Where should I get my alignment fixed?

[ManBearPig]

Gonna get it fixed in like an hour. What places do you ATOTers like?

Thanks all!

 

[Raizinman]

Alignment? Are you talking teeth, car, or something else? If car, then this should be in the garage section, not here.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Are you sure you even need an alignment?

I hardly EVER get it done on my cars (mind you my cars are all 13+ years old).

PS. Stay away from Town fair tire......

Also depends on what kind of car you have.

Sears is ok (and you can watch them work)

 

[rcpratt]

Is this the kind of question that really needs to be asked?

 

[IronWing]

Go to "advanced" and pick the alignment of your choice from the buttons at the top of the page. Takes no where near an hour.​

There are three options to choose from.​

Hopefully one will meet your needs.​

 

[Raizinman]

I would suggest you return to the OEM dealer. They have the proper tools and equipment for your vehicle. They also know of all the current specs, service bulletins, and recalls. So if you have a Honda, then return to your Honda dealer. They are also obligated to check your car for recalls. Yes, it might be a little higher in price (look for coupons on their website) but you will get higher quality work by better technicians.

 

[IronWing]

Find an empty residential street and drive into the other curb.

 

[cronos]

It can't be fixed because it's not something wrong and you were born with it. Be proud!

 

[herm0016]

i had mine done at the dealer after hours last night....

 

[ManBearPig]

Thanks guys. Ill probably go to sears as I went there a couple years ago and they did a good job (different car). Thanks for moving this mods! I was in a hurry and totally forgot about the garage.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I would suggest you return to the OEM dealer. They have the proper tools and equipment for your vehicle. They also know of all the current specs, service bulletins, and recalls. So if you have a Honda, then return to your Honda dealer. They are also obligated to check your car for recalls. Yes, it might be a little higher in price (look for coupons on their website) but you will get higher quality work by better technicians.

I cannot agree with this at all. Not even a little bit.

(1) Many dealership service departments actually do not have alignment racks and instead will simply take the car to another shop where they contract out alignment work.

(2) Despite having access to all recall and TSB notices, very few dealerships I've ever dealt with have any sort of knowledge about what's actually in force for any given car. In fact, I've never had a dealership notify me of a TSB; in every single case I've always had to go in with a copy of the TSB, and then force the dealership to look it up when they didn't believe that the TSB actually existed.

(3) They are not in any way obligated to "check for recalls." Recall notification is the duty of the manufacturer, not the dealership.

(4) Dealership service departments are staffed largely by the exact same calibre of technician as one would find at Firestone or Sears. The best mechanics get out of dealership work quickly and end up at specialty shops.

(5) With very, very rare exceptions, alignment specs don't change. And even when they do change it's almost never for handling or safety reasons but rather simply because owners have complained about tires wearing quickly. Even if dealerships did have updated information sooner (which is doubtful in practice), this really isn't a meaningful benefit in reality.

The OP should just take his car to Sears or Firestone, they'll be fine. Personally, if I'm keeping the car for a while I just go to Firestone and buy a "lifetime" alignment, then take the car back in every year at no charge.

ZV

 

[herm0016]

some dealers are crap, some are pretty good. I would not take that as gospel.
My dealer has a fairly new rack and a guy that is a specialist to do the alignments. They even give me the printout from the machine. The service manager is great to work with and they even stayed a bit late to fit me in, after I told him of the tire ware issues i was having. I think you will be fine at pretty much any of the places mentioned. Always do a test drive after and watch your tire ware, as all of them are about as likely to screw it up as the others.

 

[Zivic]

http://www.thealignmentguy.com/

 

[ManBearPig]

Zenmervolt, thanks for the detailed post. If i had the extra cash right now, I'd definitely get the lifetime alignment option! I think i'd take great pleasure in getting my tires realigned "for free" every year lol.

Edit: looks like Firestone has a better warranty than Sears, good call!

 

[Raizinman]

xx

 

[Raizinman]

Not sure where you get your misinformation.

1) The manufacturer requires that their dealerships have a certain amount of tools, such as lifts, air compressors, alignment rack, etc. There are occasions when their alignment rack could be out for repair or out of service, but that can happen to any shop.

2) Dealerships do not notify customers of TSB (Technical Service Bulletins). The TSB’s are for the technicians, not the customers. Most customers do not understand TSB’s which is why they are not distributed to the customers. Even when a customer comes in with a TSB they often misinterpret what the TSB means.

3) Ever since some dealerships got sued for letting a vehicle leave their shop that was in need of a safety recall and that car had an accident; virtually all dealerships will check your car for recalls when they are in the shop. This protects the dealership, the consumer, and the dealership gets paid by the manufacturer for performing the recall. The manufacturer does obligate their dealers to check their cars for recalls.

4) Techs at Sears and Firestone strive to get into a dealerships. Dealership techs do not strive to go work at Sears and Firestone. Sears and Firestone most always only hire techs with either one or two ASE certifications. Rarely will you find an ASE master tech working at Sears or Firestone. Dealerships send their techs to specialized training through the manufacturer and push their techs to become ASE master techs. Most dealerships will give raises to the techs as they get closer to master tech status.

5) It’s not just alignment specs that change. There are all sorts of specs and issues that can affect an alignment. I would rather a tech who is specialized in my make and model vehicle service my car. A tech who works on this make and model all day, who knows the service manual for my car, who has been factory trained on my car, and knows the various recalls and TSB’s for my specific vehicle. It’s not possible that a Sears or Firestone tech to have this training or knowledge.

Most Sears and Firestone technicians work on commission beside their hourly pay. If someone purchased a lifetime alignment, is there now a possibility that this tech will find struts, tires, or some other false issue to make some commission on? Yes it is and it happens daily.

Having been involved in a Sting Operation taking a known good car to various shops around the city, Firestone scored the worst, by trying to sell the most un-needed parts. I’m not surprised, their pay system is setup to encourage this type of behavior.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Not sure where you get your misinformation.

1) The manufacturer requires that their dealerships have a certain amount of tools, such as lifts, air compressors, alignment rack, etc. There are occasions when their alignment rack could be out for repair or out of service, but that can happen to any shop.

2) Dealerships do not notify customers of TSB (Technical Service Bulletins). The TSB’s are for the technicians, not the customers. Most customers do not understand TSB’s which is why they are not distributed to the customers. Even when a customer comes in with a TSB they often misinterpret what the TSB means.

3) Ever since some dealerships got sued for letting a vehicle leave their shop that was in need of a safety recall and that car had an accident; virtually all dealerships will check your car for recalls when they are in the shop. This protects the dealership, the consumer, and the dealership gets paid by the manufacturer for performing the recall. The manufacturer does obligate their dealers to check their cars for recalls.

4) Techs at Sears and Firestone strive to get into a dealerships. Dealership techs do not strive to go work at Sears and Firestone. Sears and Firestone most always only hire techs with either one or two ASE certifications. Rarely will you find an ASE master tech working at Sears or Firestone. Dealerships send their techs to specialized training through the manufacturer and push their techs to become ASE master techs. Most dealerships will give raises to the techs as they get closer to master tech status.

5) It’s not just alignment specs that change. There are all sorts of specs and issues that can affect an alignment. I would rather a tech who is specialized in my make and model vehicle service my car. A tech who works on this make and model all day, who knows the service manual for my car, who has been factory trained on my car, and knows the various recalls and TSB’s for my specific vehicle. It’s not possible that a Sears or Firestone tech to have this training or knowledge.

Most Sears and Firestone technicians work on commission beside their hourly pay. If someone purchased a lifetime alignment, is there now a possibility that this tech will find struts, tires, or some other false issue to make some commission on? Yes it is and it happens daily.

Having been involved in a Sting Operation taking a known good car to various shops around the city, Firestone scored the worst, by trying to sell the most un-needed parts. I’m not surprised, their pay system is setup to encourage this type of behavior.

We have had vastly different experiences then.

The local Ford dealership denied the existence of several TSBs on my '06 Mustang (LSD clutch packs, fuel pump cavitation, and the fuel tank filling issue) despite my having printed copies from Ford corporate. My Volvo dealership sends cars out to a contractor for alignments and tire mounting. So does my local Porsche dealership.

Low-level techs strive to get into dealerships because dealerships pay more and there is more job security. Good techs with experience do not stay at dealerships, they go to independent and specialty shops. I've lived in three states and a half-dozen major metropolitan areas and the best techs have NEVER been at dealerships, not even close to it.

I don't go to Sears or Firestone for an ASE master tech. I go there for tire mounting, balancing, and alignments. I didn't recommend them for any serious work. Just like I don't recommend a dealership for any serious work. Both dealerships and Firestone places are good for scut work and not much else.

I'm not sure what other specs you think could affect alignment. Unless the chassis is bent. But otherwise I'm really, really curious what you think might "affect an alignment" enough to make the adjustments different in any practical sense.

I've had cars with recalls serviced by dealers and received no notification from the dealership whatsoever.

My experiences with dealerships are that they are, at best, a half-step up from Jiffy Lube. In my experience, dealerships are no less likely to eff up than Jiffy Lube type places, but it's slightly easier to get a dealership to fix the issue when they do eff up. And the only time I've ever had an item stolen out of my car was at a dealership service department.

As far as recommending work that's not necessary, I've yet to ever experience that from any mechanic ever. Even when I specifically told a Firestone shop that I was worried there might not be enough tread left on a tire I was having them patch they said everything was fine and that I didn't need any additional work beside the patch/plug (which they performed for free).

In any case, I'm not saying to use Firestone or Sears as a primary mechanic. But for something as simple as tires or alignments it just doesn't make sense to pay a premium for something that doesn't require any special knowledge. If he has a serious diagnostic issue, better to go to an independent shop, but that's not what he's dealing with here.

ZV

 

[homercles337]

I would suggest you return to the OEM dealer. They have the proper tools and equipment for your vehicle. They also know of all the current specs, service bulletins, and recalls. So if you have a Honda, then return to your Honda dealer. They are also obligated to check your car for recalls. Yes, it might be a little higher in price (look for coupons on their website) but you will get higher quality work by better technicians.

I completely agree with this. I glanced a chunk of concrete in the road a number of months ago. I took the car (AWD Golf R) to the best (according to yelp/google/etc) local shop and got the tire replaced and an alignment. The car was "off" after that, so i took it to the stealership and they made it right. Like it was when it was new...

 

[NutBucket]

Where are you located OP?

It doesn't really matter which chain you go to since the quality of service ultimately depends on whether the folks at that particular location give a shit. My dad wouldn't listen to me about going to my shop vs. the Firestone a block away from their house. He went to Firestone twice (still wasn't aligned properly) before going to "my" shop and having it done right (same price too).

So basically, check around local car boards, find a good shop and stick with it.