I picked up my '11 MDX/Tech last Saturday. Palladium/Ebony. Nice. Everything seems to be in order, except that the steering wheel is tilted maybe five degrees to the left (counterclockwise). The car drives straight in this position. If I straighten the wheel the car drifts to the right.
This is visually disorienting. I've bought three other Honda/Acura vehicles and have never had this problem. My sales guy is playing dumb. "Hmm. This is really uncommon." Whether it is or not, it's making me crazy.

Any guess where this may have happened? There seem to be a number of opportunities that might lend to the trouble. (Wheel lock install, dealer prep, removing it from the truck, etc). I would imagine a quick realignment would do the trick, but if the machine is out of calibration, that could be where the trouble started in the first place.

It's just taking that last few percent away from me completely loving my MDX!

Thanks!

 

Congrats!!!

bring it straight to the service department asap and have them perform a steering alignment to correct the problem.

 

Insist on a 4-wheel alignment. My previous '10 RDX Tech was off about 3 degrees. The dealership said it was caused by the car carrier. Whatever, but it should not have been delivered to me like that, even though it was within spec.

 

Good info, and nice to know it's not just me. Yeah, you never know what they think is acceptable!

Thanks!

 

I think you def. should take it back to the dealer to have them look at it. Something sure seem fishy!

 

Oh, I will. I'm just wondering why this sales guy seems to think it's so rare. If he doesn't work in service, how would he know? I just need to get past him and it'll work out. I"m jus tno wild about the service people at this particular dealer, so you can undersatnd that I a) really want it fixed, but b) would rather not have those slobs work on my under-100-mile-beautiful-mdx. They are notorious for gunking my cars up.

 

no big deal,,,,,my 1o mdx did the same thing,,,,didn't feel comfortable at first,,,u know having a brand new car and the alignment is off,,,,,,,,,,
did the adjustment myself at my work,,,,,and it's driving straight line now.........
didn't bother to take it back,,,,cus i know they r not gonna do it right in just one time,,,,,,

 

sad when you pay dealer prep for this kind on thing. Over the years I have had numerous delivery issues, now when I take a new car I go through it like a fine tooth comb, then a quicky around the block spin prior to saying goodbye

 

@robert: as you might imagine, this is not an option.

peregrine: my main irritation is that I did just that. And on the test drive I mentioned it to the sales guy. He said, "nah, it looks fine from here." At least I saw it then, instead of ten minutes after I left.

So should I be expecting to pay for this? I dont think I should. But you never know....

 

you won't have to pay. Forget the sales guy, just call up the service dept explain the situation and make a date for them to fix it. If they refuse to do that which they won't, call acura HQ and raise hell (they don't like bad surveys).

 

Excellent. Thanks, all!

 

It is very rare to see a new Acura that does bot have "centered steering" upon delivery but it does happen usually during the shipping process. As others have mentioned, your alignment is off and once that is resolved the steering wheel should be fine.

You shouldn't be charged a thing for this, they should probably throw you a free oil change for the inconvenience of having to come back. They would be crazy to make this difficult for you, if you just picked it up Saturday, you will still have a customer satisfaction call coming your way. The dealer should be striving to make sure you are completely satisfied before you get that call as one of the questions will be "vehicle free of problems at delivery" if the answer is "no" then you get a follow up question of "has the problem been resolved?"

 

This is your first new car isn't it?

 

No you will not have to pay!

 

Uh, no. sixth.

 

Got it taken care of yesterday. I had to lean on them a bit. They tried the, "well, it's within spec. Most people wouldn't see it." I said, "I've bought two Acuras and two Hondas and a Toyota new and have never seen this." They tried to get me in a loaner and ship me off, but I stayed. Good football on anyway...
They finally got it on a rack and the front end was good. Toe on front left and right was .02 both sides. Bu the rears were different. Rear left was .01, rear right was .04. They tweaked these both to .09. I think the RR was causing the pull, although geez, that's such a small number. Never mind. The MDX now has a stright steering wheel, it's easier to drive, and I'm a happy customer.

 

Quick hello to everyone. I'm new to the site, but have been Acura Master certified for the last 6 years. Steering wheel off center is not uncommon to see in a newly delivered car. If you have paid for a sport steering wheel, they are always uncentered and require an alignment. Either way the dealership should have corrected the issue before delivering the car. They should have no issues correcting the problem free of charge.

 

 

great congrats on the new car ... enjoy it now!