[Dougster123]

I've only been an SC owner and currently shopping for 4 while drive EX. Saw a Carfax history showing 4-wheel alignments happening at 15K, 37K, 75K and at 85K (85K shows tires were replaced too). This seems excessive to me and haven't found service schedules that recomend any wheel alignment suggestions.

Anyone familiar with this?

 

[wannahonda]

If the vehicle you were researching was an all wheel drive model, perhaps it was taken off road frequently and the alignment was getting knocked out of spec repeatedly on rough roads or terrain

 

[Dougster123]

@wannahonda, Didn't think of that, but even considering, that's still a lot of alignment in not very many miles. I'm actually trying to find if Honda recommended periodic alignments.

 

[wannahonda]

I dont believe they officially recommend wheel alignments in the owners manual but they do recommend inspecting suspension components

When I worked in automotive we had one customer come in repeatedly complaining of alignment problems with his brand new SUV and it was a body on frame SUV not a unibody like the Element

Well after he picked up his SUV at the end of the day and I was leaving to go home I saw him stuck behind a long line of traffic approaching a red light and he turned off the road and went through a construction zone illegally and hammered it through there. He did not try to gently drive it down the ledge and gently get through the terrain. Some people abuse their vehicles like that and it was clear why he was constantly having "alignment" issues.

Obviously the issues were customer abuse related

 

[Kmead]

Getting your car aligned is not a bad thing and should be done whenever you do suspension work or have new tires mounted to ensure you get the maximum miles from them.

If you live in a place that suffers from poor roads, potholes or dirt roads you can require more frequent alignments.

Some people are also led astray by service departments looking to get the max out of their customers, this may be an example of someone getting fleeced by the service department.

 

[Dougster123]

Thanks guys