Hello all.
New member with a question. Please bare with me as I give some background. Traded in my 96 Outback last December for a new 08 Outback. Ever since I have owned this car the wheel has been or looks like it is off center to the left. I feel I always have a small amount of left wheel in while driving. The car has been to two dealers a total of four times and the alignment has been checked and re aligned, tires rotated, etc. The alignment is dead on and the car drives straight so I gave up on my wheel being off center a tiny bit.
Yesterday while adjusting the steering wheel I released the clip and pushed the wheel all the way down and noticed an uneven gap. Behind the steering wheel there is the small plastic cover, there is an uneven gap between that cover and the lip of the gauge cluster behind it. The gap is small on the left and bigger on the right and looks like it is sloping down towards the passenger side of the car.
This would explain why my wheel always looks off center to the left. Just to make sure I was not crazy, I took a look at a family member's 08 Outback and their gap is even all the across the back of that plastic cover behind the wheel. I am brining the car back to the dealer again to show them this issue.
Does any know what is involved in getting the steering column to line up with the dash properly? Or am I going to be told by the dealer that this is fine and they are not going to fix it?
Thanks for reading,
Matt