Just joined the NICO site, although I have been reading for a little while. My Black with Chestnut EX has been great fun to drive...I love it.

This weekend, however, the telescoping function on the steering wheel crapped out. It's making a terrible sound if I try to change the position. I also noted that when I unlocked the car, both the seat and the steering wheel are going back and forth trying to find the memorized position, so I immediately disabled the auto features. I remember another user saying he/she had turned off the auto seat feature for fear it might wear out prematurely...perhaps add the steering wheel to that list.

Service is scheduled for tomorrow, so I will let everyone know.

Yep - same issue It must be an issue with all as mine has been that way since it was delivered and many of the ones we drove while evaluating had the same issue as well. My dealer said the part is back-ordered and seems to be a widespread issue and is due to get the part in this week.

Keep us posted - I hate the fact that I can;t telescope the wheel without getting the ugly noise it makes every time it moves!

Thanks yustonuser for the post. It's always empowering when you can tell the service tech that others are reporting this problem and encourage them to look for a service bulletin before they tear the car apart. Unfortunately, mine is completely dead (i can move the steering wheel up and down, but not in and out). I can still hear the noise, but no movement at all.

Mine is dead too - moves up and down, but no telescoping at all - just a grinding noise. It is def a rampant problem as my salesperson told me he was surprised when they were told it was two weeks back-ordered due to demand. It has been that way for us since delivery!

Funny this came up here, just as I am dealing with the same issue on my wife's EX that we have not taken delivery of because of this same issue!! We actually bought an EX and decided to change it for another; the original one has the issue, the one we finally picked is broken too and come to find out 5, yes FIVE, other EXs at the one dealership are all suffering from the same malady . This does not speak well for Infiniti's Quality Control procedures but.. I love this little car/truck, and so does my wife!!

In the mean time, she's driving a car that we have no paperwork on, and that I'm thinking someone's gonna get as new. We've already driven close to 100 miles taking trips to and from the dealership.

Very interesting problem as I have the same function on my G37 and have not had any issues.

As far as the car your wife is driving I'm sure it's a courtesy vehicle that the infiniti dealership has. My local one has a number of G35's and a couple FX35's that are used while cars are in the shop. No, they are not sold as new.

I understand what you're saying. I've used loaners in the past. The EX she's driving was the one we originally contracted on before changing our minds and realizing that she needed the rearview monitor/camera she had on her Murano. We went back to the car dealer the following day and filled out the paperwork/contract to walk out with another EX. Come to find out that one had the same issue and we drove home in the original car while the one we bought (second time around) was being repaired. I guess the EX we currently have could become a loaner in the near future...

Later,RCya

audtatious wrote:Very interesting problem as I have the same function on my G37 and have not had any issues.

As far as the car your wife is driving I'm sure it's a courtesy vehicle that the infiniti dealership has. My local one has a number of G35's and a couple FX35's that are used while cars are in the shop. No, they are not sold as new.

When we took delivery the steering wheel was adjusted perfectly for my wife, so she never moved it before we left the lot. When we got home I went to get adjust the steering wheel as it was in my lap and wouldn't you know it, no tilt, no telescope, just an angry grinding sound. Took it in a few days later for a few other items as well (twisted drivers seat belt; how does that happen?) and the SA said they've seen a lot of this issue. He basically said it was stripped gears and they keep the necessary parts in stock. The initial quality of the Infiniti has for the most part been excellent, and the service department certainly trumps BMW. However, why wasn't this checked prior to delivery? Hope this is NOT a sign of things to come.

Doubtful. Sounds like a common issue with a certain part. Very weird. I have owned Nissan products for the last 12 years and have been very pleased with them. My Maxima has 140k on it and the only problem I've had is with the seat switch sticking from time to time. Very minor and a easy repair.

Just back from the dealership. The service department looked at the malfunctioning part and remarked that they had repaired one other EX with a similiar problem. Rather than try to rebuild the unit that is not working, the service department is going to replace the entire steering wheel assembly. That should happen next week. Until then I'll just have to move my seat forward so I can reach the steering wheel. Thanks for all the feedback.

I just got my Black with Chestnut EX for about a week and its back to dealership for the same issue. The adviser also told me that the whole steeling column will be replaced and that the part is on back-order. I currently have a G as a loaner. It just sucks that I just bought the car and its spending more time at the dealer then me driving it. I got the loaner because mine is stuck at the lowest position and I can't adjust it anymore.

Just to let you know, our dealership told us they were aware of the issue. They've fixed a few and it's a known issue. They are hoping for a recall from Infiniti resolve this issue.

The one I test drove in Puerto Rico had the same problem with the steering wheel. It would just grind, but not move anywhere.

The retractable steering wheel is definately one of the best convenience feature on the EX35. Even though I could be saving the gears from wearing out, I definately will not be turning off this feature. I have turned off the convenience feature on the seat ... I didn't want to wait until the seat stopped sliding back to hop out of the car.

I am wondering how many months did you own your vehicle, before the malfunction occured?

from the time of delivery 3 other ones we test drove had the issue as well and my dealer said it is a widespread issue and their is huge pressure on the manufacturer of the parts to get the fixed parts back in stock. I have an appointment on Wed to get it fixed finally and am milking for all I can given that it is not a great start to the vehicle reliability experience

Same here guys!! Again, my dealership had over 6 that had the same issue! The one we bought had the bad steering column and our loaner as well. Actually, we've not even driven the one we bought, never took it out of the parking... It just seems amazing that companies today allow things of this nature to still happen. It makes me want to mention Microsoft and their "buggy" software because the QC/QA guys were sleeping or drinking on the job. Obviously, the fact that the damn part is on national back-order tells me this was not forseen or planned but... How is this possible, at this scale? I can understand a single digit percentage but high double digits????? No way Jose!!!

Oh well...

Hello (new to this site)I just picked up my EX 35 this week the steering wheel wouuld not go up and down the next day. Went back to the dealer and they said that the part was comming in next week. They wanted to give me a loaner but i didnot want to leave my car their on Friday. The part maynot be their Monday as they say.Update 09/15/08I Just called the service today Monday and the same old story " the part is on back order". At 68 years old and on my 20+ new car or truck it's still the same old story................:-(Update 09/17/08Got a call on my cell Tuesday night the part was in. Called to make an appointment this morning no part???. Left a message for the Service manager what gives ???. Got a call an hour later the part was in, and to bring in my EX. I have the G35 for now, they say it will be done in one day, i hope.Update 9/18/08The jop is done and working.........................:-)

Modified by AVG at 2:55 PM 9/15/2008

Modified by AVG at 4:59 PM 9/17/2008
Modified by AVG at 3:11 PM 9/18/2008

Welcome to the NICO EX forum, AVG!

Hope your steering problems are solved soon.

Cheers,David

Me too. Telescoping steering issue. I drove to San Antonio from Austin to take delivery of an EX35. Got done with paper work and was ready drive off, started to adjust the steering wheel and noticed the problem.

The sales person, at first, told me to take it back to the Austin Inifiniti dealer to get it fix. I just looked at him and found it incredible that he didn't take immediate responsibility. Later, he offered to give me a loaner to drive back to Austin with.

Anyway, tomorrow's Monday and I'll wait to find out what's the latest news on getting it fixed. I'm very disappointed... Poor quality.

Actually, the dealership has a 48-hour gurantee. So I told the dealership I'm not taking the car and instead, they're getting me another one without the telescoping issue. Wow, that was a close one.

I have been hearing an intermittent squeak on the inside when my steering wheels retracts. If I have the driver's window open I can sometimes hear a more shrill squeal when it retracts after turning the car off when it is fully warm.

Anyone else hearing the squeaks and squeals? My car was on the first boat load of 08s.

Just got mine back from service today. Same problem with telescoping grinding noise. Service ticket says they replaced steering column assembly. I just don't understand how this can happen on a brand new car,,Don't they test these things before they build em?



My wife says.."we should have bought the Honda".....

rayc325 wrote:Just got mine back from service today. Same problem with telescoping grinding noise. Service ticket says they replaced steering column assembly. I just don't understand how this can happen on a brand new car,,Don't they test these things before they build em?



My wife says.."we should have bought the Honda".....

Ya, I have had 10 new Hondas over the years and only had an issue an 89 Civic that had the coil pack that failed twice. Other than that car the other 9 Hondas were trouble free.

I am going to wait until next month to take it in for the noise. Just had my fuel pump replaced this morning. I can't complain about the local dealer service experience though. After spending the last 3 years dealing with Chevy/GM, I am probably far easier to please than before. The Chevy service experience with a new Corvette was pretty scary.

Mine just started having that problem tooday (3800 miles). My big question is this : Did anyone who had the problem taken care of, had it AGAIN ?I am asking because the dealer's tech informed me that the fix right now is to replace the rack with the worm gear with one that is identical and NOT with a redesigned part. If that is the case and we start having cars suffering the same failure more than once, then NNA has to do more than replacing the same part. Anyone with the problem recurring after the first fix ?

Thank you all for this information. Just bought our new EX on Friday (yesterday) and today attempted to adjust the telescoping steering column for the first time. I didn't think to try this at the dealer, but after reading about it in the manual decided to try it out today.

Anyway, I was met with a horrible grinding sound that was clearly not right. Really love everything about the car so far and it sounds like getting this taken care of will not be a big deal since it is known issue.

Thanks again!Rian

Welcome to our group, Rian!

Please let us know how you make out and whether there's any news on superior parts that will fix this problem permanently.

Cheers,David

Just wanted to report back to the group about my experience with this issue. Finally got it fixed on Tuesday. No back-order of parts or anything like that, just my own personal delay due to the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US.

Never really did get a clear answer if the replacement parts are different than the stock parts, but I was told that they have to replace the entire guts of the steering column. Maybe that is just because it comes as a kit though...again not 100% sure on that. The fix took about 6 hours.

The good news is that the dealer was great with the whole process and made it really easy on me. From what everyone has said I'm sure they have seen this before. I don't think anyone has reported having the problem come back, so hopefully it is one and done.

Rian

EXcitement wrote:Just joined the NICO site, although I have been reading for a little while. My Black with Chestnut EX has been great fun to drive...I love it.

This weekend, however, the telescoping function on the steering wheel crapped out. It's making a terrible sound if I try to change the position. I also noted that when I unlocked the car, both the seat and the steering wheel are going back and forth trying to find the memorized position, so I immediately disabled the auto features. I remember another user saying he/she had turned off the auto seat feature for fear it might wear out prematurely...perhaps add the steering wheel to that list.

Service is scheduled for tomorrow, so I will let everyone know.

I could talk to one of the service mgr. in Monrovia Area and she told me almost all of New FX/EX is having these problem with the telesoping. The problem came from the part Manufacturer who made defect parts and installed on all EXs and FXs, She told me all of you have EX/FX delivered Before July of 2008 should incounter this problem its just a matter of time. My EX experienced this when it had 2500 miles with auto tilt/telescope options on so i guess you should at least try using telescoping functions often to find out unless they file a recall on our vehicles.

I have long legs and wish the steering wheel would telescope out further like 2-6 inches more. Has anyone tried this mod, or does anyone know if this is adjustable by the factory? (Might be a great time when they're in there fixing the broken telescoping wheel anyway)

I just test drove an EX tonight and it had the same problem...

What a long list this is.......everyone seems to have this issue going on.

Mine is not making any noises but randomly it decides either the seat or steering do not want to go to the set position. Sometimes the seat will return to position and the steering will make it partially there then stop. OR the steering does not move at all only the seat. I can push the preset button on the door and everything goes to the proper position.

What I found is that if I put all the "convenience" settings back to factory the seat and steering will always move to position. But if I go into those same settings and change the headlight delay time or the selective door lock sure enough the steering and seat stop working again!!

I am almost at the point of regretting buying an Infiniti. I had a G37 with MAJOR engine problems that Infiniti eventually bought back from me. (after numerous arguments) And my EX has had the fuel pump issue and now this. I bought into Infiniti with more confidence than what I have now.