I posted about a month ago, thought I had it fixed, but still vibrating. The car seems to ride smooth, but the steering wheel shakes moderately and moves left to right ever so slightly. Enough to make my arm skake sometimes. Is this just how Honda's ride? When you guys say your car is smooth... just how smooth do you mean?... compared to your 78 ford 4x4 bronco?

I would really appreciate it if anybody that has had (or has) a similar problem and got it fixed would share some info. See graph below this text. I generated this graph by accelerating to 100 miles an hour, putting my manual tranny in nutral and then letting the car coast down in speed on a level smooth road.

What I have done:

1. Dealer balanced tires.
2. Dealer balanced tires and moved fronts to rear.
3. Had Costco check Balance of tires (it was good.)
4. I'm having it aligned Tuesday 7/22/03
5. Maybe new tires? Geeez.. this would be expensive.

Thanks all! Sux when you spend bucks on a car and it's not what you expected. I love the car other than this vib... awsome design, creature comforts, and quality. I think it looks better than the 2dr models too!... lol, but then again I like luxury sport more so than small sports cars.

 

nah no vibration at all maybe later next year.

 

sounds like your wheel balance is off.

 

perfectly smooth at all times just like both lexus es 300 that my family owns.

 

try checking the tire pressure? this won't fix the steering but sometimes if your over-inflate or under-inflate it can cause vibrations.

 

Sorry Matt. I still don't get any detectable shake at all. Only have 1200 miles on my coupe, but it is perfect so far.

 

I also still have a totally smooth ride in my car. After your last post, Matt, I made a point of being "extra observant" the next time I drove on the highway, in case maybe I had some slight shaking that I just hadn't noticed - but no, absolutely nothing, at any speed. Good luck . . . must be frustrating in a new car!

 

My car is SIX WEEKS old. I just took it to Vegas (driving from LA) and noticed that around 75-80MPH, the steering wheel shakes. It isn't anything too severe, but it's definitely a noticeable shaking that shouldn't be present on a car that's six weeks old.

I haven't noticed it before because the LA freeways are rough and have rain grooves. I had my first opportunity this past weekend to cruise 80+ on smooth freeways and that's when I noticed it.

If I'm backing up, the first time I touch the brake, it makes a single click sound. If I let off the brake, continue to back up, and apply the brake again, it doesn't make the sound - it's only the first time I apply the brake when backing up.


I also have some rattles inside my car- most notably from the passenger side somewhere in the dash. There's also another annoying rattle that I can only hear when idling with the AC off.

The trim panel on my driver side pillar looks a little loose, and the center storage compartment below that AC controls/stereo sticks when I push it in to open it.

There's also a nice 18" long crack across my windshield. A tiny pebble hit the windshield on the very edge of the glass (drivers side) just where the glass meets the pillar and from that, an long crack formed. There's barely a chip in the glass - LESS THAN 1/16th of an inch wide, and from that the large crack developed.
I've been hit with bigger rocks on other cars, and never have I seen anything like this. I somehow doubt that any dealer would be willing to replace this under warranty.



Will Honda's warranty cover all of these little problems? I hated dealing with service with my last car (Audi) because I had a bunch of problems with rattles and noises, and even though I replicated the sounds for their service reps, their diagnosis was always "could not replicate problem".

I'm a bit disappointed with the build quality of Honda. I had expected it to be so much better. I guess the problems come from the fact that the car was assembled in the USA.

 

1. the noise you hear that you think is in the dash is most likely the head liner. I drove around for a couple months thinking it was my dash. As you are driving along hearing the noise reach up and grab the headliner at the windshield interface right front center of the passenger visor. Pull slightly down and see if the noise goes away. If it does let me know and I'll take the time to tell you what I did. The doors tend to squeak at the seal interface as the car ages... no big deal and can pretty much be controlled by applying some ArmorAll when you wash the car: Apply Armor All on the rubber both on the door opening around the top portion as well as at the top of the door. Make sure you clean the metal above and around the door opening rubber where the rubber mounted on the door seats.

2. The back up clink is due to the brake pads shifting in the calipers.... every times I change stopping directions I get the clink. I think it's very livable, but I'm disappointed just the same... does it effect braking... no, does it affect longevity....no, does it affect my opinion of the design.... yes.

These seem to be the commonalties between our cars.... vib on the highway and tink tink tink of the brakes. Let’s keep in contact and help each other out. I'll post on the results of tomorrows alignment.

Keep in mind your car is probably pretty sweet. I'm trying to keep perspective because when I get in other cars I'm not impressed either. My Grandmother's LS430 (63k dollar Lexus) has more interior noises than my Honda now (since I fixed the headliner squeak.) None of them are perfect right? Plus isn't 20k a pretty cheap car these days? Keep it in perspective and keep in touch.

 

OK... think I finial got it fixed. Today I drove my car with the service manager. He said "I wouldn't even noticed that".... to make a long story short I said "humor me....Align it and I'll pay for it." He said fine, but that it didn't have anything to do with vibrations. I just picked the car up and sure enough the toe in was negative, or another way to put it the toe in was toe out! Just a little bit mind you, but my vibration was just a little bit more then I thought was normal. To sum it up I drove it in my shaky spots and didn't experience what I had previously. I'm pretty certain it's good now. Anyway if your car is shaking don't back off... take it to the dealer and get the tires balanced and an alignment. It's still a rougher riding car than the Camary, but they have always said the Accord is not a real smooth ride. At least now mine isn't rough and giggly like before. Thanks to all that posted with suggestions help. For those of you that at comparing the Camary to the Honda as a family car.... even though I love my car, I would say the Camary is more refined in ride and comfort.

I would say mine is mostly smooth now.

Matt