The service tech told me that the fix was to install shims which actually increased the turning radius from abysmal to very abysmal. Since I wasn't under the car while they performed the "fix", I can't verify exactly what was done. I can tell you about the sinking feeling I got when I realized that I bought a car which was "engineered" and produced without catching the problem to begin with.

I would have more conviction about the shim explanation, except many of the posts I read here turn out to be more accurate than what you get at the dealer service counter. Either way, I'm still pissed.