Tesla Alignment wrong from factory?

[AS9.9.]

My model Y was aligned well from factory. I feel it still drives far more straight than my M3 even after I just had my 3 aligned. I felt like my M3 was drifting at high speeds. For anyone interested (or who has knowledge about what alignment factors the average person can really feel are off) take a look at the picture and let me know if it was all just in my head?

 

[GregD60]

My model Y was aligned well from factory. I feel it still drives far more straight than my M3 even after I just had my 3 aligned. I felt like my M3 was drifting at high speeds. For anyone interested (or who has knowledge about what alignment factors the average person can really feel are off) take a look at the picture and let me know if it was all just in my head?
View attachment 932171

It definitely wasn't all in your head. The toe was out of spec both front and rear according to the specs on the sheet. In the front, it was actually toed out, and in the rear it wasn't toed in enough. Toe out will tend to make a car turn into a corner a little quicker, but it makes the car less stable in a straight line with poorer self-centering characteristics.

 

[blackT3$!@]

Was your car aligned properly when it was made by Tesla?

No. My stock tires on the front left wore the inside part of the tire down after 30k miles. After buying new tires I took it to the only alignment shop that could check and adjust the wheel alignment, Tesla. They charged me $300 to correct a minor toe out on the left front. I have 25K miles on the new tires and the tires look good.

 

[pnwadventures]

Steering wheel was off-center from factory. Doesn’t really pull much that I can tell, tires are not wearing overly unevenly. But annoying in any case. I’ll eventually get a pro alignment done.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

hint: if the vehicle runs straight, doesn't "pull" to either side and the tires don't wear unevenly ... there is no need to do an alignment ...

 

[GregD60]

hint: if the vehicle runs straight, doesn't "pull" to either side and the tires don't wear unevenly ... there is no need to do an alignment .

Unless you take a tread depth gauge to your tires every few thousand miles, you probably won't notice the uneven tire wear until it is too late. Not pulling to either side doesn't mean that everything is properly aligned.

 

[one2many]

We wanted the tires rotated when we got the UCA replaced, they told us,
no wear on tires so they did not want to do it. After the replacement the
front ties are now gone, toe out is way off. The Germans do check a lot of
stuff at inspection. I guess now I eat tires and alignment.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

Unless you take a tread depth gauge to your tires every few thousand miles, you probably won't notice the uneven tire wear until it is too late. Not pulling to either side doesn't mean that everything is properly aligned.

so checking tread depth twice/ year is too much to ask?

 

[one2many]

One major problem is the age of the tires. As they age so does
the wear. It can take a few months on old tires to see this stuff.

 

[GregD60]

so checking tread depth twice/ year is too much to ask?

I would suggest checking every 3,000 miles if that is going to be your method for determining whether or not you have an improper tire wear problem, so if you only drive 6,000 miles per year, that sounds about right.

That said, why should we have to measure our tires every 3,000 miles? That isn't something I've ever had to do, or even considered doing, on any of my other cars. Also, most people don't have tread depth gauges or know how to use them. I think that doing these type of measurements as a standard part of Tesla ownership, when it isn't necessary on the competition, is unreasonable.

 

[nate704]

why not everyday.
I check tires everyday for any abnormal wear and any nail on it. it takes 30 seconds to do all 4 tires.

 

[Miata Head]

We wanted the tires rotated when we got the UCA replaced, they told us,
no wear on tires so they did not want to do it. After the replacement the
front ties are now gone, toe out is way off. The Germans do check a lot of
stuff at inspection. I guess now I eat tires and alignment.

Rotation does nothing if suspension is repaired. Always redo alignment after suspension is worked on, period. And any excess toe is brutal on tire wear. In my Miata, I run 1.5 neg camber on back, which isn't that bad, and have zero uneven wear issues from camber alone, as long as I rotate properly.

 

[revsportz_M3]

My 2 week old model 3 steering wheel was off centered, Tesla service did an alignment and it was good but adjusted steering angle.

 

[usrbin]

Drifting left and when autosteer engaged it hard pulled to center. Done at 500 miles.

 

[tackleberry23]

my 2023 4/23 build date from fremont i instantly noticed the alignment was way off when i drove it away from the lot.

as a former tech, i can feel a bad alignment really quickly.

looking at the steering wheel, it was tilted down/right

i took it in, they made it better, but now it was titled to the left
i took it in again, it is now centered, however the car crab walks/drifts to the right, the specs on the alignment paperwork was better, i suspect their machine isnt calibrated or something is worn out on it who knows.
i took it in again, for that and the headlight not turning off issues ive been having, and they are doing a wheel swap to see if there is any change. i have an appointment to bring the car back as they had to order a wiring harness so im going back anyways, if its a radial pull then they will put a new tire on it.

the loaner model S i have today, its spot on
the rental model 3 (2023 Model year im assuming built in Jan or Feb) was also spot on.

 

[tackleberry23]

A little follow up after getting my car aligned at a local alignment shop. As I suspected, the front was toed out, to .24", almost 1/4". The rest of the alignment, camber, caster, and everything in the rear was spot on and near the middle of the spec. The car is now set to .04" of toe in and no longer wanders, and has better steering return to center. If I ever need to get it aligned again, I think I'll ask the mechanic to set it to 0 toe to just a dash of toe in; for a street driven Model 3 I think that would be about the best compromise.

What surprised me is that the spec for the Model 3 for front toe is from .1" of toe in to .2" of toe out, so my car wasn't very far out of spec. .2" of toe out for a street driven car is very unusual in my experience, and none of the roughly 20 cars I've owned in the past had a spec like that. Most generally called for a little toe in, and the spec would sometimes allow for a very small amount of toe out, like .06". Toe out of .2" will cause increased tire wear, and makes the car less stable, okay on a race car perhaps, but generally not desirable for a street car.

P.S. My local alignment shop only charged me $77.50 since the rear alignment needed no adjustments.

i had a bmw 5 series with the upgraded steering rack in it, and it took me 3x to align that thing right. i printed out the specs and i would check regularly and compare and adjust so i only had to do it once. some cars have more tolerance than others needing more precision.

 

[CleanDemon]

My one week old 2023 MYP Is pulling to the left when the steering wheel is centered. Just put in service request and was asked to approve a $275 charge. I messaged them back “no way” - we’ll see what they come back with.

 

[tackleberry23]

My one week old 2023 MYP Is pulling to the left when the steering wheel is centered. Just put in service request and was asked to approve a $275 charge. I messaged them back “no way” - we’ll see what they come back with.

if you notify within the first 100 miles after delivery they will waive it you just have to remind them its within the timeframe. they sent me 0 estimate to approve, with stipulation there is no evidence of damage (curbed wheels, bent rim etc)

 

[GregD60]

if you notify within the first 100 miles after delivery they will waive it you just have to remind them its within the timeframe. they sent me 0 estimate to approve, with stipulation there is no evidence of damage (curbed wheels, bent rim etc)

That's just not long enough. I picked my car up on a day when it was snowing and the roads were covered in ice and snow. I put more than 100 miles on my car in the first couple of days with the roads covered in snow and ice. It wasn't clear that I had an alignment issue until the weather settled down and the roads were dry and clear. Even then, it took a few drives to determine that it was an alignment issue, and not something to do with the tires, and that it wasn't just my perception being off.

 

[dassader]

My car also have alignment issues
Service mode show 3.4

Looks like it's factory issue but tesla ask me to pay 275$
I didn't find it first 100 miles, so it looks like now I have to pay

Spoiler: Service chat

Spoiler: Photo