| rev:text
| - My mother went into this location a week ago. She has a 2011 Honda Civic with approx 20,000km on it. She simply wanted her winter tires (already on rims) put on the vehicle and her all season tires removed. Without inspecting the car, or being told that there are steering issues with it, the service advisor stated that a wheel alignment was necessary. I have searched high and low in Honda literature for where it states that a car that is 5 years old MUST have a wheel alignment performed, and of course there is no mention of it anywhere. These guys are out to take your cash for unnecessary work on your car. Find another dealership or if you have no choice but to go here, ask them for where in the manual it stipulates that the service is required or ask for an estimate with a clear written reason given for why the work is being recommended e.g. "The car is at 5 years old and must have a wheel alignment. Customer has indicated that no observable steering issues are present." Then see how willing they will be to put that in writing for you.
Post comment following dealership response:
This same dealership had previously told my mother that every time you swap wheels over, you should do an alignment. Really?!! So instead of a $30 charge for swapping winters to all seasons, customers are looking at about $130....every time?! When she complained they refunded the charges.
According to Honda's online maintenance calculator, there is only mention of inspecting the steering and suspension components. There is no mention about performing yearly alignments.
I would assume that the service would be recommended if any of the following conditions apply:
1) the vehicle is pulling to one side
2) tires are showing uneven wear
3) customer has indicated that some damage had occurred e.g. An accident or hitting a curb.
4) related components have failed or are showing excessive wear.
5) the steering and suspension system have been inspected and a clear reason for the alignment is recommended.
So just saying that mileage or time are the factors is ridiculous. If the car is hardly driven except to the grocery store and back (20,000 km in 5 years!), and there are no apparent issues and the dealership have not even checked the vehicle for wear indications or inspected the tires themselves to determine uneven wear, how do they justify that the car needs work done? If I don't drive the vehicle for a year, and bring it in, does that mean my steering is out of alignment? According to this dealership, yes! My next comment about this issue will be to Honda's Canadian head office.
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