[takawira]

I don't know if this happened during my last trip to the shop or not, but I just realized that my steering wheel is not straight (as in the horizontal bar that holds the steering controls is not, um, horizontal) when I drive in a straight line. It is skewed at an angle and if I try to straighten it then I find myself turning into the next lane. My car just spent too much time in the shop after my bluetooth died, and I don't want to have to go back and spend another week without it because of my pickiness. But it's driving me nuts!! Has anyone else noticed this? I asked my mechanic if I can just fix it myself and he says if the steering wheel is not straight it may be something more serious and that they have to test drive the car and see.

Oh, by the way, I have a personal parking spot at the back of my apartment, plus I pay for parking in a lot at work. Between the two parking spaces, I thought I could go without a scratch on my cube for a long time. But now I have a scratch on my rear bumper from someone who apparently couldn't park into the adjacent spot at work!! I mean, how can someone completely fail to park like that (it's not even a parallel parking garage). So there you have it, my cube may be cursed.

 

[Cubit]

takawira,

The steering wheel not being straight could indicate one of two things. Either the alignment is messed up (it you recently had to do an alignment at a shop, which is very unlikely on a new car unless you were in a collision involving the front wheels ) OR the steering wheel was removed for some reason and put back on wrong. (Maybe the dealer was working on the bluetooth steering wheel controls?)

Either way it is not good. this could be an expensive fix if you had to take it to a shop yourself. You should take it back to the dealer and complain.

Sorry to hear about the scratch in the rear bumper. Your car is officially not "new" any more... :-\

But that does not mean it is cursed!

 

[takawira]

Thanks Cubit. I suppose with one curse there is a blessing too. Since I bought the cube the best mileage I ever got was 28.7mpg. Not bad for city driving considering that the EPA estimate is 28mpg. Now I suddenly get 31.5mpg, so I'll take any luck I get. Some people say mileage improves with time, and I guess they are right. I am now at 3200 miles so I guess the engine has been "broken in". BTW, I changed my oil @1700 miles to mobil1 0W-30 and K&N oil filter HP-1008. Mobil says this fully synthetic oil improves mileage. I guess it's a combination of factors at play here, but my driving style remains the same.

 

[Square1]

BTW, I changed my oil @1700 miles to mobil1 0W-30 and K&N oil filter HP-1008. Mobil says this fully synthetic oil improves mileage. I guess it's a combination of factors at play here, but my driving style remains the same.

How ironic. I did my first oil change at 1700 miles as well and also use M1 0-30 and a K&N. I'm now getting an average of about 33 MPG (it fluxuates between 31.7 and 34.8 per fill up). It has 4200 miles on the clock presently. Synthetics do improve fuel mileage somewhat. - Dan

 

[chompsticks]

Hey Takawira, I have noticed the same thing with my Cube this past weekend that my steering wheel isn't straight. I have not gone to the shop or hit anything at all and the last time I was in the shop was to change the wheels about 5000 miles ago and I know the wheel was straight then. My car still goes in a straight line though.

 

[takawira]

My mechanic test drove the car two days ago and he agreed that the steering wheel is not straight, so I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow to get it straightened out. The mechanic thinks it's not serious and I should be able to get it within an hour. I hope he's right.

 

[fotomoto]

I wonder if while working on the bluetooth issue they removed the steering wheel while checking the push button controls/wiring harness and simply reinstalled it slightly off center? Just a thought.....