Honda has issued a stop-sale order until further notice and a recall for certain examples of the 2023 Civic Type R with hot hatch, due to a driver’s seat cushion frame assembly that may have faulty welds.
A service bulletin sent out to dealers that quickly made its way to the Civic XI forum states the following:
“Due to improper manufacturing, the driver’s seat cushion frame assembly may have faulty welds that can cause squeaking, rattling noises, or the seat frame weld to break.
During a car accident, a broken seat cushion weld can potentially impair the protective function of the seat belt and may increase the risk of injury to a seat occupant.”
The Japanese automaker has notified the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the issue, and the agency is following up on the recall on its official website.
Type R owners have been noticing the squeaks and rattles for the past few months.
The forum has another discussion thread specifically on this issue dating back to November, right around the time deliveries began.
Honda advised that there are currently no parts available for the correction. Dealers have been instructed to notify owners of the problem if they bring their vehicles in for any type of service.
The Japanese manufacturer had a few years to forget, with products that are not attracting new buyers of the brand and with very tough Korean competition, which little by little has taken away old buyers of the brand, which no longer has that air of reliability and taste that he had in other times.
Honda was unable to surpass one million sales in the United States in 2022, when before the pandemic it almost achieved 1.5 million sales. A reduction that is hitting the manufacturer hard.