Car details in my signature.
My car was doing this 'minor locking' at approximately 12,000KM (~7500 MILES) to 14,000KM (~9000miles), before the first 'maintenance service' or 'tire rotation'. I performed an early oil change so my dealer recommended me to do the maintenance a bit later than usual.
Anyway, what I want to explain first is what *actually* happened:
Let's say you're driving straight on a highway.
100-120km/hr (60-70MPH).
You're on CC (cruise).
Heat is on, set at defrost - at about level 1 (heat gauge is at max).
You notice that your car needs to be aligned within the boundaries of your lane.
You swerve the steering a bit to the left (or right) ~roughly 5 degrees, and the car won't necessarily respond to this movement within 2.5 degrees worth of rotation, but the remaining 2.5 degrees responds perfectly. It's as if the steering gets 'locked up' during the initial 2.5 degrees
Is this what you guys have been going noticing?
It's such a small and sensitive issue (AND so hard to spot) that only daily-drivers would even care to notice. Fact is, these small things are what can turn into big accidents. For me, it's a MAJOR safety issue - and I just had to get it addressed.
So, I went to my dealership. The advisor did seem a bit worried at first but like others he also repeated the same line: "if there are no codes, no problems usually". He recommended me to come in on another day for a test drive and he'd have one of the service mechanics go for a test drive. They performed the regular maintenance, which included tire rotation - and well, guess what? The issue is gone. Could it have been the tires?! Tread? I mean it hasn't happened in the past week so far, but I've been testing it on a daily basis. I even asked the advisor to check for a TSB - but nothing was there.
jblackburn, can you please update us with a TSB when it comes out in Jan (hopefully)?