I just had springs/shocks/upper and lower shock mounts, and upper control arm bushing all replaced. I had a 4 wheel alignment also. The shop said the rest of the front end was pretty solid. That said, my STEERING wheel after the align is of, it sits off center to the left. Should I take it back and insist it also be oriented correctly? The lion in the middle of the wheel is not straight, its head is pointing to the left a little, enough to bother me. The car has 100k on it now.

 

If it bothers you then I would take it back... it is just a matter of centering the wheel perfectly and then adjusting the toe at that point. It shouldn't be a big deal for them.

 

Take it back, it will annoy you. The same thing happened to me after an alignment and new tires, they were able to correct it no problem.

 

yea it already bothers me. It really bothers me that I take a car to a well seasoned European car repair shop and they miss something like this.

 

Couple of points. First, the steering wheel and column must be centred to the straight ahead position of the road wheels otherwise the steering power assistance will be confused! Later XK8/Rs with DSC would also find that system affected to a greater or lesser extent dependent on the misalignment.

Second point. If you think about it, that 'lion' might just be a Jaguar?

 

ha ha ha, ok, Jaguar.

Steering power assist? My 03 has that function? All I know is the car rolls straight but when it is the JAGUAR is spun a little to the left, pointing to about the 11:50 point on a clock if you will. It I make the wheel correct the car turns to the right a little.