I went for my 24000KM oil change a couple of weeks ago and the dealer was recommending a 4 wheel alignment at the same time. The tire warranty would be voided if there was a problem in the future they said if it wasn't performed. I declined.

I checked the maintenance schedule and could not find any mention of this service for this time period. I can understand if you hit a curb or something and need to have it looked at.

Anybody out there have an alignment done on their Element at this mileage? Is the dealer desperate for biz?

daveyc71

Check your tires for odd wear before you believe the dealers.
You did good declining their recommendation
Which dealer are you using?

X2E:

It was up here in Markham. The tires look fine and they were rotated at the 16K service. I don't have any pull or steering problems when on the highway too.

daveyc71

I work for a dealer and have never heard of anyone being told they will void the tire warranty if they dont get an alignment.......not sure what they were trying to do.

Time to find a new dealer!
There's no way they can void a tire warranty by refusing an alignment. The tire warranty doesn't come from Honda.
But this makes me wonder, if your alignment is out, (and you say the tires look good, and there is no pull - which are sure indicators af a front end out of alignment) then any issue they have would surely be covered by warranty???
Take it to another dealer, and ask them to check out the front end. Tell them that another dealer told you it needed an alignment, and see what they say.
I just turned in an E with over 32k km, and there wasn't a thing wrong with it. Unless you bounce off the curbs, there's no reason for an alignment, it dosen't go 'out' by itself.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm beginging to think that there was some service up-selling going on when my vehicle was in for service.

My oil change bill has a section called "Comments" and under there it says, " Customer Declined First Alignment" and below under "Recommendations" it says "Perform four wheel alignment." It seems that they are documenting what was recommended and down the road if you have any problems they'll be able to see what you didn't want serviced.

I'm not sure when an alignment would be covered under warranty either. Maybe for premature tire wear...but hitting a curb, purchasing new tires, or bashing your front end would warrant the customer picking up the $99 charge.

daveyc71