Tmymck

So we went to have 15k service on our 2020 ES350F. The advisor showed us some pictures of our car as we drove in to the service area. He said our car needed an alignment. Anyone have experience with this setup? Is it accurate?

bc6152

First, I don't know how a photo can indicate misalignment of the wheels. Second, if you don't see unusual wear or feel vibrations when driving, I'd be pretty sure your car is OK. These dealers come up with new ways to separate you and your money. This is a new one for me... FYI - there's very little to be done by a dealer on a 15k milestone. As long as the oil is OK, tire inflation is good, check cabin filter yourself (5 minutes) and there are no unusual issues, most owners skip it all together. If you bring the car in for these bogus "checkups" I can almost guarantee you that they'll find something to fix, replace, or adjust. Go by the manufacturer's maintenance recommendations - not the dealer...
GOOD LUCK!

RobertJay

Duly noted and put in memory.
thanks

bc6152

Stick with CL as members are very happy to help with questions and directions. We're glad you joined and ask away for anything and everything. Lot to learn...

mikemu30

I have alignments done when I replace tires. No sooner.

E46CT

Alignment is one of those things shops scare dudes into and dudes think they need but they really don't. I've personally performed countless alignments using both $200,000 racks and by hand, manually. I can almost guarantee you none of you need an alignment unless you a) hit a curb or pothole and damaged something or b) your car has obvious tracking and/or tire wear issues.

A car technically never needs an "alignment" unless you damage something or something is so drastically worn out like a balljoint or bushing. Or you change a major wheel locating component such as tie rod, control arm, balljoint, strut, etc.

So no, it's probably horse poop that dealer is feeding you. Unless they show you a printout of verified measurements, walk.

kingofire

Folks, alignment is simple. Take the car on the highway and see if it tracks straight or not. If it does you are fine. If it doesn't then it needs an alignment. I never get an alignment done after mounting new tires unless I experience the car wanting to pull. In that case I take the car back and get an alignment done.

E46CT

^It's not that simple. You can have two very mis-aligned wheels cancel eachother out, deleting such a "pull." in that instance, your car may go straight, but you'll end up with abnormal wear. You can easily have 1-3 wheels cancel the effects of #4. so many variables.

The takeaway here is our cars are still so very new so unless you damaged something, likely no need to get an alignment just cause you get new tires. Generally speaking though, a car not pulling or not pulling does not necessarily give a solid indication of something wrong. It could, but not always.

i was an alignment tech back in the day and i performed many alignments including by machine & hand/eyeball/measuring (for fun). i always got it right by hand even after verifying with machine. you have to have a very sensitive eye to look at a wheel and know how to compare them.

TechNut

I had a friend that did suspension and alignment work. He claimed that most new cars were off by a small amount. His argument was that loading and unloading from trucks/ships/rail tended to be hard on suspension bits, especially when getting unloaded by some minimum wage kid. I never tested his theory, but I’m just saying that for everyone stating a new car shouldn’t need an alignment, you will have someone else saying just the opposite. My personal opinion is get an alignment if you notice tires aren’t wearing evenly.

DavidZ

The machine at my dealer generates a pretty color printout of the results. It does the measurement as soon as you drive into the service dept, even before they greet you.

bc6152

Bunch of BS in my opinion... Designed for one thing: to get your money...

bc6152

Even a vibration experienced when driving can be wheel balance and have nothing to do with front end alignment. I bought new wheels for my Corvette and one was so bad that it couldn't be balanced with weights.

kingofire

In that case you look for uneven wear.

TipsyTonio

I second this. My 2022 IS had to be re-aligned at 340 miles because the front and rear passenger toe was way off and the wheel was slightly off center.

RASIT

usualy alignment is only few mm one way or the other. That is not something can be seen in naked eye, nor I dont think there is any dives to find it out without properly hooking the car to an alignment machine in my opinion..