Civic (11th)

The 11th-generation Honda Civic, launched for 2022 on Honda's compact-car architecture, has accumulated 1,449 NHTSA complaints across four model years against a compact-sedan segment median near 29 complaints per year. That works out to roughly 362 complaints per year for the Civic, more than twelve times the segment median. The character of the generation is dominated by one component: steering.

Steering accounts for 1,132 of the 1,449 complaints on this generation, or 78%. Both the base 2.0-liter K20C2 (158 horsepower) and the 1.5-liter turbo L15B7 (180 horsepower) log the issue, with 624 and 491 steering complaints respectively. NHTSA acted on the pattern in March 2024 with a sweeping recall covering 2022-2025 Civic, Civic Hatchback, Civic Hybrid, and Civic Hatchback Hybrid (plus the Acura Integra, CR-V, and CR-V Hybrid built on related steering hardware), citing a steering gearbox assembly that may have been manufactured incorrectly and produce excessive internal friction leading to difficulty steering the vehicle. A smaller October 2023 recall earlier covered service-replacement racks that were assembled incorrectly during dealer repairs.

Outside steering, the failure profile is small in absolute terms but not trivial. Safety systems generated 221 complaints across the generation, electrical 62, brakes 8. The 2025 Civic Hybrid (LFC3 2.0-liter, 141 horsepower) arrived recently enough that its NHTSA record is thin at 33 complaints in its debut model year, but it shares the steering gearbox concern through the March 2024 recall. The Civic Type R, with the K20C1 315-horsepower engine, posts only 8 complaints across two model years and runs in the cleanest tier, although Type R production volumes are too low for the comparison to mean much against the mass-market trims.

The 11th-generation Civic replaces the 10th generation (2016-2021), and the steering complaint cluster on the new car is a generation-specific issue rather than a carryover. Honda's March 2024 recall is the central piece of remediation. The open question for buyers is whether the recall remedy fully resolves the underlying gearbox behavior, since complaint reports continued to come in after the recall announcement. Other recalls cover a 2023-only VSA brake-hold modulator leak, a 2023-2024 driver seat cushion frame weld issue, and a 2025 high-pressure fuel pump that may crack and leak fuel on Civic Hybrid and standard Civic models.

The 11th-generation Civic still makes sense for buyers who want a Honda compact and are willing to confirm completion of the open steering recall before the keys change hands. The base K20C2 and the turbo L15B7 share the steering issue equally, so engine choice does not insulate a buyer from the central concern.