2011 Chevrolet Cruze With Detached Steering Wheel Caught On Video
04-11-11, 11:29 AM
#1
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
Chevy Cruze steering-wheel comes off while driving
Imagine turning your car’s steering wheel, or giving it a gentle tug, and having it break away from the steering column. Now you’re speeding along holding the suddenly useless wheel.
It sounds like a vision from a cartoon, or every driver’s nightmare. And it happened to at least one driver of a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compact car last month, and General Motors Corp. is recalling 2,100 of the cars as a result.
While the recall affects a relatively small number of vehicles, it is an unpleasant development for Chevrolet, which has been riding high on the success of its new small car. Chevrolet sold 50,205 Cruzes through the end of March. That’s well short of the 76,821 units Toyota sold of the Cruze’s main rival, the Corolla, but it is ahead of the 37,379 Cobalts Chevy sold in the same period. The Cruze replaced the Cobalt and is supposed to be a departure from that uninspired model.
In documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the car maker said it traced the problem with that particular car to a case in which the wrong wheel was put in a car and replaced later in the assembly process with the correct one. But the new wheel wasn’t attached properly, the car maker says.
When the wheel separated from the steering column, the driver was able to get the car to the side of the road safely, and the company says it has tested other cars from the production run and found no similar problems. General Motors says it believes this was an isolated incident.
Chevrolet says it has changed the production process to make sure the machine used to attach the steering wheel can accommodate only the correct one. The company is recalling cars that were built before it made the change.
Under the recall, dealers will inspect the steering wheel to make sure it is properly attached. This service is free of charge and the recall is expected to begin on or before April 8, 2011. Owners may contact Chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438.
It sounds like a vision from a cartoon, or every driver’s nightmare. And it happened to at least one driver of a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compact car last month, and General Motors Corp. is recalling 2,100 of the cars as a result.
While the recall affects a relatively small number of vehicles, it is an unpleasant development for Chevrolet, which has been riding high on the success of its new small car. Chevrolet sold 50,205 Cruzes through the end of March. That’s well short of the 76,821 units Toyota sold of the Cruze’s main rival, the Corolla, but it is ahead of the 37,379 Cobalts Chevy sold in the same period. The Cruze replaced the Cobalt and is supposed to be a departure from that uninspired model.
In documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the car maker said it traced the problem with that particular car to a case in which the wrong wheel was put in a car and replaced later in the assembly process with the correct one. But the new wheel wasn’t attached properly, the car maker says.
When the wheel separated from the steering column, the driver was able to get the car to the side of the road safely, and the company says it has tested other cars from the production run and found no similar problems. General Motors says it believes this was an isolated incident.
Chevrolet says it has changed the production process to make sure the machine used to attach the steering wheel can accommodate only the correct one. The company is recalling cars that were built before it made the change.
Under the recall, dealers will inspect the steering wheel to make sure it is properly attached. This service is free of charge and the recall is expected to begin on or before April 8, 2011. Owners may contact Chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438.
04-11-11, 11:38 AM
#3
HAHA!!! Love it. Chevy still sucks. Just wait 5 years from now and see what people think of the 11 Cruze versus the 11 Corolla. The 76,000 2011 Corollas will still be on the road. 25,000 of the 50,000 Cruze will still be on the road. Just saying...
04-11-11, 11:53 AM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/feb...siders-recall/
04-11-11, 12:26 PM
#6
You better stop laughing..........Corollas have their own steering problems.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/feb...siders-recall/
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/feb...siders-recall/
04-11-11, 12:37 PM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
Toyota is going to be overly cautious now about any complaint. I think the whole Toyota issue was a scam by the government trying to make American cars more attractive since they had so much interest in them at the time. This is another topic of course and has been discussed. It clearly didn't work as Toyota is still doing pretty good. American cars are better quality now when they're new, but over time they still don't compare to the Japanese and some European manufactures. Grandparents bought a Lincoln MKZ in 2007, and at first was very convincing that Ford had rebuilt itself, but now 4 years later (only 17,000 miles on the car) you can see its American. It rattles, the leather has worn extremely bad, body panels don't fit together right I could list a million things. I think the government should have let the big three fail. It would have been a major wake up call for the country.
+1
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04-11-11, 01:05 PM
#10
Lexus Fanatic
Oh like that's comforting to know:
"In documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the car maker said it traced the problem with that particular car to a case in which the wrong wheel was put in a car and replaced later in the assembly process with the correct one. But the new wheel wasn’t attached properly, the car maker says."
"In documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the car maker said it traced the problem with that particular car to a case in which the wrong wheel was put in a car and replaced later in the assembly process with the correct one. But the new wheel wasn’t attached properly, the car maker says."
04-11-11, 02:23 PM
#11
Pole Position
Vitaly Petrov had a similar issue in his F1 car over the weekend! That would be a Lotus/Renault.
My steering has come off
My steering has come off
04-11-11, 03:07 PM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
Well, for one thing, today's steering columns, like everything else on today's vehicles, are far more complex than they were years ago. Back then, all you had was the column itself, a recirculating ball/worm (with either manual or power-assist), the horn, and the turn-signal lever....that was it. And all it did, with RWD, was turn the front wheels.....there was no FWD or AWD.
Today, in contrast, you have a steering-rack, the column, the horn, air-bag sensors, the air-bag assembly itself, cruise-control buttons (or a cruise-control lever), stereo controls, hands-off and Bluetooth phone controls, the turn-signal stalk, Front and rear washer/wiper stalks and controls, and, on some cars, panel-light intensity controls. Most columns today have either tilt or tilt/telescope features built in, with joints, levers, and linkages, sometimes with power-adjustment motors. Some BMWs with Active-Steering even have an electric motor and a universal-joint built into the column to adjust its feel and response. To top it off, many steering systems today have to be integrated into FWD/AWD, with the front-axle half-shafts and CV-joints on the front wheels. So, the more things you have to integrate into the column and hook up on the assembly-line, obviously, the more potential for error you have.
Today, in contrast, you have a steering-rack, the column, the horn, air-bag sensors, the air-bag assembly itself, cruise-control buttons (or a cruise-control lever), stereo controls, hands-off and Bluetooth phone controls, the turn-signal stalk, Front and rear washer/wiper stalks and controls, and, on some cars, panel-light intensity controls. Most columns today have either tilt or tilt/telescope features built in, with joints, levers, and linkages, sometimes with power-adjustment motors. Some BMWs with Active-Steering even have an electric motor and a universal-joint built into the column to adjust its feel and response. To top it off, many steering systems today have to be integrated into FWD/AWD, with the front-axle half-shafts and CV-joints on the front wheels. So, the more things you have to integrate into the column and hook up on the assembly-line, obviously, the more potential for error you have.
Last edited by mmarshall; 04-11-11 at 03:13 PM.
04-11-11, 05:03 PM
#14
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Well, for one thing, today's steering columns, like everything else on today's vehicles, are far more complex than they were years ago. Back then, all you had was the column itself, a recirculating ball/worm (with either manual or power-assist), the horn, and the turn-signal lever....that was it. And all it did, with RWD, was turn the front wheels.....there was no FWD or AWD.
Today, in contrast, you have a steering-rack, the column, the horn, air-bag sensors, the air-bag assembly itself, cruise-control buttons (or a cruise-control lever), stereo controls, hands-off and Bluetooth phone controls, the turn-signal stalk, Front and rear washer/wiper stalks and controls, and, on some cars, panel-light intensity controls. Most columns today have either tilt or tilt/telescope features built in, with joints, levers, and linkages, sometimes with power-adjustment motors. Some BMWs with Active-Steering even have an electric motor and a universal-joint built into the column to adjust its feel and response. To top it off, many steering systems today have to be integrated into FWD/AWD, with the front-axle half-shafts and CV-joints on the front wheels. So, the more things you have to integrate into the column and hook up on the assembly-line, obviously, the more potential for error you have.
Today, in contrast, you have a steering-rack, the column, the horn, air-bag sensors, the air-bag assembly itself, cruise-control buttons (or a cruise-control lever), stereo controls, hands-off and Bluetooth phone controls, the turn-signal stalk, Front and rear washer/wiper stalks and controls, and, on some cars, panel-light intensity controls. Most columns today have either tilt or tilt/telescope features built in, with joints, levers, and linkages, sometimes with power-adjustment motors. Some BMWs with Active-Steering even have an electric motor and a universal-joint built into the column to adjust its feel and response. To top it off, many steering systems today have to be integrated into FWD/AWD, with the front-axle half-shafts and CV-joints on the front wheels. So, the more things you have to integrate into the column and hook up on the assembly-line, obviously, the more potential for error you have.
