We just had a 2006 Civic Hy Civic loose all it steering and had to get towed to the dealer. Dealer told us he reset the computer and Honda had him change some set points in the program and it is fixed and they test drove it. We were told to come get it and see if this fixed the steering problem. The car has 50,000 and they did not charge us any money for the tow or repairs. Is honda hinding a major problem here?
What do you mean by “hiding?” They fixed your car for nothing, even though it has 50K miles on it. What do you think they’re hiding?
You didn’t say you’ve had ANY trouble before this, so I have to assume you haven’t. The idea of total steering loss is frightening, but I don’t see anything wrong here. Honda did the right thing.
Is the steering working now?
Was the steering “loose”, or did you lose the ability to steer the vehicle? There is a significant difference between those two situations, and your post is unclear on this issue.
Anyway, a key question is whether this vehicle has electrically assisted power steering, or if it has the more conventional hydraulically assisted power steering. If the power steering is hydraulic, I fail to see how resetting the computer would have any effect on the steering. However, if it has electric power steering, a computer reset/reprogramming might have some effect.
Can you clarify matters for us so that we know what we are dealing with?
What do you mean by “lose all its steering?” Did it become hard to steer? Did the wheels turn when you turned the steering wheel?
Honda isn’t hiding anything. All safety related customer complaints are reported to the National Highway Saftey Administration (NHTSA) under the Transportation Recall Enhancement and Accountability Act of 2000.
If you are somehow doubtful whether this repair will be captured and reported by Honda to NHTSA, you are free to report it to them yourself, There are instructions for doing so in your car owner’s manual. That information should look very much like:
Reporting Safety Defects in the U.S.
If you believe that your vehicle has a defect which could cause a crash or could cause injury or death, you should immediately inform the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in addition to notifying {manufacturer name}. If NHTSA receives similar complaints, it may open an investigation, and if it finds that a safety defect exists in a group of vehicles, it may order a recall and remedy campaign. However, NHTSA cannot become involved in individual problems between you, your retailer, or {manufacturer name}. To contact NHTSA, you may either call the Auto Safety Hotline toll-free at 1-800-424-9393 (or 202-366-0123 in Washington, D.C. area) or write to: NHTSA, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington D. C. 20590. You can also obtain other information about motor vehicle safety from the Hotline.
NHTSA can be reached at:
Internet : http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
Telephone:
1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236) (toll free)
1-800-424-9393 (toll free)
1-202-366-0123 (in Washington DC area)
Here is a more direct link to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation website.