Just picked up my first set of new tires for my 2012 Fit from Tire Rack (Yoko Avid Ascends) and having them shipped to a local Firestone to install. I just made the appointment and to no one's surprise they are heavily pushing an Alignment for $85. What is the general consensus on the need for this? My car has about 32K and has never had any issues veering off center. There is some unusual wear on the outsides of both front tires (to be more clear....both outer sides of both tires...i.e. the center of each was left with more tread), but that's b/c i lazily stared at the "low pressure" warning for a few months before filling them to proper pressure. So doesn't appear to be alignment-related.

Would love to hear some thoughts on this before I go in there....

 

$85 bucks and a decent shop is worth the peace of mind. Get it done.


Also a few months staring at the low tire pressure light?!


Ummm okay...

 

It certainly wouldn't hurt anything, but if it's handling properly and the tires are wearing evenly, I don't see what value you'd get from having it done. Most likely it won't require any significant adjustment.

If it were me, I would skip it under these conditions. In fact, I did under similar conditions a couple of years ago.

 

even better, get their unlimited for life of ownership alignment for 160~ bucks. ive already had 2 alignments done and i wish i had that the first time.

 

Unless you've hit something hard, you shouldn't need an alignment. I went 54k before my brother checked the alignment on my car for a grade (used to go to a technical school) and it was perfectly in alignment. Hell, the only means of adjusting alignment on our cars is front toe, everything else is fixed.

It wouldn't hurt, but $85 is steep....

 

Not true, rear toe can be adjusted with EZshims on the GK. There is a little play with camber/caster slightly but not much to really yield any significant change.

 

I've been having the front driver side tire wearing out on the outside shoulder as well. I'm wondering if replacing the stock dunlops will fix this issue.

 

FWIW....i turned down the alignment service they were pushing. When I picked it up they said that they did a "complimentary" alignment test anyway. And lo' and behold it was dead straight.....no alignment needed.

 

Here are some numbers for alignment on a 3 year old GE Fit.
I got new tires on 2/10/16. They are Bridgestone Ecopia 422 Plus 70,000 mile tires and I elected to get my first-ever alignment on my 3 year-old, 28K miles, 2013 Honda Fit base automatic. I drive on mostly good roads with the occasional pothole.

Note that Honda does not specify rear camber and toe adjustments. I've seen one comment on a board that suggests that means alignment isn't a big deal. I did the alignment -one time for a total of $91.26- because I rotate the tires at each oil change (once a year for me) and there was still uneven wear on the treads.

On my front tires, both the camber (how much it leans from being perfectly vertical) and caster (a less important measure of how much the steering control is away from 180 degrees vertical) were within Honda's specs before the alignment.

But I was significantly off on the toe (how perfectly pointed forward when driving straight ahead) and total toe (how much one is off when the other is pointed perfectly forward).

The after alignment/before alignment numbers in degrees were:
Front Left Camber: -0.2/-0.3 (specs: +/- 1.0)
Front Left Caster: 3.8/3.8 (specs: 2.3 to 4.3)
Front Left Toe: 0.02/-0.31 (specs: +/- 1.4)

Front Right Camber: -0.1/0.1 (specs: +/- 1.0)
Front Right Caster: 3.4/3.4 (specs: 2.3 to 4.3)
Front Right Toe: 0.02/-0.19 (specs: +/- 1.4)

Total Toe: -0.01/-0.50 (specs: +/- 0.28)

My brother-in-law pointed out uneven inside/outside tread wear on my original tires when we removed a nail and put a plug in one of them. I have the tires rotated whenever I get an oil change. The tires were close to needing to be replaced and he suggested getting an alignment when I got new tires. So I did. We'll see if it makes the tires last longer!