I have just had my Prius for about 3 weeks and notice two things: 1. When I am driving, the car pulls to the right. I mentioned this to the dealership and they are having me come in for an alignment. Has anyone else experienced this? 2. When the gas engine comes on, the car kind of "shudders" and then runs fine. Again, anyone experience this> Thanks for the help
On #1, are you sure the road isn't slightly inclined to the right (most are for drainage purposes)? On #2, sometimes when the car is "cold" it will shudder slightly, but it definitely shouldn't be a huge shudder. I would have it looked at in either case. mike mwang.org
I just got back yesterday from having my alignment checked. I've got 1200 miles on my new 2006. The car did not pull, but the steering wheel was not centered when going straight. When the service writer returned my car to me, he said that the toe was out of spec. Both tires were toed-out. In case you don't know, there is toe-in and toe-out. Toe out = \--/ Toe in = /--\. He also mentioned about how the sensors have to be reset after an alignment. There is a yaw sensor and the computer uses the readings of this sensor and the position of the steering wheel to determine Vehicle Stability Control. So a warning to all. Don't get an alignment somewhere without having the sensors reset.
The spec allows zero toe, which will make the car wander on the freeway. You want a little toe-in, within spec. Be sure you align the steering wheel to the HORIZON, not the DASH. The dash is canted and not square with the horizon.
You want a LOT of toe in for the front. It won't hurt mileage. I've had 3 alignments and it tracks best when the front toe in was 50-100% of allowable toe IN. Have them check the rear toe in-out as well. They can order shims if it is out of spec. I had this corrected and is now almost zero toe-in or out (I had the right toe out exceeding specs).
