How often does one need an alignment?

How often does one need to change an engine air filter?

Took my car in today 3+ years and 38k miles. These need to be done. Was just wondering. I don't remember having to do this in the past so early.

Also. Have some warranty repair they are gonna do as it's covered under powetrain. Something to do with a left axle seal leaking.

 

Do an alignment any time you have any suspension work (struts, tie-rods, etc) done, are noticing uneven tire wear, the vehicle not tracking properly or shuddering under braking. Or if you hit a massive pothole, especially one serious enough to damage a tire or wheel.

Engine air filter should be about every 1-2 years, depending on driving conditions. If you're in an arid or agricultural area, more often. Exclusively highway driving in semi-urban areas, less often. Replace the cabin air filter at the same time.

 

Thanks. I am bit surprised that the engine air filter is not on an interval timeline.

 

In accordance with the Corolla maintenance schedule, the engine air filter is inspected -- and replaced if necessary -- every 8000km / 5000miles. The cabin air filter is replaced every 16,000km / 10,000miles.

 

Depends on where you drive. If you have a lot of dirt or gravel roads, you are going to be changing the air filter a lot more often. I just check mine every time I do the oil, if it looks dirty/black, time to change it. Usually every 15-20k miles, about every 3rd or 4th time I change the oil.

Alignment is something you don't mess with unless you are noticing uneven tire wear, car doesn't track straight, or you have to replace suspension components. Factory alignment might be fine for 100k+ miles if you drive on nice smooth roads all the time.

 

for air filter usually 15k miles. Alignment if you notice uneven wear or crooked steering wheel. There isnt an interval really for alignment

 

I was never one to get caught up in alignments, but I've reconsidered. My wife's car is a 2011, and my daily driver is a 2006 LS430. I decided to get the Firestone lifetime alignments, I think they were $169 and $179 (different promotions). I'm about to go back with the LS430 tomorrow in about 7,500 (why not no charge), and am curious to see if anything changed.

My wife's car failed a state inspection, and as a result, needed a new RF strut, and two sway bar links. The extended warranty covered it at the dealer, however, only one strut, and they only aligned the RF wheel (no kidding). When I was changing the oil last weekend, I saw the new strut and that both sides had new sway bar links.

So in about 6k miles, I took it back to Firestone, and 2/4 wheels were out. The LF, and the RR. The RF which was done by the dealer was perfect.

This would imply to me, that the alignment is not a function of mileage, rather what transpired since the last alignment. My guess is either my wife hit potholes, or the LF and RR are susceptible when parallel parking, dunno.

When my BMW was brand spanking new and under the 12k adjustment warranty, I had the car in for the front tires starting to scallop on the outer edges. they stated that the car was perfectly aligned (as shown on the report) and also perfectly balanced, and also a TSB for Bridgestones only covered non sport packaged/square setup'd cars, not mine. They stated the scalloping is a function of the tires and their stiffness and normal.

my .02 on this subject....

air filter, I change every year, despite if the factory said 30 or 50k. In one year, my Lexus air filter went from new/white, to dark gray. The filter is cheap enough to simply replace. To illustrate how important an air filter is, I've used K&N (stupid I know) on my Nissan. After 5-8k miles, the mpgs plummet.

It's rather funny how nowadays people always tell you that you need a cabin air filter--they said this about my wife's at the state inspection. So I did it, and it was disgusting in 1 yr, looked like a vacuum cleaner HEPA filter, and makes me wonder how we ever did without....

edit my favorite filters for the most part are made by WIX. Oil, WIX HP, air, whatever WIX. Cabin, since WIX often costs more than OE, I just go OE. None of this applies to BMW, for BMW I prefer Hengst or Mahle, I now avoid MANN since they are not made in Europe and I believe now owned by Purolator etc. (I may have that wrong, I switched years ago)

 

On the air filter, check the Owners' Manual or Maintenance Schedule, but, typically, it's recommended required at anywhere from 15K to 30K intervals...possibly sooner than that if you drive in dusty conditions, which is usually not a problem in Toronto's climate.

On the alignment, I agree with most of the other comments here. Potholes, sharp bumps, torn-up pavement, and curb-impacts while parking are usually the biggest offenders. Keep in mind that, if your Corolla has a solid beam axle in back (as most of them do) instead of an independent rear suspension, it will usually need only a front-wheel alignment. Unless something is excessively worn, bent or damaged in the rear suspension, you usually won't need any work done back there....so don't let them try and sell you a four-wheel alignment when your car probably doesn't need one.

On the axle-seal issue, on FWD vehicles with CV (constant-velocity) joints like your Corolla, depending on exactly how it is designed, the whole front axle half-shaft/CV assembly is often simply replaced as one big unit (that's the way it comes from the factory) rather than to try and take individual smaller parts off and replace them. Again, though, that will depend on how your specific axle is designed, and if individual seals can be re-ordered (and, of course, if it is done under warranty, Toyota, of course, will be eating the bill for that, not you).