heidihidin

i am getting desperate for any sort of reasonable explanation
my parents es 350 constantly gets misaligned
the car has 48k miles, never been in an accident, new michelin tires just replaced by michelin under warranty because passenger front tire got chewed up from the car being out of alignment
so far we had the alignment (toe, camber) corrected by the lexus dealer 3 times at close to $200 a pop over the last 2 years 10k miles
they are telling us that there are no issues with suspension whatsoever and the car gets misaligned by driving over potholes.
i know this cannot be true , we have 2 older beat up camrys that drive the same route almost every day and are totally straight and the lexus does 40 miles pretty smooth highway same route driving daily, our roads are not perfect by any means but aren't a warzone.
can someone point me in the direction what to look at please?
thanks

tghw

I would take it to a reputable independent shop and get a second opinion on the alignment. A dealership is only as good as the techs that are running the equipment. It sounds to me like someone doesn't know what they are doing.

heidihidin

Thanks
so you think they aren't adjusting properly?
after they perform alignment the car drives better for a few months and then starts pulling again
I put on new tires, balanced road force and the car just started pulling again a week ago
what could it be?

chinee

Although 48K is not a lot of miles, what model year is this? Time, heat, humidity... are just a few factors that can impact alignment on older cars. As the bushings and other rubber parts of the suspension components begin to wear, the wheels naturally shifts off the alignment setting. Normally I'd figure you should have 100K miles or more for this to even be likely, but I've seen stranger things happen...

Most tires shops offer a time guaranty for alignment, e.g the Goodyear that I use offers a 6-month or 3-year service at $79 and $169 respectively (IIRC). So you go in at regular intervals and they check the alignment and readjust as necessary.

tghw

What I meant was that you may have worn/damaged/defective suspension parts that are causing the loss of alignment and are not being identified/replaced to correct the issue. It never hurts to get a second opinion from a known reputable shop. Also, as chinee stated, most good independent shops will back up their work if it deteriorates prematurely.

heidihidin

hello all
so i went to a dealer that sells high end (for Indiana) cars (such as lotus, etc ) and they have what hey said a super expensive top of the line Hunter machine
they are near the lexus dealer and told me that the lexus dealer alignment machine is 20 years old and so...many people bring to the their sc430 , isf etc to do proper alignment
they charge a bunch but said they will lift it up and hook up to the hunter and take a look for 30 min labor
and they told me i have a problem with the rear thrust angle which is not adjustable on my car
they said it will take them some time to diagnose and tell me what is going on and they charge 200/hr so i declined for now hoping someone here can lead me in the right direction so i can go back to the dealer armed with knowledge

dicer

After my brother has his car basically ruined by an alignment shop I do my own alignments, its very time consuming with out all the fancy tools, but doable.