Picked up new fleet vehicle at dealership 10 11 04 and drove home approximately 35 miles. Began appraisal route 10 12 04. It became immediately apparent that the steering wheel was loose on the steering shaft and was becoming increasingly loose with each movement of the steering wheel. In less than 40 miles of total driving since picking up the new car, the steering wheel had so much play (rocked 3/4 of an inch front to back at either side and could be pushed in and gently pulled back at least 1/2" on splined shaft) the car was not safe to drive. Since I did not have nearby access to dealer, I had a body shop owner at my first stop look at the problem. To get right to the point, after removing the plastic steering column covers and adjacent cover on column side of steering wheel, the retaining nut for the steering wheel could be turned with a finger and was nearly off the end of the steering shaft. The shop owner was able to access the nut with an open end wrench and made at least 4 full turns on the nut before it began to offer resistance. The nut was tightened 1/8 turn at a time due to limited access, but corrected the problem. However, my concern is the speed at which the nut backed off initially while driving. I noticed no such free play on my trip home from the dealer on 10 11 04. Most of the loosening of the nut seems to have occurred within the next 5 miles of driving, which was mostly stop and go residential with lots of turns. Clearly, if the average consumer were presented with this situation, he/she may have elected to try to return to the dealership with the car, which could have been catastrophic. I mean, the wheel became so loose the car was undriveable in less than 40 miles from new.

- Ronkonkoma, NY, USA