I just picked up the car from alignment and my steering wheels is about and inch to the left. It's really bothering me. I called the shop and they said it's normal. What should I do?

 

Go back to the shop and insist that they center the steering wheel. This is a normal procedure during wheel alignment. Good luck.

 

This is not normal. It bothers me to no end that shops will tell you this. The reason they do it is that sometimes, it can take several attempts to get it right. This happened to me recently with my S2K. It took the guy 4 attempts to get it right. You must be persistent. They will even tell you that it can only be done at the factory and that it will never be absolutely centered again, etc. They said this to me with my GTI VR6 years ago. Same thing. It took several attempts. One time with the GTI the way we got it straight was for me to sit in the car and hold the wheel.

I dread alignments for this reason. I tell the attendants before paying that I require that the wheel be absolutely straight. They always say....."No problem!" Then I drive away and........... It's always taken several attemps with both these cars.

Others may have better luck with this or perhaps don't mind the wheel be off center but I cannot stand it.

 

I am a mechanic and have done MANY alignments. There is no reason that your steering wheel can't be set straight. I can't even believe that they gave your car back to you like that, without taking it for a test drive to make sure it is straight and doesn't pull to one side. Just out of curiosity, how much did they charge you for the alignment? We charge $69, or $49 if you have the coupon.

 

This happened to me as well. It is the most annoying thing that i can think of right now.

 

alright... i have the same issue and its irritating the crap out of me. if i keep the steering wheel straight then the car drifts to the right. hence i have to keep it few degrees to left in order for the car to go straight. i got it done at respectable honda dealer so im going back to get it readjusted.

but def... it cant be normal!!!

 

mine got out of alignment on its own... took it to the dealer and they straigtened it out. happened while the car was still under warranty-
as i read the helms manual, its not that easy to do yourself, but sure is easy to have the dealer do it!