mitziburger

New honda owners here. Also new to the forums. I recently got this car from carmax and it is passed the return policy so I can not take it back. We have already taken it in under their warranty, they couldn't find anything wrong so they brought it to someone else that does hondas and he couldnt see why it was doing that. When going at highway speeds it is like the car is wondering left and right on perfectly dry roads and no winds. It is like I have to fight the steering wheel to keep it going straight. It is like I am all over the road. I don't know what is going on. The thing that I do know is that there is continental tires on the front and some other brand on the back, I do not know if that has anything to do with it. I feel that this is a safety issue.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

swap tires around and test again. that will tell you if tires are culprit.

place on alignment and ask to just check numbers first. if off, to adjust. toe out makes cars wander. low caster angles as well.

ezone

What was your last car?

Drive another 12 or 13 Civic for comparison to this car.

I got out of an old Buick (drove it for more than 10 years) and into a new 12 Civic.
I'm pretty sure I know exactly what you are feeling, and the car is fine.
You're just still used to your old car and haven't grown into this one yet.

The Civics' steering is very touchy compared to my old car, and that car didn't have anything loose in the suspension or steering....but it was a boat.

It only takes a tiny twitch of the steering wheel in this Civic to go all over my lane.

Gotta make teensy corrections to keep it going straight instead of large corrections.

It took quite a while to get used to it enough to keep from looking (in my mind) like a drunk on the road.
Nearly a year for me to get comfortable with it, and if I'm not paying attention I can still be all over my lane.


JMHO, YMMV

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

My 2010 is a lot that way (worse if you think about it much) Crappy RSAs or Michelin Harmony, no difference.

mitziburger

My last vehicle was a GMC Suburban. I took the Civic over to carmax and had them rotate the tires and the issue is fixed now. I now have control over the vehicle on the highway. The sad thing is that they won't admit that there was an issue. But at least it is fixed now.

mitziburger

I also noticed how touchy the steering is on the civic when I took it for a test drive before I decided to take it home.

ezone

So it needs better tires?

mitziburger

It is doing fine right now but it will need tires soon since it still has two of the original ones from the factory and it's almost to the 40,000 mile mark (37,000 something i think).

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Thats a long stint for original equipment, unless Michelin maybe.

mitziburger

They are not Michelin sadly. But I do plan on putting Michelin on there.

ezone

If it has 2 new tires and 2 decent original tires with fair tread depth, then the previous owner probably didn't do regular tire rotation maintenance IMO.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Yes to that, Have avoided the 2 at a time for many years now... million different ideas about where to put what tires. And loss of traction tales.

mitziburger

Yea, I am trying to avoid the 2 tires at a time thing.

Alistair Wallis

Just posting here for any future searches. My issue was fixed after a year of new tyres, struts, sway bar links etc. Turned out to be a cradle shift castor on the front cradle (sub frame) which made the rear feel unstable at speeds and over bumps.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

thanks for feedback!
glad it's solved

07coupeguy

My 2007 EX Coupe started feeling squirrelly a month or so ago and i found out one of my rear shocks needs replaced.

snahfu

Sorry for bumping an old thread but OP said he was able to fix the "cradle shift castor". Does anyone know what this means?

I am having something very simular, new struts / shocks replaced but when going 70 mph on uneven roads, I find it difficult to steer in a straight line and tends to be very bouncy over bumps. My caster was perfect before the alignment (4.8 one side, 5.1 the other) but after the install, I am now getting 5 on one side, 4.6 (red) on the other.