Question for 1999-ish Honda Civic owners

NailbunnyPD

My car was stolen, then recovered. They pried the window back to unlatch the door, destroyed the ignition, and stole a fender? o_O

In any case, I got the car back from the repair shop, and the steering column seems to be shifted slightly to the left. At first I thought it might be a difference between the steering column cover (OEM vs replacement, appears in image between dash and wheel,) but the more I look at it, the more it just seems to be off by ~1/2".

Am I crazy?

Its nice to have my car back. I feel like I upgraded from the rental, a 2009 Prius.

TheScruple

I drove a 98 Civic up until last year, I personally wouldn't notice the half inch difference. That being said, the more I look at the picture though, the more the column does seem off. It's like an optical illusion or something.

Does it hinder performance or comfort in any way? Or is it just bothersome?

NailbunnyPD

Its bothersome. The car seems to steer and handle fine and alignment seems to be the same as it was before the theft. Its just that after driving this car for at least 6 years, I got used to where the steering wheel was.

Gafoto

Did you pop the lever and push the steering column up and down? Does that affect the left-right alignment at all?

NailbunnyPD

Gafoto wrote: »

Did you pop the lever and push the steering column up and down? Does that affect the left-right alignment at all?

It does not affect the left/right alignment. It only moves up and down.

PeregrineFalcon

... Who the hell steals a fender? o_O

I can't see the pictures on account of flickr being b& by the corporate firewall, but if it "feels wrong" it probably is. Bring it back in and say "The steering column is too far left." Use a bit of string or a laser pointer from the center of wheel/seat and compare.

NailbunnyPD

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

... Who the hell steals a fender? o_O

The $50 fender cost me my $500 deductible. Prior to this month, I wouldn't think that Grand Theft Auto would be worth risking over a $50 part. I was obviously wrong.

Chanus

The fender itself isn't terribly expensive. What you're paying for is the paint and labor time. The Honda list price is about $180 right now (high, but certainly not $500). More likely, they may have pulled it off to get at something behind it...

Or maybe they just really needed a fender.

Your column does look a little off, but if it's not actually affecting anything it's not a big deal (except for aesthetics). Tiny inaccuracies tend to compound... so 1/16" here and 1/16" there will add up to a 1/4"-1/2" gap pretty easily.

Mogs

I saw this thread earlier today, so I checked it out in my '99 Civic when I headed home from work. It's not just you; that's how my Civic looks too.

Gafoto

Chanus wrote: »

More likely, they may have pulled it off to get at something behind it...

It's weird because I think there actually isn't anything behind the fender. Nothing at all, not even wiring. Unless they were trying some ass-backwards way of getting the hood open? Sometimes you just gotta steal a dudes fender.

admanb

Civics are so laughably easy to steal that the whole theft, including popping the fender off, was probably little more than a source of amusement.

Gafoto

Pretty sure that my car, an Acura Integra is even easier to steal. It has frameless windows which makes it laughably easy to get a slim-jim into.

NailbunnyPD

admanb wrote: »

Civics are so laughably easy to steal that the whole theft, including popping the fender off, was probably little more than a source of amusement.

It seems the only truly effective prevention is to install a hidden kill switch of some sort. Unless someone tows it, in which case there's not much you can do anyways.