Out Of Alignment From Factory?

On mine, a alignment check was offered in the first year. Whether this would include a free alignment or not is open to question. Ask dealer.

 

The Critic,

It looks like you've been around here for a while (since 2005), so I thought you might have seen some of the older posts about alignments on the 2G Priuses. Their adjustment period back then was for 12 months or 20,000 miles (I believe), but I think you had to complain about poor handling first to get Toyota to do an actual alignment (NOT just a check).

I think Toyota paid for some parts to be replaced too, but I'm not sure to what extent. Some rear ends were out of spec & the only way to supposedly correct that was to replace the entire rear axle, but unless you had the alignment checked immediately after delivery, I think Toyota fought against having to replace the axle on their dime---they thought the owners hit something hard. (You could do a search here to find some of those old posts to find out what the outcomes of some of the posters were). There were also some recommendations of toe amounts to set to, to help avoid the tendency to drift or wander in the wind.

Some of the problem, I believe, was due to the way some of the truckers lashed the cars down onto the car transport trucks (I think they were bending some suspension components by hooking onto the wrong things & cranking them down too tight). So, as long as you're under the 12 months/20,000 miles (if that's the same limits for the 3rd generation too), I would visit the dealer first for your alignment & ask them to bring your steering wheel back to center/level (& verify it gets done before you leave).

Your handling should improve after the alignment, but one poster (either here or over at PriusOnLine.com) didn't resolve his poor handling issues until his dealer did an entire steering re-calibration [with a number of specs (that he listed) being re-set]. Look for that post while doing your search (& post a link to it, please, if you find it) & print it out for your future reference. Good luck !!!

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Toyota does offer 1 year, 20k miles on the alignment the first year. I thought it was 12k miles but the warranty pamphlet that comes with the car say it's 1 year, 20k miles.

My 2011 was also "out of spec" from the dealership that I purchased it from, brand new earlier in the year. At first I thought it was "all in my head" because it was a brand new car but the steering wheel was crooked to the right a little bit. Had them inspect and adjust the alignment free of charge during the first 5k miles.

 

The Critic,

Is there a limit on number of times you can get your car aligned at the Firestone? in other words, can you take your car in for an alignment once a month?

 

My front-end alignment from the factory was slightly off in toe-in, but I don't recall exactly how much. Found this out after having the alignment checked after my Tanabe spring install, which didn't change the camber at all. That's usually what suffers with lowering springs. The springs wouldn't affect toe-in.

 

My Gen2 Prius was delivered with a bent rear axle beam. I suspect it happened during shipment, cars are sometimes treated brutally during loading and unloading.

The dealer replaced the axle beam, unfortunately the new one was further out, in the other direction, than the original. They wouldn't replace it a second time because they said it was within the specification, just barely. But without enough toe in the rear the car would not go down the road in a straight line.

Fortunately one of the posters on this site was a very good Prius Technician. He was kind enough to send me a pattern for shims that would change the rear toe without changing the camber. I fabricated and installed shims of the proper thickness. With the rear toe toward the center of its range and the front toed in slightly, still within the spec, the car was fine.

My present Gen3 Prius has none of those problems and is very stable on the highway. Since it drives great and the tires are wearing evenly I haven't had the alignment checked and probably won't.

 

The camber may not be affected if the drop is moderate. I lowered my Integra with a Tokico kit less than 2", and I put in a camber adjustment kit. Turned out it wasn't really needed when I had the suspension alignment checked.