You must have hit curb or a really nasty pothole. There is no time or mileage figure involved here . I have had vehicles for years that never needed that service . If your vehicle pulls or the tires are showing abnormal wear the an alighnment is needed . Otherwise just drive on .

 

I have the wheels aligned whenever I buy new tires. If You have trouble with the suspension, have the alignment checked. A deep pothole ot smacking into the curb hard can throw alignment off. When you hace the car services and they note abnormal tire wear, that may indicate misalignment, among other possibilities.

 

In most cars, you only need to check alignment when you buy new tires (as precaution) or if you hit a really big pothole or a curb. Otherwise there is no reason for alignment to change except for normal wear of suspension components, but it takes at least 40-50k miles to become noticeable.

That said ... over the past couple of years there have been numerous reports of new Toyotas coming misaligned from factory. It looks like Toyota lowered standards during COVID pandemic and let many quality issues fall through the cracks. Another issue is that Toyota suspension is notoriously weak. You can jump a 6 inch curb at 40 miles per hour in a Ford Explorer and alignment will stay solid, do it in a Highlander and you will be lucky if a wheel doesn't fall off (but you will need a new strut for sure).

 

This is very interesting. Do you have any resources I can look at showcasing this problem? Thank you in advance.

 

Bought a 2006 Corolla with a misaligned rear axle (beam type). Bought a 2015 Mitsubishi with a misaligned rear axle. Both were eventually replaced under warranty after piles of BS and tens of thousands of miles. Once flew a Valiant convertible over railroad tracks that went 2 feet up then 6 feet down, maybe 50 feet airborne. Had alignment checked next day and it was fine, undercoated the bottom of the K member and went on my merry way. I think either of the two previously mentioned might have been totaled by that airborne stunt.
My two parameters for needing an alignment are how does it drive? and how are the tires wearing? After two new cars with alignment issues beginning in 2004 I have to change my feelings about alignment. Both new cars had tracking problems (drifting into oncoming traffic) due to bad rear axles (both replaced).
I have my own gauge for checking toe in, which on both of my cars is the only "adjustable" part of alignment. It costs $69.95 for a toe adjustment here and in general that would probably NOT correct any tracking issue or any toe issue that was not wearing the front tires out on the outside of both tires. Generally that is toed in BUT it is normal for the front tires to wear on the outside edges, without any driveablility issues or misalignment.
These days I buy used cars and look carefully at the tire wear and handling particularly tracking.
Look at it like this, it would be very difficult to have a seriously misaligned suspension in any car that tracks true and straight down a road without a severe crown in said road. Where my shop was located the nearest 55 MPH road was two lanes but both lanes were crowned like they were for a four lane divided road. One way your car tracked fine, the other way it drifted into oncoming traffic, when properly aligned, due to the outbound lane being crowned the opposite direction from the way it should be crowned. On a properly crowned road both of my cars will track true for a quarter mile with my hands off the wheel.
Toe is set close to 0, for economy. My gauge is like a giant caliper. Set and mark it on the back side of the front tires, then move it to the front side after rolling the car until the marks are on the front. The marks are exactly the same on both sides.

 

I can't tell you the last time I had an alignment. I judge the need for an alignment based on steering wheel tracking and tire wear. Maybe I have my head in the sand about this, but I just don't have any problems from this.

 

Unless you hit a damage the car or your car is pulling to a side, you will NEVER need a alignment.