How often do I need tire alignment?

Sorry I can't make you feel better. Even with our potholed roads here in Pa. my Prius with 98k has never been aligned. The car still traks straight and tires wear evenly. My feeling is alignments should be done if the steering suddenly goes off center or the car starts pulling one way or the other or if you notice the tires wearing unevenly. It's really a roll of the dice, my 05 needed an alignment when it got it's first set of tires at around 30k mi. Watch now I'll hit a hole this afternoon and throw it off

 

Typically, new tire cost does not include any alignments. Usually you even have to pay separately for mounting, balance, and valve stems. A lot of places near me are starting to quote OTD prices. I feel that anytime you get new tires, it's probably a good idea to get the alignment checked (Just Tires offers the check for free with tire service). I had purchased the 5 yr alignment from NTB several years ago, and it definitely paid for itself. Between all the pot holes, bumps, construction, etc that I would encounter, I definitely kept getting it checked atleast once a year. Unless they have some fine print that states it's only valid for 1 alignment/year, I'd have them check it with rotations as well. You paid for it, might as well make use of it!

In the event your alignment is out, your tires can wear a lot faster than if it were in spec. Just imagine if your alignment was out, and your front two tires wore out in 20k miles because of this, as opposed to around 40k miles. You just paid more for a pair of tires than it would have cost to keep the alignment correct, not to mention the rubber waste that gets tossed back into wherever it goes.

As for tracking straight, your alignment could actually be out of spec and the car still track straight depending on variables (road crowns, tire inflation, tires out in opposite directions countering each other, etc). Typically, only 1 tire is usually out of alignment due to bumps, pot holes, etc. I've never had a car go as many miles as paprius without having the alignment out. Not saying it can't happen, and if it doesn't for 98k miles, that's awesome! I even felt it with just 1 of the items being a smidge out of spec.

I will not say you got ripped off on that item, especially considering it's a lifetime warranty as you stated. Make use of it, though and make them check it everytime you are there. The smallest item out of spec could wear your tires out faster than expected, and ultimately cost money in the long run to you.

 

Just a quick thought. My tire guy, who is more interested in playing music than in making money off his little tire store, says that after you drive out of the shop, within a few days you will technically need your tires aligned.

So, his recommendation "aligns" LOL with paprius'....

 

cyberprius... haven't seen you in.. oh.. forever. welcome back to the board.

unfortunetly a lot of prii have alignment issues. (gen II models). apparently the rear left tire needs to be shimmed out negative degree 1/64 or 1/32 an inch. i've just about Always had cupping on the rear tires and that's why. there was a thread created on this about 3 years ago. maybe 4...

alignment is a funny thing.. i can be off in the beginning and people will simply adjust around it.. this works till your suspension is actually required to Do something. ever see an old beat up truck traveling down the street with such a messed up frame/alignment problems that his truck is pointing diagonal?... i have. it works great till your suspension moves (because the tires can't keep functional angles to the road)

 

Wick, can you please explain "tires out in opposite directions"?

 

Not sure where you are in the bay area, but if you're anywhere near SF, Mach III on Ocean does alignments for $40. Their prices on tires is also very competative (I'm not affiliated in anyway, just like the shop and had both of my Prius aligned there).

Rear shims of course is not included. The charge the install rear shims is not cheap, but I think that will apply anywhere you go and at least these guys know what they're doing so you don't have to explain yourself.

Oops - reread your post... As mentioned before, now that you bought it, use it! I think the price you paid is fair if you put a lot of miles on the car or drive in an area with terrible roads. Many shops do charge $80 for an alignment these days, but I feel that it's a rip for the Prius since most places I called would not do anything about the rear at that price.