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Hello fellow Q5 owners. I need some help! I bought my 2018 Q5 and took delivery of it on 10/5/2018. From day one the steering wheel has never been completely straight and level when driving down a flat, straight road. When I first got the car the wheel was probably 2-3 degrees turned to the left. So if i drove down the road and held the steering wheel perfectly straight and level the car would turn to the right and eventually drive off the road. I took the car to my local Audi dealership (not the one i purchased the car at) and they begrudgingly did an alignment and told me that that was the cause of the steering wheel not being straight. I have a copy of the alignment report showing everything within acceptable tolerances. The tech made a point of telling me that the 'thrust' was out and that was the main cause. I then took the car out to a flat, straight road and lo and behold it was now 1-2 degrees to the right! I called Audi back and they insisted that it was straight and that they could not do anything further. Soooo, I lived with it for a while until it began bugging me again and then I took it to an independent auto shop and had them align it. Again, got the report that said everything was aligned but when i drove it it is now back to 1-2 degrees to the left. I even had the shop owner drive the car with me and he said he thought it was straight. He went on to tell me that due to the crown of the road the steering wheel is going to be slightly affected and turned which frankly i think is BS. I've driven cars for 32 years and never had this issue. I can tell you the car is perfectly aligned and drives straight as an arrow with no pulls in either direction BUT the steering wheel is not straight. Before people jump all over me I will admit that I am being hyper sensitive to this but I drive everyday alot and this is just stuck in my head. I am open to any and all suggestions. The dealership i bought the car from said to bring it in and they will do an alignment but I really don't think that will fix the problem. Hopefully someones got a solution before I lose my mind!
Same issue with my 18 SQ5 I bought 12/18. I've also read about other folks having the issue. Somebody missed it in QA that's for sure. Figured I'd have them fix it at my first oil change. I don't see how else to fix it besides getting it realigned.
I had the same problem on my Q5. The dealer straightened the steering wheel without an alignment. Although it is not perfect, it is much better than it was.
I heard from others, that the Q5s are coming with crooked steering wheel from the Mexico factory. I've never had this issue on a brand new car. Doing an alignment is the proper way to get it straight, but it comes down to the technician. They are supposed to use a bar that locks the steering in place and keep it centered, but I've had alignments done at shops that just visually straighten the steering wheel, but then it gets crooked when they make the adjustments to the suspension. I've gone through several alignments on my RS5 with the steering wheel being off afterwards. It also bothers me, because I have the flat bottom steering wheel, which makes it very obvious if it's crooked. I had my last alignment done at my dealership and the steering wheel is pretty good now. I get the feeling it's just slightly off, but I had a conversation with the service manager about this and he said it's very hard to get it perfect. The road crown issue is real, though. Roads in the USA are higher in the center, so that the water runs off to the side. That means that you constantly have to steer left slightly to compensate for the car's tendency to wanting to go right following the down slope of the crown and off the road, so that makes it hard to really know if the steering wheel is straight. You'll have to find a truly flat road, which don't really exist. It's more apparent in cars with low profile tires and better suspension as they give more feedback about the road you are driving on.
Last edited by superswiss; 01-26-2019 at 09:31 AM.
Back in 1982 I had a VW Rabbit that came back from a dealer service with a crooked steering wheel. When I took it back, I watched the mechanic take off the wheel and put it back on straight. Now I know there is a big difference between the steering system today.
Back in 1982 I had a VW Rabbit that came back from a dealer service with a crooked steering wheel. When I took it back, I watched the mechanic take off the wheel and put it back on straight. Now I know there is a big difference between the steering system today.
About the same year as mine. The add-on cruise control was attached to the gas pedal with a key chain. Slightly different tech.
I should have called it a "bead chain" instead of "key chain." My Rabbit had an aftermarket cruise control unit with the bead chain attached to the pedal, since the pedal had a mechanical connection to the throttle. Pretty direct method of pull on the pedal to increase speed. I believe even today the universal aftermarket units use a bead chain to attach to the throttle cable. The image below came from such a unit.
I should have called it a "bead chain" instead of "key chain." My Rabbit had an aftermarket cruise control unit with the bead chain attached to the pedal, since the pedal had a mechanical connection to the throttle. Pretty direct method of pull on the pedal to increase speed. I believe even today the universal aftermarket units use a bead chain to attach to the throttle cable. The image below came from such a unit.
The first cruise control I ever saw was on a friends fathers late 60's Large american luxury car. I forget the brand. But I remember seeing a chain like this under the hood that was for the cruise control. I wonder if they maintained speed up a hill?
01-25-2019, 10:49 AM
Crooked steering wheel
