Four problems related to steering have been reported for the 1997 Buick Century. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
When I backed out of parking space, I turned steering wheel with a "hard left. " car made clicking noise.
I was making a left turn and the steering locked and there was a loud bang. I wasn't able to complete the turn causing me to drive off the road and onto a lawn. The steering wheel wouldn't go back to the correct position and it seemed to be in manual steering mode. I could barely move the wheel. The car is not driveable at this time.
1) car needed towed to garage for starter failure. As it left the garage the steering locked up and sent car almost into oncoming traffic with 2 children in the car. There had been no other warnings of a problem. 2) it happens every time the steering is turned one direction then back to the other. It does not just come back. Especially to the left. I almost crashed 4 times just trying to get it home. 3) I filed an insurance claim on the tow company thinking they were responsible. They looked at it and said they found nothing wrong, that nothing was bent. After getting on line and investigating, I learned of this steering problem. It matches it perfectly. I had someone knowledgeable of mechanics look at the car and they said the steering gear rack needs replaced and not to drive the car as it is. It is to dangerous to drive. I also just had new intake manifold gasket from the decool problem gm has. Now I have a car that I can't drive and can't afford to fix. Nobody assumes liability and I think gm should have had this recalled and corrected.
The design of the magnetic variable steering on vehicle results in poor handling, vehicle sways at 35-55 mph, poor struts contribute to the unstable feeling causing bouncing.