Steering wheel off-center

Hi. I noticed that my steering wheel is off-center.
When I say it's off center, I mean that the steering wheel is laterally translated to the left side a little too much, not that the angle is off. I prefer having my wheel as low as it can go, and it covers up the speedo a little more than it does the tach. At night, it is not noticeable but in the day time I certainly notice it.

Anybody else have this issue?

I have seen this mentioned a few times in the past with various models of VW particularly the Jetta. On my GTI the steering wheel is dead center to cluster and seat.

somerset9 said:

Hi. I noticed that my steering wheel is off-center.
When I say it's off center, I mean that the steering wheel is laterally translated to the left side a little too much, not that the angle is off. I prefer having my wheel as low as it can go, and it covers up the speedo a little more than it does the tach. At night, it is not noticeable but in the day time I certainly notice it.

Anybody else have this issue?

Click to expand...

Had this a few times in both directions over the years. Not a big deal and you don't need an alignment. First time I asked to have this addressed, the dealer was able to make an adjustment of some sort that centered the wheel perfectly for a few years afterwards.

Second time, I asked my mechanic to check if I need alignment due to same issue and just since I haven't had an alignment done for a while and this is NYC...

Apparently, my mechanic was then able to make the same adjustment without access to dealer tools and the wheel was centered once again.

Sorry, don't have any additional detail regarding what was done exactly.

My steering wheel was slightly tilted to the left for the last 5 years, I would say 11 o'clock if it was to be referred to as a watch. Alignments always passed with normal specs, and the car would drive straight with my hands off of it. This year I finally could not stand it anymore, especially after I got an alignment with Elite Motorsports(highly reviewed NY shop) and the steering wheel was still slightly to the left. They saw that one tie rod was slightly seized and that the other was fully seized. They simply adjusted the tie rods and now the wheel is pin straight and the alignment specs are also proper.

So check your tie rods.

I believe op was making reference to the steering wheel column being off centered with the cluster and seating position and not that the steering wheel is off a few degrees to the LT or RT. The "off center" is an issue in some models of VW.

Completely misread that, sorry, with my OCD I don't think I could deal with that lol.

Neither could I, I'd have to sell car asap.

GTI's hit it on the dot. It's not the angle, it's the horizontal positioning. I just had an alignment done and that did nothing to address the issue.

I enjoy the car too much to let this be an issue.