Steering wheel on Prius C slightly off center.

oh. ya. I heard other member mention that couple days ago. I forgot which thread is it.

he/she also said the streering wheel is off center to the left.

 

Sounds like a build-quality issue at the factory. It probably does need to be adjusted, where the intermediate shaft connects to the yoke.

 

I've heard reports or GenIIIs having the same "problem". I'll try and remember to check mine in the morning.

 

thanks for letting us know,Kirkuleez.

I will check mine when I pick it up next week.

 

I have driven 2010 rental Prii that have had the wheel not centered although they all drove straight. If my car comes in that way they will make it right :nod:

Mike

 

I'm so confused on this and now I'm concerned about this issue. Are there any pics of how it looks off-centered, or do you mean internally the steering swerves to the left?

 

Dealer should be able to align it (and an alignment shop, too), with no consequences to wheel alignment. The steering wheel should be properly aligned when driving in a straight line. No excuse for that.

I test drove a c (ONE) and the steering wheel was pointing a little off center. Toyota is probably pushing these little cars out of the factory as fast as they can. I mentioned it to the dealer, but not sure from response if it was going to be fixed.

 

you know I thought I had noticed that on mine, now I will check it tomorrow.

 

if i recall correctly.. every prius has had this "problem". i know the genII and genIII have it the same way. some recognize it and others don't... after many many miles i've finally had mine tweaked soo many times that it's now more center. (replacing the recall sheering shaft sensors or whatever the recall was also helped get it closer to center)

 

Toyota doesn't specify a total toe for the front wheels on the new cars but it only specifies a cross toe (difference of the angles the two wheels point to), which should be zero.

This translates as: as long as both front wheels point exactly to the same direction, the alignment is considered perfect by Toyota, even though they don't point toward the front. This further translates as the steering wheel won't necessarily be centered while going straight (aka wheels pointing forward).

Solution: Complain to the dealer and have the toe for each wheel changed by the same amount until the wheels point forward when the steering wheel is centered. I am someone who believes that the steering wheel should be centered while going straight, no matter what Toyota says. Most tire shops will make sure that the steering wheel is centered when they do the alignment. In fact, if the centering is way off, your turn signals may not work correctly, and, in addition, you might have handling problems as well, as your rack-and-pinion will be way off-centered and not respond with the correct angles to the steering input.

But then steering is the weakest part of new Toyota models; so, this should come as no surprise, as Toyota doesn't seem to care much about steering. New Corollas, Priuses, etc. have substandard steering. Apparently Honda also joined the bad-steering bandwagon with the newly redesigned Civic.

 

Mine actually has that issue too. I have mentioned it to the dealer and they checked the alignment and the said it's perfect. I live in FL and the service manager said that the roads are curved a certain way for the rain run off. I've never had a car that I have to have the steering wheel slightly to the left in order to go straight. It bothers me. So, I'm going to see what they could do because this is ridiculous.

 

Mine also has the steering wheel off center to the left as well.
My buddy who has a c1 had his adjusted to center at his 5k oil change by the dealer...wasn't a big deal. When I take mine in I will have them center the steering wheel.

 

Based off everyone elses responses, I'm assuming you mean the steering wheel is rotated counter clockwise slightly, not that it's physically closer to the door panel and not directly in front of you.

With this "one more click" excuse, the dealership is plainly disclosing their ignorance on how cars are aligned. The cars toe may be reasonable, however the steering wheel may be rotated and not at all an indication of the suspension alignment. This is easily correctable by adjusting the tie rods equal amounts on both front tires. This doesn't change the toe or the thrust when done competently, but only moves the rotation of the steering wheel. Keep in mind that most [but not all] factory alignments slightly bias the steering wheel so that the logo is level when travelling straight down a slightly crowned road. This represents "average" straight-ahead motion. Most of us don't drive on perfectly flat roads, or they wouldn't drain well when it rains.

 

My Prius C4 has a steering wheel that is off-center in the counter-clockwise direction when going straight down the road. The alignment feels OK and the car does not drift in either direction. The off-center location of the steering wheel is bad enough to be irritating and I will take it to a good alignment shop and get it fixed.

 

Mine has this exact thing too. I forgot to mention it at the dealer for my 5K mile service, but ive gotten used to it and it does not bother me nor does it affect the way the car drives. I guess ill just leave it how it is.

 

I suddenly feel like I'm the only who has never noticed this - not sure if it's just being in a different market or if the unaffected are (understandably) not commenting.

 

The latter, I'm sure. I'm thankfully in possession of a straight steering wheel.

 

I have had my Prius C for 10 days. After taking delivery I noticed that when driving straight on a level grade, the steering wheel was slightly to the left, like at 11:57 instead of 12:00. It bugged me a little. I mentioned it to the dealer when he called to make sure all was OK with my new vehicle. He offered to have the service center look at it.

While waiting for my service appointment I found this website thread and came to the conclusion that the small steering offset was probably a normal condition for Toyotas. But I took the car in anyway, prepared to hear that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle.

The dealer found that the front end alignment was indeed off and he fixed it under the warrantee. Funny thing is that now the steering is slightly to the right, i.e. about 12:03 instead of 12:00. Guess I have to live with that.