Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure on the 2008 Honda Civic
Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When steering rack, gear or tie rod failure gets reported
There are 4 reports of steering rack, gear or tie rod failure on the 2008 Honda Civic, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 38th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 26,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $700–$2,600 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 15 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 400 miles, and latest on the 2010 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2022 carries the most reports, with 98; the 2008 has 4. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 honda civic. The contact stated that she owned a 2006 honda civic and had constant issues with the rack and pinion and power steering. She took the vehicle to the dealer and they replaced the entire part of the steering system containing the rack and pinion. A month and a half later, the failure recurred and she decided to trade the 2006 in for a 2008, in hopes that the failure would be resolved. Two months later, at 3,500 miles, the power steering was leaking just like the 2006 honda civic. The parts were replaced on the 2008. The dealer stated that there was a three week back order for this particular part that keeps failing. The failure mileage was 3,500. Updated 01/29/09.*lj updated 01/30/09. *jb
2008 honda civic hybrid purchased new, it now has 22k miles, tires were rotated at 17k miles during dealer work to replace defective rack and pinion. Following this repair I noticed a pronounce road noise inside car at speed range from 30 to 55 MPH. On 7/20/09 dealer advised that lack of timely tire rotation and alignment is the cause of excessive tire wear noted on one tire. Tire is worn smooth on inside portion of the tread. Dealer stated that corrective action is not covered by warranty. I contend that excessive tire wear on one tire is a safety issue. Conditions found should not exist on tire that has only 22k miles. I expect honda to take appropriate measures to correct this problem at their cost. *tr updated 07/31/09.*jb
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 honda civic. The contact stated that while turning right at approximately 5 MPH, the steering wheel locked and would not turn. The vehicle was carefully driven home where it was parked. An independent mechanic examined the vehicle and informed the contact that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 91,000.
Also reported on the 2008 Honda Civic
Other visibility problem
Other engine problem
Airbag inflator rupture
Other suspension problem
Other body or interior problem
Overheating
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 4 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 4 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does steering rack, gear or tie rod failure happen on the 2008 Honda Civic?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 25,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is steering rack, gear or tie rod failure on the 2008 Honda Civic?
4 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed