Every tyre shop offers it, which is exactly why so many drivers assume it is padding on the bill. Ask on any Singapore car forum whether alignment is really necessary and you will get a fight. Here is the straight answer, before the reasoning.
The verdict
No, not automatically. Fitting new tyres does not oblige you to buy an alignment, and any shop treating it as compulsory is overselling. Balancing is different and should always be done.
Yes, if your old tyres tell you so. If the set coming off wore more on one edge, the angles are wrong and the new set will go the same way. That wear pattern is the evidence, and it is worth asking to see it.
And ignore the fuel-saving pitch. Correct alignment does reduce drag slightly, but not by an amount you will notice in your monthly spend. The argument that actually holds is tyre life.
The argument that actually holds
Tyres are the expensive part. Alignment is the cheap part. That is the whole case.
A wheel that points slightly wrong does not roll cleanly. It drags sideways a fraction with every rotation, and that fraction sands rubber off one edge of the tread. The middle of the tyre can look barely used while the inner shoulder is already down to the wear bars, and at that point the tyre is finished no matter how much tread the rest of it still carries. Done.
Which is why fitting new tyres to a car with known alignment problems is a bad trade. You are putting fresh rubber onto the exact conditions that destroyed the last set.
When to skip it, when to do it
We would rather tell you to keep your money than sell you a service your car does not need. The old tyres decide it.
You can skip it
- The tyres coming off wore evenly right across the tread
- The car tracks straight with your hands relaxed
- The steering wheel sits centred while you drive straight
- Nothing has hit a kerb or pothole hard recently
- Your last alignment was recent and nothing has changed since
Do it
- The old tyres wore on the inner or outer edge
- The car pulls to one side on a flat road
- The steering wheel sits crooked when the car goes straight
- You have hit a kerb, pothole or hump hard since the last check
- You are fitting only two new tyres, which makes any existing fault more obvious
Read your old tyres before they go in the skip
They are the best diagnostic you will get, and they cost nothing to look at. Those tyres have been measuring your alignment for years.
Wear concentrated on the inner edge usually points to camber, sometimes with toe involved. Wear on the outer edge often means the opposite, and on a car that has been kerbed it can appear on one wheel only. Feathering, where the tread blocks are sharp on one side and rounded on the other, is a toe problem you can literally feel with your palm. Even wear across the whole width means your angles have been fine, and you can decline the alignment with confidence.
What you should get for your money
A before-and-after printout, at minimum. Without it you have no evidence anything changed, and no baseline to compare against next time.
You should also expect the steering wheel to be centred and locked during the adjustment, so the car does not end up tracking straight with a crooked wheel. And a road test afterwards, because the numbers can sit within specification while the car still misbehaves. If somebody adjusts your alignment without first checking tyre pressures and looking for play in the steering joints, the numbers they set may not survive the month.
When to come and see us
Bring the car in when you are changing tyres and the old ones wore unevenly, or when anything about the way the car tracks has changed. Ask us to look at the old tyres with you. That wear pattern usually tells the story faster than any conversation about it will.
And if your alignment turns out to be fine, we will say so. You keep the money for the tyres. What the service covers is on our wheel alignment page.
