— A 2013-2015 Honda Accord steering investigation has been closed by federal safety regulators following a November 2020 defect petition to investigate more than 1.1 million Accords.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received the petition to open a Honda Accord steering investigation which NHTSA granted in May 2021.
The investigation focused on Honda Accord complaints which alleged the steering wheels would suddenly pull left or right.
Honda responded by saying the steering problem was caused by a loose magnet located within the electronic power steering system.
"Due to poor formulation of the adhesive, this magnet can become loose and move up to 2 degrees around the steering column. When the magnet moves, the torque sensor generates a signal that results in unwanted steering in either direction." — NHTSA
Honda said an Accord driver could overcome the problem which would be similar to driving on grooved pavement.
Safety regulators sent more than 4,000 questionnaires to 2013-2015 Honda Accord owners, and out of 637 responses, 58 consumers claimed they experienced unwanted steering.
There were no crashes or injuries reported to NHTSA and testing performed by the Vehicle Research and Test Center was not able to reproduce the steering problems.
The government closed the Honda Accord steering investigation based on several factors, including a declining trend in Honda Accord customer complaints to NHTSA which indicates possible exhaustion of parts prone to failure.
Regulators also found the relevant data show a low failure rate, and the poor adhesive formulation was fixed by the supplier with three counter measures in manufacturing.
