How often should a Prius need an alignment?

Yes, and I don't mean to speak out of turn... My experience is mainly with racecars. We always checked steering geometry throughout the entire range of anticipated suspension travel so the car doesn't steer itself in unpredictable ways through the corners and maintains the most tire contact patch. Sometimes the left front looks like \ and the right front looks like \ and we even put 1 degree negative camber in the right rear too.

EDIT: Gen II uses a cam bolt to adjust caster. (?) I don't know what Gen III has.

 

I believe so too, they use the camber kit to adjust the camber/caster. It adjust both I believe.

 

I never have had one in my life. If your car really needs one go to a place that will offer lifetime, that way you only pay once.

 

You are correct about the front suspension camber. The "Kit" is different offset bolts that are available in different offsets. There is no official caster adjustment. Unfortunately some dealers have told owners the front camber isn't adjustable even though the Toyota repair manual gives instruction how to do it and the parts department can order the parts.

 

Agree with earlier responses for a second opinion. Also, I bought a Lifetime Alignment from Firestone. It is a one time $175 cost. There is no set limit to how often you get your car aligned. They've been doing a good job on my Prius - car tracks fine and tires have even wear.

 

Traditionally I have gotten an alignment with every set of new tires. With this Prius I decided not to get any alignments as long as the car drove good and the tires wore evenly, unless of course I ran into something. I am at 76K miles on all kinds of roads and the car hasn't been aligned since it left the factory. The car still drives great and the tires are wearing evenly and at about the correct rate

I agree that the OP should get a second (or third) opinion, this is just another dealer rip off.

 

I agree, if you want to pay for an alignment, go to firestone and get their lifetime alignment package. Great deal if you decide to keep your vehicle forever!

 

There is no adjustment for caster or camber only for toe... I have done alignments before, working for body shops and I always said they should call it toe and go... Trucks do have camber adjustment lots of camber, but not caster... I worked for a body shop and we did not put camber kits.... In reality if you need a camber kit to pass alignment specs, something is bent, strut or strut tower if your caster is off
Lower control arm.... Think about it guys
Why a company will offer you a lifetime alignment when most shops are $75-$90
Don't be surprise when they start telling you that you need some new parts in order to pass the alignment and that is how they make the $$$$$$$$$$ I live in Sacramento ca the roads are ok not to bad, my wife drives a 2000 toyota solara 280k the fifth set of tires install and I have not need or done a alignment, I do rotate
The tires every 6000 milles when I do synthetic oil change ... I Hope this help so you can understand about wheel alignment...

 

Been searching on the Internet about alignment on Prius.

Stumbled upon a BMW (or maybe it was Chevy) forum where they were discussing whether to use a dealer or a franchise like Firestone, supposedly because there's a difference in examination and treatment of the make and model of the many different car brands.

What do you all think?

 

You can do an alignment with anything from string and a tape measures to lasers and a computer. Only way you’ll know is by asking what the shop uses and research that.

The place I use got a new alignment machine about two years ago and he spent like $30k on it. Showed me how it worked when I asked. You might not get that kind of love at a dealership but it never hurts to ask!

 

Are the Toyota alignment specs and instructions behind a paywall for third-party alignment shops, or?