Owner Review: I met the infamous steering rack problem - My 2018 Honda Civic 1.8S

Basic information

2018 Honda Civic 1.8S

Reasons why I bought this car

New personal car. Mainly for highway driving purposes.

Car selection process

• I had a budget of RM100,000.
• Models that I have considered include Mazda 3 & Toyota Corolla Altis & Honda HRV.

Any car with good fuel economy is fine by me as my job scope requires to travel a lot on daily basis. Most importantly is ride comfort and the vibe while in the car. I need to feel that I am in an RM100K car when I sit in it.

Mazda 3 Base spec is not as well equipped as base-spec Civic 1.8S. Altis is just an old car with a new design. 

As for HRV, I do not feel like I am in an RM100K car when I sat in it.

Civic 1.8S power is ok for daily commute. Easily goes up to 120KMH without you realizing it. 

User experience

• I have already done 55,000 km.

Overall? It is very good for this price range. To be honest I do not think there is any car that came as close as the Honda Civic 1.8S equipment in this price range. 

Had a couple of bad luck with tyres due to driving in highway, city and countryside road. Inevitably hit some nail this and that.

I seriously could not find any fault with this car. This car is just too good. Good sound insulation, good stereo, good passenger comforts. Just everything is top-notch.

Just a couple of complaint.
1. This car is not friendly for elder people as civic itself is low. even I have a hard time to get in and out after my gym leg days.

2. Honda Malaysia terrible way of handling their defects. I admit that I am one of the unlucky - lucky owners. 
Now UNLUCKY part. Steering rack issue. 

The first symptom is very loud audible sound (metal knocking on each other sound) when turning the steering.

The second symptom (Very serious) is you could not have a smooth turning transition when you turn your steering regardless in what speed you are in. That can be proven fatal for any highway corner driving. You will wet yourself when you drive with this problem under heavy rain and you have to play WWE with your car steering.

Now unlucky-LUCKY part. I do not have any water seepage into the spare wheel compartment which quite a number of civic owner face.

Lastly is the Honda Malaysia approach to this matter.
How can this manufacturing error and DEFECT  need to be bared by end-user? You just void the warranty of those who changed their rim. since now 2020 civic TCP has 18-inch rim, what is Honda Malaysia excuse for this steering rack. For those who had their warranty void, they need to pay RM7,500 for a new steering rack. Furthermore, Service Centres are meant to ADVISE the customer but instead, you screw a lot of the customer by keeping your mouth shut. It is like you are sending soldiers to die without giving them any instruction on how to unjam your weapon if it were to be malfunction.

90% of the Civic owner that I knew will be selling off their car when it reaches the 5th year warranty. We expect your car to last more than 5 years. There is no way that any civic owner who had this problem are willing to take this dangerous and fatal chance and use their own money to fix Honda Malaysia's defect!

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Comfort
• Handling
• Sound Insulation
• Spacious
• Fuel Efficient.

Cons

• Ingress and egress of the vehicle for some passengers.
• Infamous steering rack issue that could cause fatal accident. Honda Malaysia has no formally addressed their manufacturer issues.

Ratings

Total Score: 4

Performance: 5

Quality & Features: 3

Space: 5

Ride Comfort: 5

Fuel Economy: 5

Price & Cost: 5

Conclusion

The Honda Civic FC 1.8 is a very good car for anyone who doesn't mind to have 1.8 NA engine over more powerful 1.5TC engine. This car is for people who just need a C-segment car with good internal space and good handling and comfort.

Like everyone said 'you need to see your luck in buying cars'