Steering, lane departure and forward collision avoidance issues are the main causes of complaints based on our research
Is your hood shaking? Read about our CR-V Hood Shaking Class Action Investigation.
Side Mirror Vibration? Read about our CR-V Side Mirror Vibration Class Action Investigation.
A popular SUV first introduced as a 1997 model, the 2023 Honda CR-V is the first of the 6th generation, and it offers a myriad of new features. The manufacturer says the “all-new” model is “perfect for daily life or weekend escapes.” But owners who have experienced faulty steering, emergency brake and Lane Keeping Assist malfunctions, a less than perfect electrical system, or side mirror vibrations, don’t agree.
Click on other model year to view more problems: 2019 2020 2021 2022
Owners have filed hundreds of complaints to the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) about the 2023 Honda CR-V. More than 72% of these relate to steering issues, making other problems pale in comparison. Other components with a relatively substantial number of complaints are forward collision avoidance, the electrical system, and visibility, with the driver’s side mirror causing the majority of problems.
Other components and systems listed in complaints include the airbags, backover prevention, engine, exterior lighting, fuel system, brakes, powertrain, seats, structure, suspension, traction control system, vehicle speed control, and wheels.
There are three recalls that affect the 2023 Honda CR-V as well as an ongoing NHTSA investigation. The investigation and one of the recalls relate to steering issues. The other two recalls are because of passenger seats that may not have been properly welded and fuel pumps inside the fuel tank that may fail.
The 2023 CR-V is the only Honda vehicle implicated in the seat recall, with 98 units potentially affected. Nearly 2.5 million Hondas are affected by the gasoline fuel system recall. The 2023 CR-V is one of many.
The Honda CR-V is one of many Honda vehicles manufactured between 2022 and 2025 to be included in the steering recall. NHTSA Campaign Number 24V744000 was issued on October 3, 2024, warning specific owners that the steering gearbox assembly may have been manufactured incorrectly. This fault can cause excessive internal friction and lead to difficulty steering the vehicle. Since its announcement, the safety recall repair method has been updated several times.
The investigation was opened on March 17, 2023 by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), initially to investigate problems with “sticky steering” in 2022 and 2023 Honda Civic vehicles. This resulted in a momentary increase in steering effort and occurred mostly in vehicles with low mileage. It subsequently expanded its scope to include both Honda CR-V and Acura Integra models.
“The steering gear contains a unit that includes a worm gear and a worm wheel. Honda stated this condition of momentary increase in steering effort occurs due to two factors within this unit. During manufacturing, the worm wheel goes through annealing and component conditioning processes. These processes caused internal stress and strain within the worm wheel. This strain was slowly released over the first few months of the vehicle life. Over time, the released strain caused the deformation of the teeth on the worm wheel, causing the worm gear to catch on the worm wheel. This results in the consumer’s momentary increase in steering effort. Also, the manufacturing process did not guarantee consistent grease application and therefore, some vehicles within the scope received too little grease which contributes to the momentary increase in steering effort.”
Since it launched the investigation, the ODI states that it has continued to receive ongoing complaints, 13 of which involve crashes and 11 allege “roadway departure.” There are 64 documents on file.
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| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Steering | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Electrical System | |
| Lane Departure: Assist | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking | |
| Service Brakes | |
| Visibility/wiper | |
| Lane Departure: Warning | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control | |
| Structure:body |
There are hundreds of complaints about steering. Many of them report sticky steering, and it appears that a large number of owners are unaware of the ongoing NHTSA investigation. The question is, do dealerships know about the issue?
An owner from California lodged a complaint about the issue on June 27, 2024, stating that the dealership said “they had never heard of such (a) thing that the steering wheel (was) sticking.” He had taken the vehicle to Honda to have it serviced and reported that the steering wheel was sticking whenever he drove and made turns or changed lanes. However, the dealership also stated that there was a back order on “this car part” and were unable to tell the owner when they would receive it. It took more than a month to get it fixed.
Another Californian owner states that the steering started to feel sticky after driving only a few thousand miles. The “rigid or sticky steering” begins after 10-15 minutes of driving, irrespective of whether on the highway or local streets, and it feels very rigid to turn. “This is a safety concern as the car does not go how we want during driving, which can lead to severe accidents. I’ve reported these issues the last three times when I took the car to service at verified Honda service centers, and none of them accepted or looked at the issue.”
While steering complaints date back to May 2023, the first mention of sticky steering in a complaint relates to an incident on July 10, 2023. A New York owner states: “The car has a very sticky feeling when steering. The car is very hard to steer at higher speeds and makes it very hard to maneuver in case of emergency. The steering locks and gets super hard to turn at speeds greater than 20 mph. I have already been in a minor accident when I couldn’t swerve away from a car coming into my lane.”
An owner from Alabama says that sticky steering makes it difficult to keep the car going straight as the steering adjustments can’t be gradual. “This occurs in straight lines, gradual turns and around tight corners. Issue starts around 30 mph and gradually gets worse as speed increases. As of now, this is resulting in the dealer replacing the rack and pinion assembly.” There is no indication of whether or not this repair was successful.
An owner from Texas describes it as an inconsistency with the steering fork as the driver increases speed. “You are constantly adjusting the steering wheel to correct for direction. However, instead of a smooth turn of the steering wheel, the turn feels like you have hit a flat spot on a gear causing you to oversteer!”
When attempting to turn left, an Arizona owner found there was resistance from the steering. “Initially it felt like a minor problem but then at higher speeds, like taking left hand curves on the freeway at 45 miles an hour, the car started abruptly jerking to the right. I had to fight the steering to try to keep the car in my lane but it slightly went into the right lane momentarily. I got off the freeway at the next exit and drove slowly on surface streets to get home. The next morning I took the car into the Honda service department to address this issue. I was told the steering unit needed to be replaced but the parts were unavailable. After several days I have yet to find out how long until parts can be delivered. There were no warning signals or messages from the car prior to this issue. The car is presently at the Honda service department. It will remain there until it can be repaired and is safe to drive again.”
In August 2023, an owner from Florida was told that the reason the CR-V was difficult to steer was because of a faulty power steering rack. In an NHTSA complaint dated June 3, 2024, he states that the parts needed for the repair had been on since January 2024. Initially he was told they would be available in April, and then September 2024. “This is a new vehicle and I was told to be careful driving! This is a serious concern!”
Another Florida owner was told the problem was the power steering column. In March they estimated it would take six months to get the part. Since then, the dealer has refused to do the work on my car, despite it being under warranty.”
Some of the lane departure complaints are coupled with the sticky steering issue. Some owners identify that a Lane Keeping Assist system malfunction happens at the same time as the steering becomes “sticky.” Others simply link lane departure with steering issues.
An owner from Alabama states that “lane departure correction will occur when you are nowhere near the line. This has resulted in over-correcting steering by the car and has almost caused wrecks.”
“When I drove the vehicle at Highway Speed 60-70 around a curve stretch “the steering appeared to be restricted,” a Los Angeles owner states. It was “as if the road assistance was kicking in but I was not crossing another lane. It is pretty consistent.” The dealer identified the problem but said the part was not available.
An owner from Florida states that while driving at 40 mph, “the steering wheel was pulling to the right and to the left independently.” The driver was able to continue driving, although the message, “Contact Dealership. Driver Assist Trying to Engage By Itself” was displayed. The dealer confirmed that it was a known failure, however the parts for the repair were not available.
An owner from Georgia succinctly describes the problem. “The steering, after a few miles, feels sticky. The steering wheel will softly jerk on the highway. Almost feels like adjusting for lane departure, but I am not departing the lane. This also causes lane keeping to feel jerky.”
According to an owner from California, the “steering sticks when going over any sort of lane departure. This is dangerous when exiting a tight off ramp or coming on a tight onramp. Once the steering wheel sticks it takes a second or two to unstick causing some near crashes for sure.” The dealership wasn’t able to replicate the issue.
An owner from Florida doesn’t mention sticky steering, but says something similar. “The steering wheel jerks while driving as if the lane keep assist was engaged. Steering becomes difficult because you have to constantly move the jerky steering wheel to keep the car in the lane.”
Describing it as an intermittent problem, an owner from Minnesota notices the problem most when driving on freeways at speed. “The lane keeping assistance seems to cause the steering to become ‘sticky’ while freeway driving. It becomes difficult to turn the steering wheel (in) small amounts, like it’s stuck, and applying extra force to steer causes over correction.
A common issue linked to forward collision avoidance is emergency brake system failure. This is another ongoing problem. First reported to NHTSA in March 2023, these complaints have continued through October 2024.
In a complaint dated March 25, 2023, an owner tells who he experienced the problem on February 25 that year. “The Automatic Emergency Braking abruptly stopped while traveling 50 mph without any obstructions in front of me, almost causing a rear-end collision from the car behind me. In addition the stop caused minor whiplash.”
On October 9, 2024, an owner from Alabama described how the system failed while driving in snowy conditions. “My vehicle slammed on the brakes and sensed a collision. The sensors were covered with snow, and typically, the sensors will turn off when they are obstructed.” He was traveling at 30-35 mph in 1-2 inches of snow at the time.“I cannot stress how dangerous this is while driving in adverse conditions with other vehicles around you to have your vehicle come to an immediate stop. This continued to happen 4 more times while driving at lower speeds, during turns, driving in parking lots.”
Describing an incident that occurred on September 26, 2024, another owner states that the automatic emergency braking system engaged for no reason several times. “The vehicle applies the brake quickly with nothing in front or to the side of the vehicle. This sudden braking has almost caused me to be rear-ended and has also caused a slight case of whiplash. I’ve contacted my Honda dealer and while they say they’ve had complaints I am told there’s nothing in the works to remedy the issue. I was told to clean my vehicle front sensors (which were not dirty at the time of these instances) and that’s all I could do.”
There are varied complaints about the electrical system including issues with the infotainment system, warning signals spontaneously lighting up while driving, rear-view camera issues, and problems with the battery.
An owner from Alabama had a particularly stressful experience that the insurance deemed to be a manufacturing issue. The Honda CV-R was parked when it was destroyed by an electrical fire. “The fire seemed to start near the infotainment system and burned/melted the entire dash and consoles. The passenger airbag deployed and (the) windshield shattered. The interior roof (was) singed.
An owner from New York was shocked when a 2023 Honda CR-V owned for less than a month, with fewer than 1,000 miles on the clock, developed serious problems and wasn’t fit to be driven. In a complaint dated March 1, 2023, the owner became aware of the problems when he got “a critical warning light that told me to stop driving as soon as possible because my 12 volt battery wasn’t charging and my vehicle was not safe to drive.”
The vehicle had to be towed to the dealership, where he learned that the power control unit needed to be replaced. While the dealership ordered the required part immediately, the owner was told it was available at the time. “This means my car will be at the dealership for more than 30 days. I thought this would qualify my car as a lemon under the lemon law. But the dealer is telling me this is not the case because they have ordered the part and it is back ordered.”
Much more recently, in a complaint dated September 16, 2024, an owner from Minnesota stated that the 12V starting battery “was completely discharged after sitting unused for 3 weeks. This happened again after it was jumped and driven. The dealership couldn’t identify a problem and said “this is normal vehicle behavior.” The owner, on the other hand, believes it is a safety issue.
“Honda Corp. and the dealer were requested multiple times to produce documentation on battery storage guidelines. They were unable or unwilling to do so. The Honda dealer did not provide education on vehicle storage as part of the sales process. I do worry about being stranded in our harsh upper Midwest winters during potentially life threatening temperatures. I firmly believe this issue is a design defect with either the vehicle’s power management strategy, the battery sizing, or a combination of both.”
As we state in our class action investigation post published in March 2024, the widespread problem of CR-V side mirrors vibrating makes it extremely difficult for drivers to see properly, especially at night. Images are often distorted and some drivers report that the vibrations make them dizzy.
Since our post, the problem has continued to escalate. For example, in April 2024, an Ohio owner stated in a complaint that while the dealer indicated it was a common problem, they refused to fix it.
In October 2024, another owner from Ohio reported the same fault, stating that it was causing issues while driving. “This has been reported and verified by (the) dealer. This is a known issue to Honda and has been reported by other Honda owners. Dealer told me that Honda is aware but (the) mirrors are back-ordered and (there is) no timetable for repair. This is a safety item.”
Do you think your Honda CR-V may be a lemon? If you do, even if your dealer insists your case doesn’t qualify under lemon law, you’re entitled to get the advice of a lemon lawyer.
Every year, automakers end up paying out lemon vehicle owners or trading in their faulty cars. For many years, Lemberg Law has been helping vehicle owners by negotiating settlements on their behalf. If you’d like us to assess your case, free of charge, contact us by calling our Helpline or filling out a contact form. Ultimately, the law says that Honda must pay the legal fees for lemon law cases, so it’s not going to cost you anything.
Brian Jones spent more than 30 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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These all are the same issues I had when I bought my 2016 HONDA PILOT. I had CRVs before it and never had issues with them. The dealership here kept saying now that it over 36,000 mile warranty I had to start paying for everytime for it to be fixed . Luckily know the GM of the dealership and they fixed it everytime so they didnt face a legal battle. However one thing that still happens is it emergency brakes and stops while on highway that is one thing that has never stayed fixed . No one should be dealing with this or any severe matter ! The company needs to get down on their quality control before any of their vehicles get shipped somewhere and also show proof they have tested each vehicle and legally sign each matter listed above wont ever happen! there has to be some legal Guarantee from any car maker. PS my HYBRID I had to replace 4 batteries over the 7 yrs and shouldnt have had to the suv just sucks the life out of the battery
My 2023 Crv Touring Hybrid is currently in the shop for a 3rd time for the same issue. In this 3rd visit they have now had my car for 3 weeks. Parts are on backorder and they don’t know when they’ll be in. Driving a dealer loner. In total its been out of service for almost 6 weeks.
I just took my 23 hybrid model for the steering issue (less than 7k miles). The advisor was told by his manager that the part won’t be available until April 24. Currently in rental or loaner vehicle.
Bought CRV 2023. From day one Blind spot monitoring system malfunctioned. Needed four trips to the dealer. Windshield wiper on the driver side when hits the post making noise. The trunk light doesn’t work.
Honda is not Honda anymore!!
After getting rid of a Hyundai Tucson, I thought I was better off in the Honda. But progressively, the steering is getting harder at only 6300 miles. It is as if it sticks for a second before releasing, and at high speeds, I have to work constantly to keep it straight. I don’t think it’s the alignment because usually with alignment issues, the car drifts to one side or another. This doesn’t do that. It’s like I’m fighting the steering in both directions constantly. It’s going in to the dealer in a few days, and I see that there are reported problems with the EPS rack, so I won’t be surprised if that’s the answer.
My 2023 crv touring tailgate has no power and is at dealership as I type. Even the service man was confused and shocked