2022 Honda Civic: What to check before buying

Sudden stiffness or a full lockup while driving is the core failure, and some cars pull or veer on their own. Reports cite speeds from 30 to 56 mph. This is the largest complaint area by far, with 27 crashes and 9 injuries, including impacts with barriers, poles and trees. Many reports tie the problem to recall campaigns 23V704000 and 24V744000. Owners describe recall parts not yet available, dealers unable to reproduce the fault, and owners paying for steering rack replacement or crash repairs themselves.

Cruise control shuts off on the highway with a beep and no warning light, then refuses to re-engage until the car is stopped and restarted. Both adaptive and regular cruise are affected, and the car slows with traffic behind it. Many cars show it early, some at 800 to 1,500 miles. Dealers often find no codes and cannot reproduce it. A software service bulletin exists, though one owner says the update did not fix it. Other reports describe hard, unexplained braking with a "Brake" message at highway speed.

Clusters of driver-assist warnings appear at random, such as collision mitigation and adaptive cruise faults, and switch off lane keeping and cruise until they clear. One dealer traced this to the radar sensor and fixed it with a software update. Other reports describe cruise dropouts, stalling at lights with auto idle stop, sudden emergency braking at highway speed, and intermittent driver door locks. A few describe total power loss with the steering locked and doors that would not unlock. One crash involved the steering locking.

Phantom braking is the main pattern. The car brakes hard with nothing ahead, sometimes at 65 mph with traffic behind. One such event led to an injury. Other reports describe adaptive cruise cancelling and refusing to resume until a restart, and the system losing track of vehicles in darkness and rain. One crash involved the system failing to slow for a stopped car. Warning lights for the braking system come and go, and dealers often cannot replicate the problem.

Manual-transmission clutches slip or fail outright, leaving the car stuck in low gear or unable to engage a gear. Some owners report a burning smell or smoke in the cabin, and some cars need a tow. Failures cluster around 42,070 to 45,000 miles. Dealers call it premature wear. Owners note that bulletin SB-22017 covers 2020 and 2021 cars but not the 2022, so they pay for the repair. A few filings here describe steering lockups or engine failure.

Paint peels or bubbles, and exterior trim deforms around the mirrors, bumper and windshield molding within the first year or so. Water leaks through the inside hatch panel and trim. One trunk lid would not stay open and fell on an owner's arm, causing an injury. Other isolated reports cover a windshield crack with no impact at 2,000 miles, a gouged window that waited months for a replacement part, and a backup camera display that failed during parking.

Failure to deploy in a crash is the main concern. Reports include a stopped car rear-ended at 40 to 45 mph, a collision where the knee bags fired but the steering wheel bag did not, and a frontal impact with no deployment. These complaints involve 3 crashes and 4 injuries. Separately, a supplemental restraint warning appears and clears after a restart, with no fix reported. One report describes a seat belt that does not retract properly.

Serious engine failures appear in a handful of reports. One describes a fuel line leaking in the engine bay and catching fire, injuring the driver and totaling the car. Others describe a knocking engine failure at 14,216 miles blamed on a manufacturing defect, and a leaking fuel injector that destroyed the engine without coverage under TSB A18-025. Auto idle stop sometimes fails to restart the engine or restarts roughly. Oil leaks from the valve cover gasket and rear main seal also appear.