Got new tires on my Prius. Old tires had 40K miles, not quite shot but I wanted new ones. The old tires wore perfectly. Bought new tires, had the wheels aligned for $89 and balanced for $75+. At first the steering wheel was cocked and I could feel a wavering in the tracking when I drove on new, smooth road. Tire dealer fixed steering wheel, and said one of my wheels was bent. Called back and twice and the manager never called me. Think this could be a bent alloy wheel? Do you think they could have bent it when the installed the new tires?
The alignment you paid for, was very poorly done. What you describe doesn’t match a bent wheel. A bent wheel will usually feel like an unbalanced tire. I’d suggest the place that did the alignment is incompetent and you should have it aligned properly somewhere else.
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I have had a wheel bent by a mechanic installing a tire on it. Then he said the tire was defective as he showed it to me, spinning it. I pointed out the bent rim. I had to find a replacement at a junkyard. They reimbursed me and installed the tire on it. That was my last trip to that shop - now out of business.
Possible. But the usual cause of a bent wheel is running up against a curb or hitting a pothole.