We found some bad tire wear on our 2018 Civic has 37,000 miles. Rear tires were badly worn on the outside. We bought new tires and took the car to get an alignment.

The tire shop said they could not get the rear aligned. The guy told us something must be bent and to take it to the dealer. He did not know what was bent, if that's what the problem was.

My wife recalls hitting a curb with the right rear tire. She was pulling out on to a street and was not going very fast. We're wondering if this caused suspension damage.

We get to the dealer, who kind of laughed off the idea something was bent, and they told us it was a bushing. And the tire guy probably tried to tighten the bolt too much. So we ordered the parts and scheduled the work.

Then the dealer finds it was not this bushing and they did not charge us for the work. They recommended that we take it to a local frame shop, where they could either straighten the part or put a new part on. They also did not know what was bent.

So the frame shop tells us nothing is bent, that the rear suspension is just worn. And we needed to put on " adjustable upper control arms " , which are aftermarket parts at a price of just over $1,000. I questioned this and asked him if Honda had built a car that could not be aligned ? He said they run across this every day. That this problem is common with Civics .

We called the dealer and asked if this was common. They said no. And I think if it was common, the guy at the tire shop would have told us that and he would've known the problem.

I've searched the internet and can't find where this is a common complaint with Civics. Is it ?

I don't know what to do and I would appreciate any help with this. Never run across anything like this.

 

I will add what's on the invoice from the Honda dealer. I can't believe its gonna cost $1,000 to get the wheels aligned. Hitting a curb is not like a wreck. It could knock the car out of alignment but not do $1,000 worth of damage. Its already cost me $700 for new tires.

Anyone have any idea why they can't identify the exact part that's bent ? If there is a part bent, the frame shop says no.

Before I pay that. I will sell the car and go buy a Toyota. I bought the Honda to avoid this very thing. They're supposed to have a reputation of being dependable, low maintenance, economical cars.

 

Go to a different dealership and see if they can find what's wrong. And if they can't figure it out try having it done at a different alignment shop. I think your warranty ends at 36k for suspension unfortunately.

If you can't figure it out, try getting it aligned as best as you can and just trade it in for another civic at a different dealer and do not say anything about the tires rubbing. Just say you want a different trim or color and trade it in and let them deal with it.

 

Yes, unless I learn something new, I think that's where I'm headed.

The warranty expired at 3 years, I thought anyway.

 

If you indeed went to a frame shop, they use high tech equipment that they use and set it at certain points on the frame and use the input to compare to the factory specs to see if the frame is off even by a few cm so if they said it's not the frame it's not. Plus, to bend your frame you would need to be in a pretty serious collision.

It's something that most Likely can be replaced.

 

The frame shop was recommended by the dealer. And they have a good reputation from others I talked to. But I still can't help but feel I'm being upsold into an expensive aftermarket part that I don't need.

Frame shop guy said something to the effect he'd would have to start replacing parts until he found the problem and that would get expensive. But he also said nothing was bent and the problem was due to wear. Car only has 37,000 miles. And he said it was a common problem with Civics. So far, no one in this forum or a search of this forum can verify that.

I need more information. What I have now is conflicting opinion. And I think another opinion from another dealer might be in order. If not from Honda directly. I'm not gonna pay $1,000 to get the rear wheels aliigned. I just can't believe Honda built a car that can't be aligned without aftermarket parts.

 

You can file a lemon lawsuit, if the dealer cannot find or fix the problem you have the option to file that under the lemon laws in your state. It just takes a few trips to the dealer and them to document they can't find the problem and you should have a solid case to have them buy it back from you.

My 2020 Civic has 37k and I have 0 problems with alignment, you should not need an alignment at that mileage, of course it's pretty clear it has something to do with when your wife hit the curb.

And just to be clear I'm confident you don't need any aftermarket part, that makes no sense for whoever recommended that, buying an aftermarket part because the original part is defective is not the answer, replace it with OEM factory parts.

Take it to another alignment shop and just get an inspection done and see if they can figure it out, also try another dealership so you have another record of the dealership not knowing what's wrong, I'm getting the feeling the dealer won't help because you claimed to hit the curb, maybe try acting clueless and say it just happened out the blue and you're hoping it's a manufacture defect.