Complaint volume
129 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Honda Civic Complaints
129 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Honda Civic, grouped by component category.
129 Total complaints
5 Crash reports
2 Fire reports
1 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are steering, forward collision avoidance, air bags. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 5 crash reports, 2 fire reports, 1 injury report, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 12 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 37,704 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to steering, forward collision avoidance, air bags?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Honda Civic?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Honda Civic
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Honda Civic complaints?
5 Crash
2 Fire
1 Injury
0 Fatality
3 Towed
1 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Honda Civic complaint categories?
STEERING 46
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 12
AIR BAGS 8
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 6
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 2
SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2
129 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | STEERING | Vehicle: 2021 Honda Civic Mileage: Approximately 58,000 miles Over the past couple of months, I have experienced a steering issue that appears to be worsening. While driving at highway speeds, the steering wheel intermittently feels as though it “sticks” or catches near center, requiring constant small corrections to maintain a straight path. The steering does not feel smooth or normal and creates difficulty maintaining lane position comfortably. I have also noticed similar catching/resistance during sharper turns at moderate speeds. To attempt to resolve the issue, I have: * Replaced a flat tire * Had two separate wheel alignments performed *opened case with Honda directly Neither repair corrected the issue. The symptoms appear similar to “sticky steering” complaints and steering investigations reported on newer Honda Civic models. Because this issue affects steering control and highway driving, I believe it may present a potential safety concern. The problem occurs intermittently but repeatedly during normal driving conditions and is most noticeable at higher speeds. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2026 | STEERING | Steering rack binds and requires extra effort to return to center. Specifically for me, when proceeding on a long curve that requires me to turn my steering wheel left more than like 40 degrees the steering will "stick" in place and won't automatically return to center when releasing the wheel requiring me manually start returning the wheel to center before it will auto center. It happens after having driven for about 20 or more minutes. It happens at smaller degrees when driving at highway speeds trying to keep the car centered in the lane. (Adjusting the wheel to the left more then 5 degrees will cause the steering wheel to stick left requiring manually effort to return to center.) I informed my dealership (Metro Honda of Jersey City) of the steering feeling sticky but they couldn't replicate it at the time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2026 | STEERING | At speeds between 40 and 70 my 2021 Honda Civic EX Hatchback steering feels sticky when making small adjustments. There is a slight resistant in steering when a slight correction is needed. Once that resistant is overcome, the steering wheel jerks in the direction of the correction potentially causing an over correction. This is a safety problem and can cause an accident. I am not seeing any warning lights or warning noises. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2026 | STEERING | The steering wheel gets stuck in lock position making the steering wheel feel sticky. Issue happens at highway speeds of around 40-60mph causing to overcorrect while driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | POWER TRAIN | The clutch began slipping while driving vehicle. Lost power and could not accelerate while on highway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | ENGINE | While driving the car began to smoke from under hood and engine stopped. Interior and under hood flooded with smoke and fire under hood. This was a major fire, fire company put it out. No repairs were made or needed on car since purchase October 2024. | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | The Steering Gearbox, Electronic Power Steering failed. The steering was resistant and sticks on the highway, causing jerking and overcorrection to control the vehicle. This was with both manual driving and Lane Assist. Took the vehicle to the local Honda dealership, they confirmed the problem, and replaced the steering gearbox, EPS, because it was still under warranty. However, this is the same exact part and this problem will occur again. The car did not display any warnings. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | STEERING | There’s a sticky notch in my steering that becomes noticeable at highway speeds. I see later models (2022-) already have been recalled by the exact issue is happening on my relatively new 2021 Civic | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | TIRES | I went to my dealership for the recall on November seventh of 2025 and the service crew notified me that my car did not have the lug nuts Honda was worried about. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | STEERING | My steering wheel becomes "sticky" when I am accelerating 40mph and up. It is hard to make minor corrections without potentially over correcting due to the stickiness. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2026 | STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Steering wheel seems to "stick" when positioned in the center and "unsticking" it requires extra effort causing the wheel to jerk free and making you overcorrect for what would be a minor lane adjustment. It causes you to zig zag back and forth in your lane as you try to correct each time the steering wheel stick. It has happened to me multiple times on multi hour drives on the highway and persists until the end of the drive. The vehicle has not been inspected yet by any professionals and the first signs of the sticking issue appeared several weeks ago beginning this winter. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2026 | LANE DEPARTURE | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the Lane Keep Steering Assist failed to function as intended. In addition, the contact stated that the steering wheel was sticking. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to two dealers, and the vehicle was diagnosed with steering rack assembly failure. The contact was informed that the steering rack assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the contact stated that the failure was a known failure with the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 36,200. | Crash: No Fire: No | 36,200 |
| Jan 2026 | STEERING | Vehicle is experiencing sticky steering. Same as discovered in recall report 24V-744. A ton of 10th generation owners are experiencing the same exact problems. You have over 1,200 reports on record for the 10th generation years. Please do something about this, it would be easy to add additional years into the report and get Honda to fix these cars before more people get hurt. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2026 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while driving approximately 37 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The check engine, master cylinder, and adaptive cruise control warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the brake master cylinder, fuel pump, and ignition coils needed to be replaced. The contact researched and was made aware of an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 108,000 |
| Dec 2025 | STEERING | My car has sticky steering when making turns and has a difficult time making micro adjustments. This appears to be the same issue that there is a recall for but my VIN is not recalled. This is a huge safety issue as the steering is more difficult to control on the highways, turning on and off ramps, driving straight, etc. I find myself having to pull the wheel back to center to straighten it out after a turn and when making adjustments on the highway, the wheel jerks back and forth. Honda has refused to fix the issue since I am 9k miles out of warranty. The dealer diagnosed my issue as an internal failure of Honda's part and wants to charge me $5400 to replace their faulty steering rack. They refuse to cover this because I am out of warranty even though this is a safety issue and is the result of their faulty part. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2025 | STEERING | Steering is sticking. Honda has recalls for this exact issue for but not for 2021. The steering wheel sticks left or right and has to be forced out of the direction. Same exact symptoms as the current steering recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2025 | STEERING | I drive on the highway everyday to get to work and my steering makes it impossible to drive in a straight line it takes every bit of effort to remain in my lane and when I make a slight adjustment it reacts too much. It is unpredictable and it becomes obvious to drivers around me and makes me look like a bad/crazy driver. It becomes so overwhelming to drive to and from work that I don't want my car anymore. Please investigate this. It is a big safety issue for me and the people on the road. I pray something is done about this problem that me and so many other civic owners are experiencing. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Nov 9th, 3:00pm, Fruitridge Rd 35 mph, driving with foot on the gas The safety brake feature overrode my ability to drive by forcefully coming to a complete stop while flashing 'brake' messege appeared on dashboard. No car, item or person was in front of me. The car behind me (who was also going around 35 mph) almost hit me and drove off angrily. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I have been calling my local dealership for over a year trying to get my car fixed due to the recall and the dealership keeps saying they do not have the parts and will call when they do. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Civic. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The infotainment system in these vehicles is poor when using the navigation. Having the phone connected via wire will cause the phone and infotainment system to malfunction constantly causing restarts and making the mobile device extremely hot too the touch. The android auto function in the car loses connection and begins to cause the arrow marker to jump around on the map causing confusion, turn directions down wrong roads causing drivers to enter areas of no thruway due to a business being there. Researched this for 2 years and there is no current fix from HONDA other owners through REDDIT have the same issue and have been told by HONDA that nothing can be done to fix the hardware system. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2025 | STEERING | When I’m turning, the steering wheel gets sticky/stuck in place. Whenever it unlocks, it’s usually a very jerky movement: | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | A recent Electric Power Steering (EPS) failure on my 2021 Honda Civic that resulted in a repair of the entire steering rack. I took my vehicle to Vandedrgriff dealership for routine maintenance, including tire replacement, alignment, oil change, and a multi-point inspection. The car passed all checks and was deemed safe to drive. However, immediately after leaving, the steering became sticky and difficult to control on the freeway — a serious safety risk. Upon returning the next day, I was informed of an internal EPS failure, with a repair estimate exceeding $4,584.30. I later discovered this failure involves a part number tied to a known Honda recall. Although my VIN is not currently part of the recall, the symptoms and overall failed part match exactly. The failure occurred immediately after authorized dealership service without warning. The EPS unit is associated with a known defect. The failure occurred just outside the 3-year warranty and before its time. An EPS is guranteed good over 100,00 miles. The issue created a dangerous situation on the road. Honda America Corporate has inspected the vehicle and refused to cover the repair because I am right outside of my warranty. I am a loyal Honda customer and trust in Honda's commitment for safety and customer satisfaction. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | STEERING | While driving at interstate speeds and turning left into a curve the steering wheel sticks and you have to forcibly pull it back to drive straight jerking the vehicle dangerously. Possibly a known steering rack issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | STEERING | At higher speeds the steering wheel sticks, this make making minor corrections to stay within the lane difficult, subsequently causing the vehicle to swerve while making these adjustments. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |