully engage second and third gear, feels notchy, and resists going into reverse, sometimes from new. Other reports describe misfires that cause violent jerking and lost throttle response, and repeated no-starts from a drained battery. One engine overheated suddenly at 68,000 miles and drew a $9500 repair quote. One parked car rolled away in park and hit a tree, and one engine caught fire on the highway.

Heated seats can get hot enough to burn, and one passenger reports blisters after about 15 minutes of use. Other reports describe a driver seat bracket that bent forward in a crash and a height adjuster that grinds and skips positions. A passenger seat can also set off the seat belt chime on left turns. One owner blames the head restraint and seat shape for back pain, and in another report remote start does not turn on the heated seats.