kyngbrg

The dealer Lexus Kearny Mesa in San Diego recommends wheel alignment and balance with every oil change. Is the RX prone to wheel alignment issues?

The fee with oil change is $50. This seems a reasonable fee, althought I have never had a car require this frequent wheel maintenance?


Thank you for your thoughts.

rxdriver

No, there's nothing in the schedule about tire balancing and alignment. The RX doesn't have any unique issues in this area.

Lexus dealers are notorious for adding unnecessary tasks to the regular maintenance intervals, presumably in order to puff up the price. Unfortunately, their recommendations are often upsells rather than honest suggestions based on past experience. You have to bear in mind that the average Lexus customer knows nothing about the mechanical aspects of cars, can afford pay sticker price without even haggling, and is often too busy to be bothered with such "details". At the dealers in my area, the service representatives have offices just like the sales people; I'm sure there's solid reasoning behind that.

Don't get me wrong... I don't have any complaints about the quality of service done at a Lexus dealer. I just wish they'd quit trying to play games and offer to do the right amount of work for a fair price. If they did that, they'd get more money out of me through repeat business rather than trying to squeeze it all out of me in one visit.

smoss

I had a 2001 rRX 300 for 3 years before turning it in at the end of the lease. It's alignment was perfect the whole time, as was the tire balancing. You should not need those done but every few years, unless, of course, you live somewhere with evil speed bumps you blaze over every day!

kyngbrg

Thank you for the feedback. I was not sure if there were issues as the car is an SUV, or not.

I have had the tires rotated and balanced in the past, as the service person recommended the work. Although the car drives fine, I am suspicious of a repeat with the oil change.

Thank you again, and if I go back for the rotation due to rough ride, I will let you know!

HarrierAWD

Not sure how common the wheel alignment issue is, but....

My 2002 RX300 came with bad wheel alignment right out of factory. Fortunately no re-occurence after the dealer fixed it.

Car&Driver magazine had to do 3 wheel alignments on their long-term test (40,000 miles) 2001 RX300.

Also the OEM Goodyear Integrity tires seem to be "directionally challenged."

HarrierAWD

Lexus is not alone in this dept. From my experience, ALL dealer services add unnecessary stuff to the maintenance schedule. Usually a long list of "eye-ball" checks which the techs never do anyway.

Wheel alignment every 5,000 miles seems ludicrous. I wonder if the dealer meant to say tire rotation? That is recommended every 5,000 miles.

kyngbrg

You could be right! It could have been expressly tire rotation, and they said tire rotation and alignment.

The person at the dealer was a young girl, and I questioned her on if the work was necessary, and she started to elaborate.

I bet the tire rotation helps quite a bit as they car is elevated!

Thank you for the distinction about rotation versus alignment. In retrospect, I do not think they ment to say alignment!

Lil4X

Harrier's right, there were some initial issues with alignment associated with the GY OEM tires. Several individuals reported alignment problems similar to those experienced by C/D right here on this forum a few years back. The alignment "problem" always seemed to be resolved by getting rid of the Integrity tires. I can't imagine why this worked, but that's the history. Now my RX 300 (with GYs) never seemed to have the problem.

Rotation and balance at 5K I can sort of understand, but unless there is some sign of the vehicle pulling to the right or left, or unusual tire wear, I'd say that a 5K alignment is excessive. If you are getting services you think are un needed, review the checklist with your service advisor before you sign the authorization.