Car Pulling = Dangerous?

matthewdmorris_178154
Sat, 05 Feb 2022 13:25:04 +0000
General Discussion

Hello Everyone,

I have a 2000 Chevy Prizm that just passed 250K miles (woo-hoo!). It doesn’t have good AC, but the heat still works, so I use it as my daily driver in the winter to not run up so many miles on my newer vehicle.

Anyway, in recent months, it’s been pulling, almost always to the left, although occasionally after turns (in either direction) it’s slightly to the right.

I took it to a Mavis for an alignment, but I think there’s a chance they don’t know what they’re doing at my local store. They pulled it back for an oil change, brake check, and alignment and had it “done” at most 30 minutes later. Whether the cause is a slapdash job with the alignment machine OR a worn out part OR something with the steering wheel, my question boils down to…

Is there any danger to driving it? I’ve heard the main thing is you wear out tires quicker, but can’t I just make sure I rotate (and flip each inside out) on a regular schedule to counteract that? I’ll only be driving it at most 10K more before scrapping it, and the back tires have only about 10K on them as it is. But is there some hidden danger I’m not thinking about?

Thank You in Advance. I love the Car Talk Community.
=Matt=

28 posts - 15 participants