Major US Safety Recall for Honda's Popular Civic
Japanese automaker Honda has announced a significant voluntary recall affecting 406,290 of its Civic vehicles in the United States. The action, filed on Friday, addresses a serious manufacturing defect that could potentially cause the car's aluminium alloy wheels to detach while driving.
This recall forms part of what is developing into a record-breaking year for vehicle safety callbacks across the automotive industry. According to a Daily Mail analysis of federal data, 25.8 million vehicles had been recalled through 821 NHTSA filings by November 2025.
The Root of the Problem: A Missing Bolt
The recall specifically targets 2016 through 2021 Civic models that were equipped with 18-inch aluminium alloy wheels sold as accessories. Honda identified that a small batch of these accessory wheels, numbering just 3,276 in total, contains the fault.
The issue first came to light in July 2024 when a Civic owner in Japan took their car to a dealership. An alert mechanic discovered that the vehicle's four wheels were all missing a critical bolt essential for keeping the wheel securely attached to the car.
This discovery prompted wider inspections in Japan last November, which eventually led to a year-long investigation. Honda successfully traced the origin of the problem to a supplier in Italy. The supplier had mistakenly removed a barrier that was meant to separate finished bolts from unfinished ones, allowing some incomplete parts to reach Civic assembly plants.
Honda has explicitly warned that this defect could lead to the wheel separating from the vehicle, thereby increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
Limited Impact and Recall Process
Despite the large scale of the recall, Honda estimates that a very small percentage of vehicles are actually affected. The company stated that it expects just 0.1 percent of the recalled vehicles—approximately 400 cars in the US—to actually have the defect. To date, no wheel detachments have been reported in the United States.
As outlined in the NHTSA filings, Honda dealers will inspect the wheels on affected vehicles and replace hubs and wheels as necessary, all free of charge. Vehicle owners should anticipate receiving an official recall notice in the post during December 2025.
The Civic is a crucial model for Honda's lineup, being the company's second-best-selling vehicle in 2025. More than 203,000 units across sedan, hatchback, and Type R models have been sold to American drivers this year alone. Only the CR-V SUV has outsold it, with over 300,000 units finding homes in the US.
Notably, with a starting price of $25,000, the Civic remains one of only 18 vehicles available in the US with a base price under $30,000.
This recall marks Honda's 18th safety recall in the US for the year and is the largest among them. Previous recalls have concerned components including headlamps, brake pedals, and electrical systems. In comparison, other automakers have been even more active; Ford leads with 134 recalls, while Stellantis, the parent company of Dodge and Jeep, has recorded 44.
Industry-wide, backup cameras have emerged as a particular pain point this year, with numerous carmakers issuing federally regulated software updates via the cloud to address issues like screens that fail to turn on or display blurry images.
