Hi guys, I have one of the new 2010 Prius. I used to own a 2008 Toyota Corolla S. I recently bought the Prius a few days ago right off the lot, and the alignment seems a bit 'off' It is not very noticible, but being familiar with cars all my life, I do notice these small things. This used to occur with my Toyota Corolla as well. I had the thing realigned by Firestone when I purchased the lifetime alignment. I'm just wondering if this is a Toyota thing, or if I was the only one experiencing this. Thanks again.
What is the issue that you notice? I don't notice any problem with my Prius, but I may not be looking hard enough.
My 2010 needs constant, minor wheel corrections to maintain a straight line on the freeway at 55-60 mph. It is a bit annoying but keeps me awake! Just minor corrections, nothing serious. My 2000 Toyota Avalon maintains a straight line much easier.
The Prius steering wheel seems to slant a tad to the right. When you are driving, do you need to make any micro adjustments to keep the car straight ? On both my Corolla and Prius, there needs to be a tiny tilt in the steering wheel to keep it straight. Another way is if you adjust the steering wheel perfectly straight then let the car coast and see if it drifts at all. On both my Corolla and Prius it is a tiny tilt to the right. I'm talking probably .75-1" at the most.
Ask the dealer to check the alignment since you think it is off. Ask for a print out of the specs before & after. If needed, 1 free alignment is provided in the warranty.
I also noticed that the alignment on my Prius was a bit "off." To keep it going straight, it seems I need to keep the steering wheel a few slight degrees to the right and while accelerating (this on a seemingly level road). I haven't hit any curbs or gone over any potholes to this point. I took the car in for the 5K mile oil change, and the dealer noticed the off alignment when they did the road test (this without me even mentioning it). They did correct it free of charge... So I guess that was my one free warranty fix. But even now, I still have to keep the steering wheel 2-3 degrees to the right to keep it straight.
Mine was and still is fine, thankfully. You'd think of alignment as a basic quality-control, out-the-door check! Have you all double-checked your tire pressures, just to rule out uneven inflation as a cause?
Same problem here.I have the car for almost three weeks and I notice that when I center the steering the car drifts to left.Also there has to be continuous steering adjustment to keep it straight and mostly a force to right is needed. I checked for that reason tire press which was the same for all trires(-even though they were up to 51 psi!!!- corrected but with no change to steering drift)
With regards to continuous steering adjustment, could it be that some people experiencing this issue have tires inflated significantly over the doorjam specification? I don't go higher than 39/35 & I am okay (not great but ok wrt steering straight), but if your pressures are 44/42 or 50/48 I can imaging the steering to more easily not track as well, since basically there will be less of a contact patch touching the ground.
I had the same thing with mine from day one. Dropping it off at the dealership for the day (along with a box of doughnuts), fixed the problem.
Well, when I dropped it off for the 5K oil change, they supposedly fixed it. However, I still have to crank it to the right slightly. Not sure if this is just a Toyota thing as my wife's Gen II Prius, her mom's Camry, her brother's 4Runner all have slight alignment issues. Maybe Toyota just designs a lot of play with their steering.
I too noticed my steering wheel was slightly to the right. I took it in an let them adjust it. Now it's pretty much dead on. I noticed this with the 09 Matrix I had too. Seems there is room for process improvement on the line. What I discovered is that they align the wheel not by sight, but by the plastic shroud over the column, to the rear frame of the steering wheel. So if the shroud that covers the column is crooked, so too will be your steering wheel. Pretty stupid if you ask me. I mean one can easily see if a geometric symbol on your steering wheel is not vertical. Come on Toyota
I was talking to some Prius owners who said that Toyota was having some problem with the alignment on the Prius due to the shipping of the cars to the dealerships. Apparently, the cars go though some major shake, rattle and roll, or something. Thus, the car will arrive at the dealership in the un-aligned position. I was also reading a thread about the person getting bad gas milage from the start. Many responses suggested getting the alignment checked. So, if you are having this problem immediately after purchase, you should take it back to the dealer for repair. You can go through tires quickly with bad alignment. Dumb Mike
My alignment was so poor that two tires were cupped beyond use after 10,000 miles. It sounded like I was driving on 4 studded snow tires the road noise was so high. After I complained, the dealer did a 4 wheel alignment, gave me 4 new tires, and my gas mileage jumped as well from around 52mpg to 55. The car is now whisper quiet again like when it was new.
goodyear assurances? My 2010 prius tramlines (follows the grooves in the road) excessively. I only have 1800 miles on it so far. I'm wondering if it's alignment or something about the Goodyear assurances. I rented one before I bought and I don't remember the rental having to have almost constant small inputs to go straight on the freeway. The rental had bridgestones. Anyone else have a wandering Prius on Assurances?
