3rd May 2012, 16:50
I had a Buick Park Avenue that required one around 100K, and recently I hit a curb with a Buick Lucerne on ice at about 15 mph, and it threw the alignment off a little.
5th May 2012, 00:29
If you want even tread wear and straight tracking down the road, an alignment will be required at some point. If you own a RWD car, only the front wheels will need to be aligned.
9th Sep 2015, 18:56
I have one - column shift, bucket seats, interceptor package with dual exhaust & air shocks. It has 265,000 miles on it, and the problems I have are 'normal' for a car this age - sticky power windows, wiper motor burned out, famous light control module problems, so on. And the radiator fan went out, so let me tell you this...
ONE BIG WARNING: Always INSIST your mechanic order parts by the VIN number! If he orders parts for a 'regular' Grand Marquis, they may not be correct! My fan went out and blew out the coolant, which didn't bother me - the car was 10 years old and had 200K on it, and I stopped and did not run the car till repaired. Soon after it needed a new intake manifold; not unusual after a car overheats, but it continued to get hot and run rough - not bad, but not right, either. Three years and three mechanics later, I found out it had the WRONG thermostat, coolant, spark plugs, and intake manifold! Many of the parts for the 'standard' Grand Marquis do not fit the LSE with the Interceptor engine. It cost me a wad of money, but after getting the right parts, I finally have my old dream drive car back.
I love this car! I can see why the police loved them...
9th Sep 2015, 22:43
I drove through Detroit on several trips and can see why an alignment could easily happen. In turn, my town has well maintained roads, so it's also a matter of where you live and drive.
2nd May 2012, 15:42
I was really surprised that your Mercury required an alignment at only two years. Not a single domestic car we have ever owned has EVER required an alignment... ever. This includes cars that have been driven 300,000 miles, and cars that have had bent wheels and blown out tires from hitting pot holes or curbs.
I just took my Ford Fusion in for an alignment and tire replacement after hitting a curb hard enough to blow out a tire. The shop told me it did not need an alignment, and didn't even charge me for checking it. I took our GM SUV in for an alignment check (it has well over 100,000 miles). I was told it didn't need one as well.
The only cars we have ever owned that would not hold an alignment were Japanese (their poorly built sub-frames actually sagged after a few years) and German. That is just one of many reasons that we refuse to even look at anything not built by an American company now.