Rav4 needs wheel alignment at 20k

This morning when I dropped off our Rav4 Prime for its 20k free service, I was told it needs an alignment because the the service advisor walking around my car saw uneven wear on the rear tires. They tried to tell me up here it should be done every year or 10 to 15k miles. Never have I heard this in the past.

Thoughts?

 

Alignment after repair/accident is good. Alignment does not goes bad by itself, something wrong. Alignment procedure is purely labor, no parts involved, shops love it, as equipment and specialist are very expensive. To recommend you something will not be right, as your situation unknown. Doing it will prolong life of tires, and rotation, but try to justify money spend on alignment against cost of tires, and see for yourself. Life of tires 5 years, but most tires replaced at 35-40 thousand miles, and keep in mind that safest winter driving at minimum 1/8" thread depth. That's my thoughts.

 

I too never heard this on Rav4. Even with very easy offroading with my Rav4 I didn't go for alignment. We used our Venza on long road trips and same story. Didn't take for alignment.
However we take our 4runners for alignment about every year even though we put very little miles on them just in case because we take them offroad, especially my TRD.

Edit -
Maybe check alignment with a shop like brakes plus since they don't charge much. My early days of 4runner I took it to brakes plus and alignment was $77 with tax if I'm not mistaken. Now my 4runners to a 4x4shop which cost about $120.

 

I'd say no. You can measure the tread depth across the tires if you like, but I wouldn't think anything is needed.

 

At this point, I’m thinking the cost (120) is close to the cost of a tire. They are factory tires, so I don’t expect a ton of miles from them. So it’s not worth the cost right now.
I’m more concerned that if it doesn’t really need an alignment that something else is wrong.
But everyone seems to be verifying what I think

 

A minor experience. One time I helped my buddy to get tire warranty credit for premature tire wear. I talked to discount tire and they told me to contact tire manufacturer and get an approval for tire inspection with them.
1) So called 1-800 number of Michelin customer care and got approval for tire inspection at Discount tire at our convenience
2) Went for the tire inspection and got the results as tires needs to be changed
3) Discount tire contacted tire manufacturer and git the approval for tire credit towards a new set. This credit can be used towards any tire we want.

Just shared this experience if needed..

 

I've always gone to get an alignment roughly once a year.

Hitting a big pothole, offroad use, bumping into a parking stop, ect....... can all throw you out of alignment pretty quickly.

I've always been a big proponent of getting a lifetime alignment as soon as I purchase a car. Saves a lot of money in the long run, if you use it.

 

I’m going to look into the life time alignment, that sounds like money well spent.

 

$275 for lifetime at a reputable place. I’ll check a few more places, but if I get it done 3 times, I’m better off than the dealership

 

Yeah, that's a good price and about what I paid at Firestone.

 

Sullivan tire looks to be 280, limited to 2 per year

the 275 is VIP

 

I'm not familiar with those shops, but the price is right. 2 a year is plenty, unless you're constantly doing suspension mods......which I'm sure you're not on a Rav 4.

 

Both are small New England/Maine chains. And both within 5-10 minute drive of home.

 

I didn't really think a wheel alignment would do much...but after I lifted my 4Runner and got one, I was like "holy shit, this is amazing!"

I went to a place in LA that mainly focuses on offroad enthusiast and it was under $200. Well worth the money for me.

 

if suspension is messed with, or big pot hole or crazy bump, then yes alignment may be out. And if the alignment is out, then its is worth fixing, it just seemed odd that we would need an alignment at 20k, when nothing happened to cause it to go out. I am thinking that if the alignment is bad, is there something wrong with our new car? And how much of this is just the dealership UPSELL.

 

20k miles is a lot of miles and potential pot holes to hit and curbs to rub up against. Do the lifetime alignment service somewhere and take it in every 6 months for a piece of mind. It's a good time to rotate tires anyway and you also get to have some eye balls on your car to double check everything is tight and right.

 

You can always go somewhere and get a second opinion.

 

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I am going to get the lifetime and try to be more vigilant around this.

 

Picked up the car last night, the tires are wearing on the insides, all 4 seem to be down. But don’t worry the dealership let me know that by next service I would need to replace em. Got an appointment for alignment Thursday.

 

Follow up:

Took the Rav4 to a local chain tire place for an alignment. They said all 4 wheels were off and the rears the worst. During our conversation, the tech stated they have seen many new vehicles that the alignments are out of whack. Their printer was out of ink, so not able to get me a print out. I also, had them check the 4runner, which also was out, just on the passenger side.

What I learned, when buying a new ride, find some place that offers lifetime alignment and get it done ASAP

 

I bought a new Nissan Hardbody back in 1990 and the alignment was way out. Took it back to dealer 3 ties and they could never get it right. Went to a Goodyear place and they fixed it. They said they had never seen a brand new vehicle so far out. My wife's 2004 CRV was out too when bought new. Dealership corrected it though.

 

hard to say....I'm not too familiar with the RAV but we had two Camry's and a Sienna that seemed to need an alignment once a year. The Sienna did chew through tires in about 35k miles, even with rotations every 6. My 4Runner has had two alignments done since I bought it almost new (had 6k miles on it) in 2019. the original factory tires are just showing wear now at 72k miles...my local tire guy (NOT the dealership) says I should plan to replace in about 5k more miles.