Greetings, listers.
Soon, I will be changing out my Pirelli P4s for Continentals. The original P4s show no unusual or uneven wear, and the car tracks fine.
The installer will probably try to sell me a 4-wheel alignment. Is this really necessary? I see no good reason to fix something that is not broken. The car has 12K miles on it.
Opinions on this?
Thanks in advance.

 

It's up to you - if there's no visible tread wear issues between right/left or inside/out, no suspension changes (springs etc.), no dartiness, pulling, etc., and you haven't hit any big potholes recently, then you're probably just fine. That said, depending on how much they are charging you, it might be peace of mind. You can have alignment that is out of spec that won't exhibit any major symptoms but will wear your tires more quickly over time. If you're spending $1500 on tires, you might want to invest another 10% to ensure they wear properly.