Honda has a recall for all-new FL5 Civic Type R

Apart from the usual “kamote” drivers you'd encounter on a daily basis, one of the things that could annoy you most in your daily driving is when a car's interior parts squeak and rattle. Or in other words, “lumalangitngit”. It's a cause of frustration for owners who just bought brand-new vehicles, but we imagine it escalating to another level especially if you own cars like the all-new Honda Civic Type R.

Yes, several Honda Civic Type R owners in the US are complaining that the red bucket seats of their brand-new units are making squeaking noises. And apparently, the problem goes beyond the annoying sound - it's a sign of a much larger safety concern.

The sound issue reportedly stems from the construction of the seat frame or the part that connects the bucket seat to the car's floorboard. As it turns out, an improper weld was found as the culprit. And according to Honda's service bulletin, this improper weld could disengage the seats from their mount in the event of an accident. Yikes.

This caused US Honda dealerships to temporarily stop selling the Civic Type R for the meantime, and Honda themselves issued a safety recall involving some of the earliest 2023 examples of the FL5. Honda is no stranger to recalls in the past, as the Japanese manufacturer is one of the many brands affected by the Takata airbag recall that involved millions of vehicles worldwide.

It's indeed a glaring issue that would also cause concern for other markets selling the Civic Type R. In this case, the 40 initial owners of the FL5 in the country could be affected. We reached out to Honda Cars Philippines regarding this issue, and they said that they are currently investigating if local units are affected by the seat issue.

Despite the Civic Type R having seat issues, they did give us some good news for those waiting for additional units of the Civic Type R. HCPI told us that they plan to bring in the 2nd batch of Type R units to the country by the 2nd quarter of this year. As for the exact date and number of units, HCPI says they will announce it in due time.