Guest fiddler
I just sold my 1984 Corolla 4-door hatchback (sniff) and bought a 2005 sedan. There is a lot to like about the new car, but the steering is driving me nuts. I wonder if anyone has advice on how to improve the situation?
When I first picked up the car, something was clearly wrong with the toe-in. The front wheels were fighting with each other. After a couple of tries, I persuaded the dealer to fix the alignment, which made things noticeably better, but still bad. (Ironically, the loaner car I drove while my car was in the shop steered nicely.) A trip to a private wheel alignment company might have made things slightly better--hard to say.
The problems I observe (possibly all symptoms of the same problem) are:
1) The steering "sticks". Driving down the road at 30 mph, if you pull the wheel to one side, it doesn't snap back--it stays there, or nearly so. The system is overdamped.
2) There seems to be lag between steering input and response. It isn't that there is play--it's just that the stickiness means you push on the steering wheel for a while before the car responds. This is bad because...
3) The car drifts. If I aim it straight down the road, after a while it is moving to one side or the other. Attempts to straighten it out just cause it to drift the other way.
Has anyone had similar experiences with their late model Corolla, and can it be fixed?
P.S. The "flutter" in the topic description refers to the fact that the car darts back and forth on the freeway on windy days.
