Why Wheel Alignment Matters More Than You Think, Especially on Aussie Roads
Jani · 10 May 2025
Most drivers only think about alignment when the car starts pulling. By then it has usually been eating tyres for months.
Wheel alignment is one of the easiest things to ignore and one of the more expensive things to ignore for long. Most drivers only think about it when the car starts pulling to one side, and by that point it has usually been wearing tyres unevenly for months.
What alignment actually is
Alignment is the set of angles your wheels sit at relative to the road and to each other, adjusted back to the figures the manufacturer specified. Get it right and the car tracks straight, the tyres wear evenly across the tread, and the steering returns to centre on its own after a corner.
What it looks like when it is out
The obvious sign is a car that pulls left or right on a flat road, or a steering wheel that sits crooked while the car goes straight. The less obvious signs cost more: tyres wearing on one shoulder and not the other, fuel economy quietly dropping, and steering and suspension components taking load they were never meant to carry.
A set of tyres worn out on one edge at 20,000 km instead of 50,000 km is a few hundred dollars thrown away, and the alignment that caused it costs a fraction of that to correct.
Why Australian roads make it worse
Distance is the part people underestimate. A misaligned car on a suburban commute is annoying. The same car at 100 km/h on a highway is less stable, wanders in crosswinds, takes longer to settle after a lane change, and makes the driver work constantly to hold a line. Two hours of that is genuinely tiring, and a tired driver is the actual safety problem.
Unsealed shoulders, patched bitumen and the pothole you did not see coming all knock alignment out, and none of them announce it.
When to have it checked
Every 10,000 to 15,000 km is a reasonable interval for most cars. Beyond that, have it checked after you hit a decent pothole or clip a kerb, whenever you fit new tyres, after any suspension or steering work, and any time the steering or the tyre wear looks wrong to you.
Where this fits into buying a car
Alignment matters when you are buying because of what it tells you rather than what it costs. Uneven tyre wear on a car being sold is a question, not a conclusion. Sometimes the answer is a cheap alignment nobody bothered with. Sometimes it is a bent suspension arm from an accident the seller has not mentioned, and the tyre wear is the only visible trace of it.
We check tyre wear and alignment condition on every inspection for that reason. If the wear pattern does not match the story, that goes in the report.
Common Questions
How often should a car have a wheel alignment?
Every 10,000 to 15,000 km for most cars, and additionally after hitting a pothole or kerb, after fitting new tyres, or after any suspension or steering work.
Can bad alignment damage anything other than tyres?
Yes. It puts continuous side load through suspension bushes, wheel bearings and steering components, so a long-running alignment fault turns into a larger repair bill than the alignment itself.
Does uneven tyre wear mean the car has been in an accident?
Not on its own. It can be a neglected alignment. It can also be a bent suspension arm from an impact, which is why we check whether the wear pattern matches the rest of the car.