[bigmixx11]

I've owned my car for about a year now and needed a set of tires so took it the dealership this past Saturday to get a set of Michelins installed. Service advisor said the alignment was needed so they adjusted it. Now the steering wheel is off center. Car tracks straight but the wheel is slightly off center to the right. Center the wheel car drifts left. I turned around and took the car back. Told my SA what was happening. He said the car is sensitive to alignment and gave me a loaner and said they need to keep it and spend more time with it. Picked it up Tuesday and it's still not right. Wheel is now off center to the left. Center the wheel, car drifts right. Taking it back tomorrow for a 3rd attempt to fix the alignment. I've had the car for almost a year now and it was perfect. Is this normal or do i need to take my car to another dealership if they can't get it right this 3rd time.

[pbonsalb]

Take it back. They were lazy and had poor follow through. Won’t matter in terms of performance, but is visually distracting.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by bigmixx11

I've owned my car for about a year now and needed a set of tires so took it the dealership this past Saturday to get a set of Michelins installed. Service advisor said the alignment was needed so they adjusted it. Now the steering wheel is off center. Car tracks straight but the wheel is slightly off center to the right. Center the wheel car drifts left. I turned around and took the car back. Told my SA what was happening. He said the car is sensitive to alignment and gave me a loaner and said they need to keep it and spend more time with it. Picked it up Tuesday and it's still not right. Wheel is now off center to the left. Center the wheel, car drifts right. Taking it back tomorrow for a 3rd attempt to fix the alignment. I've had the car for almost a year now and it was perfect. Is this normal or do i need to take my car to another dealership if they can't get it right this 3rd time.

Sounds like my issue!

As stated above, take it back until they get it right.

[Savoy2001]

I just had this issue with my x5mc. Same thing dealer changed out to my winter wheel/tire setup aligned the car. Bam. Wheel off center have to hole slightly left to go straight. Like wtf. Whoever drove the car after the alignment could care less and or wasn't paying attention. Why should they care not their car right? Took it back yesterday and had it redone. I think it's mostly ok But honestly think it's still a bit off I'm not totally sure. It could be in my head now though. I have to drive on my roads first.

[pmsteinm]

I had the same problem and had to take it back. The direction of the steering wheel is not indicated on any alignment spec. It is up to the tech to center the wheel on the alignment rack. The "steer ahead" value assumes the steering wheel is centered. As others have said if it is off only a little it's not a problem, but very annoying. For what this car costs and what thy charge for alignment, it should be perfect.

[BobsM3Coupe]

I've had this occur on a brand new Lexus SUV and a new Grand Cherokee. Each time, even after an alignment, the steering wheel was still off center. All it took was a toe in adjustment to correct the problem. But in each case, the dealer tech had to place the steering wheel in the off center position, and then tell the alignment computer that the steering wheel is in the straight ahead position, and then it would show how much the toe in was off. And then made a simple adjustment.

[bigmixx11]

Thanks everyone for the information. I’m at the dealership now awaiting a ride along with the shop foreman for the 3rd attempt at this. I’m going to ask for a printout of the results if they get it right.

[bigmixx11]

Just took a ride with the shop foreman. We weren’t 5 mins into the drive before he noticed the steering wheel was off center smh.

[Aronis]

The physical geometry of the steering system and suspension is such that the steering wheel should be SPOT on centered. It's NOT rocket science. It's the "everyone" gets a trophy method of training mechanics. Believe me the same bullshit is going on in my industry. Don't get sick.

Mike

[bigmixx11]

3 hours later and a few more test drives they finally got it aligned but the steering feels a little lighter. Could be the new tires as I really haven’t driven it since the new tires were installed. Wheel is centered and it tracks straight now. I’ll give it a week and see how it feels

[GTTC]

Originally Posted by bigmixx11

3 hours later and a few more test drives they finally got it aligned but the steering feels a little lighter. Could be the new tires as I really haven’t driven it since the new tires were installed. Wheel is centered and it tracks straight now. I’ll give it a week and see how it feels

Glad they got it right. I guess I’ll have to watch mine when my time comes. I think the lighter steering feel is due to the fact the wheels aren’t fighting you anymore.

[bigmixx11]

Originally Posted by GTTC

Glad they got it right. I guess I’ll have to watch mine when my time comes. I think the lighter steering feel is due to the fact the wheels aren’t fighting you anymore.

Yeah could be that. Could be they I got used to the way the old tires felt too. They rode a little stiffer but they could be due to the low tread left.