Hello all:

I have a V70 AWD 1998 for the last three months. Bought it at 66000 miles and have put in 5000 miles. Tires were not great, and probably had about 10000 miles of tread life left. Front and rear tires were of different make and were of slightly different wear. The vechicle was not running straight. After a rotation it improve substantially but still not straight. Now it slowly pulled to the other side. A great mechanic in the area who has been keeping Volvos running for a lot of people around here for a long time took a look at this problem among other things, and adviced it is off alignment slightly. He didn't see any urgency in spending a $100 on alignment immediately. In the meantime the car skid in snow and had a curb impact on the side of the right front wheel. Several people had problems in that area, but I could still drive at 15-20 mph, albeit keeping the steering at 7 o'clock position in order to go straight. Next morning I had the car checked out by a Volvo dealership. They found curb damage on the right front wheel, made a mention it is not a safety issue the car can run, and the alignment was off. They also mentioned that the car was on 960 wheels but it is not a problem. Got the alignment done and drove the car for another 1500 miles over a period of time. Somewhere along the way I noticed the car was pulling to one side again. Thought it might have been there even after the alignment. My mechanic had anyway observed that the damaged front wheel's sharp edge will probably cut into the tire and it is best to replace it sooner than later. All things considered, I thought it a good time to change the tires as well. The tires changed and the damaged wheel replaced the car was still pulling to the side. Did an alignment at the tire shop. The side pull didn't go away. They said sometimes it would go away by just swapping the two front wheels. Tried that as well but no luck. They have now advised me to go to the dealership saying it is possible that the dealer has some slightly different specs for this car. I haven't gone to the dealership yet. The car has been running great. It is just that I have to keep the steering wheel at a little past the 11 o'clock position or so to keep the car straight. I am getting a smooth ride on the Kumo ECSTA tires and a great mileage of about 20 in mostly city/small road driving.

What is going on with the alignment? I would greatly appreciate any suggestions/observations. This is our first Volvo. Using it as a family car and we love it. Went on two long trips, one about 360 miles one way, and another about 600 miles one way. The car was great on both trips. This was before the tires were replaced.

I have a couple of other questions which I will post shortly.

Thanks.
ckkrish