I only managed to put on about 300 miles since I bought my 2010 Jazz, I already felt that there is something odd with my steering wheel. It seems to be about 2 degrees to the right off centre. Also, turning the steering wheel to the right seems to be lighter than turning left, however the car seems to be tracking straight on highways. (I have tested this over all sorts of roads and driving conditions, so it's unlikely to be caused by uneven road surface.) Anyone had similar problems? Any suggested solutions?

 

checked your tires lately?

 

Good point. No, I haven't; I just assumed that the tires pressures were checked by the dealer during the pre-delivery inspection.

 

Tires lose about a pound of pressure per month, and some more than others.

I picked up my car a month ago- it'd been delivered and inspected in August. And clearly that was the last time they checked the tire pressure because it was 3 lbs low when I got it.

 

Toe-in is out, need to be realigned. Take it back to the dealer and tell them to be sure to center the steering wheel first.

 

It's alignment. The misconception even by techs and service advisors is that if it ain't pullin', it ain't outt alignment. Wrong!! If for example the front wheels are not cambered equally, it may not pull the car to one side, but it's still out of alignment.

 

Thanks guys! I'll bring it up to the dealer. I just hope they won't charge me since the car is so new.

 

I had a similar issue recently when I had the tires rotated. The mechanic put 10 lbs too much air into my right front tire. My steering returned to normal when I adjusted the pressure.

Good luck, let us know how you resolve this.

 

Unless you have front damage (some sort of accident) the allignment should be covered for 12 months/ 12 thousand miles.

My 2010 Fit had the same issue. I needed to keep the wheel very sightly to the left for the car to track straight. It didn't pull or anything but the wheel was slightly off center.

Took it to the dealer, they ended up doing a 4 wheel allignment, and now it tracks as perfect as my 2009 Fit.

DO NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. If the selling dealer doesn't Fix it, another will.

 

I'll second this. I had the same problem with my car (I had to hold the steering wheel slightly to the right to go straight). I brought it up with the dealer I bought it from, they just checked the tire pressure and didn't even test drive it (yea, they suck). I took it to another Honda dealer that was local to me, and mentioned it when I had them rotate my tires, and they did an alignment for free (I didn't even have to ask them to do it for free, they just volunteered it)... this was at around 6000 miles too.

 

I brought the problem up to the dealer during the very first service (1000km safety check). They test-drove the car and acknowledged the problem. In an attempt to solve the problem, they did a front wheel alignment for free. However, the problem is still not solved! It feels exactly the same as before. I have the feeling that it will become one of those problems that never gets resolved. I like Honda, but this sucks!

 

did you tell them it still isn't right?

don't let them off the hook.

good luck.

 

Is the wheel centered?
As far as feeling the same, your only concern was the slight difference in wheel pressure left to right - original tracking was straight.
I'm confused?

 

The wheel is still 2 degrees off centre to the right. While the car tracks straight, I can really feel the difference in steering-weight when I drive above 35mph following a winding road. I.e. it's easier (lighter) to steer into a right-hand bend than a left-hand one.

 

I wonder if it's more similar to torque steer.

 

If the wheel is off they didn't get it right, plain and simple. On a straight road with the steering wheel held centered the car should go straight.

I once took a car to Firestone for the same issue after they did an alignment. To my horror I saw, through the window into the repair bay, the dude beginning to pull the steering wheel. He obviously had no idea what he was doing. Last time I ever used on of those 'box' shops to work on any of my cars - that was years ago.

Go back and talk with the service manager - no one else and explain what was done and what you still see as a problem. To get it right is an alignment with the steering wheel centered before they measure.

Offer to take him for a quick 'diagnostic' ride to show him what you're experiencing.

Good luck.

 

If your tire pressures are Ok then the steering wheel was in the offcenter position when the toe was set.. If the car runs straight with the wheel off center then you need to equally change the length of the steering arms to keep toe where it is but change the steering wheel angle.
Lets say the steering wheel is turned clockwise from centered with cross arm level when driving straightahead.. That means if you turn the steering wheel counterclockwise til it is level the right side steeing arm needs to be lengthened by the same amount as you shorten the left as you are looking forward. The amount of change in length is of course dependent on how far from on center is the steering wheel. Just be sure the change is the same for both sides.
And I suspect the angle isn't 2 degrees off center; that would be almost impossible to tell as thatsabout a quarter of an inch and certainly not enough to want to center the steering wheel. I expect maybe an inch clockwise at the rim would be the detection limit.

 

Yeah, my 2 week old Fit is also subtlely but consistently drifting to the right on the freeway. I checked and set all 4 tires pressures to exactly 33 psi, still same thing. The steering wheel seems centered, but if I left go, the car will drift right after a few seconds.

I eliminated road crowning and crosswind because this is everyday going both ways on the freeway, all lanes.

Is this covered under warranty? Or would the dealer just do a free alignment for me since I just bought it from them 2 weeks ago?

 

I'd suggest bringing it in soon before they claim it happened because of something you did- not sure wheel alignment would be covered under the warranty unless it was something they did.

 

I had a similar problem, though for me, the steering wheel wasn't centered. I brought it in to my local Honda dealer (not where I bought it from) at around 6,000 miles, and they fixed it for free. So I'd definitely suggest taking it to the dealer.

(As an aside, I mentioned the problem to the dealer I bought it from, when I had it in for a state inspection, and all they did was check the tire pressures... which didn't fix it.)

So I'd take it in to the dealer, and I expect, given that it's only two weeks old, they'll fix it for free.