Wheel Alignment Questions

My 2009 Prius also needs more frequent steering tweak than my 2003 Odyssey which seems to go straight on its own forever. It's nevertheless tolerable and stable enough for my taste. Some people on the other hand find their Prius wander on the highway too much. There may be some car to car variation.

There is a long thread about this. Some people theorize that some cars got knocked out of alignment during shipping.

 

If the goal is purely to save money then I agree Prius is the wrong choice. Many components are expensive to replace if they fail. On the other hand, getting the dream machine to play with - as they say in the commercials: priceless!

 

Precisely. If the wear is pretty much the same both inside and outside the tires, and if the car does not wander, don't bother.

Again assuming that they wear the same inside and out, you can both save some trouble and extract maximum value from the tires by not rotating them. Just let the front pair wear out, then move the rear pair to the front and put a new pair at the rear.

 

I think the logic is that a small amount of error on rear alignment has minimal influence the ride and handling so they figure most people wont need it done.

 

Yeah it also surprises me that they can offer a 65k mile warranty Rest. I never get more than about 30k to 40k miles out of a set of tires even with rotation. Perhaps the profit margin in tires is such that just getting you back to the shop (even for a warranty claim) is worth the money it will cost them. From what I've read here I believe that most of these tire warranties work by them selling you a new set of tires but giving you a proportional rebate for your existing tires that didn't go the distance.

 

When you factor in maintenance cost per mile, overall the prius is by far the least expensive car I've ever owned. There's really not much to do. No belts(except water pump), timing belt, brakes last forever, etc.

 

A little late to the party here but I see your in California. I know a couple of great independents if your anywhere near Camarillo or Fresno.

 

I am frustrated with Costco as I bought new tires rated for 80,000 miles and got 25,000 before they were worn and not rotate-able due to uneven wear on the front. I love that my Prius just takes oil and tires but new tires every 2 years is alot!

Are other prius owner's having this problem (Prius=TireEater)?

 

What tires?

 

Sounds like the alignment needs to be checked. My stock tires worn evenly up to ~ 60K miles before I had them changed at Costco this fall. There were still treads left but I figured they were old enough to be replaced.