Steering wheel not centered -Toyota Service Flummoxed

So, I'm reaching out to the forums for this. I just bought my Supra on Monday, and the only complaint that I have is that my steering wheel is not centered. The car tracks fine, but the wheel is about 2-3 degrees off center to the left and it's driving me and my OCD bonkers. My sales guy and the sales team at my dealership are awesome, and want to get it perfect for me, but the service folks seem genuinely bewildered by this. Since the alignment seems to be "in spec" they assume there is nothing that can be done. This can't be that big of a deal, can it? I've had this problem in other cars, even ones with lane keep systems and whatnot, and it wasn't an issue.

Anyone? Anyone?

Just have them do a wheel alignment.

ec15 said:

Just have them do a wheel alignment.

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That’s the plan. Goes in tomorrow morning.

consultadrone said:

That’s the plan. Goes in tomorrow morning.

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It does sound like an alignment issue

Mine tracked fine, steering wheel orientation correct, but handling was a little average, it had around 1/4" toe in instead of around 1/8"

Kiwi Greg said:

It does sound like an alignment issue

Mine tracked fine, steering wheel orientation correct, but handling was a little average, it had around 1/4" toe in instead of around 1/8"

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Yeah it looked like a couple of numbers were “just” in spec. Hopefully the alignment does the trick.

UPDATE: Back from the dealership, and they did a full alignment on it. They had me sit in the car and put the wheel where I wanted it and locked it down. Not only is the steering wheel straight now, but the car actually handles better. Steering is more responsive and less "sluggish" on corner entry. I guess "in spec" leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

Thanks for sharing this. I was also wondering if I was going crazy. My steering wheel feels to be "centered" at a very slight turn to the left. I'll copy your steps when I go in to the dealer.

Mine also has a slight off center to the left. I have an appointment tomorrow morning to straighten it out.

Kgsweb said:

Mine also has a slight off center to the left. I have an appointment tomorrow morning to straighten it out.

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At dealer now. Will post results and remedy once done.

Kgsweb said:

At dealer now. Will post results and remedy once done.

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OK - back from dealership getting steering wheel off center addressed. Not sure they completely corrected it. It still seems canted to the left a slight bit. It may just be me looking for the problem. The repair order reads:

"Corrected wheel alignment for customer's concern of steering wheel off-center. Test drove vehicle prior to repair. Found steering wheel off very slightly to left while driving. Inspected/performed alignment, found thurst angle of rear to be off resulting in incorrect steering ahead angle. Corrected rear toe, camber, and front toe to correct for concern of steering wheel off-center."

I'll give it a few days before i return for additional work.

Kgsweb said:

OK - back from dealership getting steering wheel off center addressed. Not sure they completely corrected it. It still seems canted to the left a slight bit. It may just be me looking for the problem. The repair order reads:

"Corrected wheel alignment for customer's concern of steering wheel off-center. Test drove vehicle prior to repair. Found steering wheel off very slightly to left while driving. Inspected/performed alignment, found thurst angle of rear to be off resulting in incorrect steering ahead angle. Corrected rear toe, camber, and front toe to correct for concern of steering wheel off-center."

I'll give it a few days before i return for additional work.

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It took me a little bit to convince my dealership that it wasn't straight.

consultadrone said:

It took me a little bit to convince my dealership that it wasn't straight.

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At dealership now. Wheel was off center after the work yesterday. Let’s try again.

Its just a basic wheel alignment issue

It seems they can be all over the place from the factory

The cost of a proper electronic 4 wheel alignment is pretty cheap, they do them here for free when you buy wheels & tires

My tire place was even good enough to give me another alignment after I put H&R springs in

Kiwi Greg said:

Its just a basic wheel alignment issue

It seems they can be all over the place from the factory

The cost of a proper electronic 4 wheel alignment is pretty cheap, they do them here for free when you buy wheels & tires

My tire place was even good enough to give me another alignment after I put H&R springs in

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All good now. Tech at dealer centered the wheel. It took some time for them to understand what seemed to be so basic - just center the damn wheel and align to it.

I don't understand why techs act like alignments are some sort of witchcraft or something... 99% of issues are toe and go... these cars are easy to align as well