I recently got my car aligned after installing springs/struts, and rims. I waited about two weeks after install for settling issues. However after the alignment, I have been taking many turns at pretty high speeds to test the limit of the Kumo's and noticed that my alignment is off. I went into the shop that did my alignment and asked them to fix the alignment under the 180-day warranty. They said because it looks like I had been hanging turns and that voids the warranty. Mind you this is an alignment & brake shop that specializes in aftermarket cars (drop, raised, suspension, etc.) and they give me this BS! What do you guys think? Is there possibly any truth to the techs story! I am calling total BS and threatened to call owner!

 

No one knows??

 

I call BS too. Do call the owner and tell him your next call is the Better Business Bureau.

 

When I picked up my car new the dealer had one tire inflated to 50psi. I was all over the road!

 

I am having a dispute with an alignment shop (that is totally f*cked, btw)and I have done my homework. Call the BAR (bureau of automotive repair). Look them up on-line. It seems to me that the shop is in violation of TITLE 16 (professional and vocational regulations), Division 33 (bar), Chapter 1 (automotive repair dealers and official stations and adjusters), Article 9 (false or misleading statements and advertising), APPLICATIONS 3375 (guarantees and warranties) AND 3371 (untrue or misleading statements or advertising).

So long as you didn't tell them that you were flying around turns they cant do anything. Just say you don't know what they were talking about and that you were driving normally. The BAR will appoint someone to mediate the dispute and at the same time, they will start an investigation of the company. All automotive repair places are scared of the BAR. Tell the shop that you just want your money back and that you are planning to call the BAR.

Hope this helps. Just my .02
Daniel

 

So their alignment is only good if you drive like a little old lady? Their alignment is only good as long as you do the posted speed limit?

Ask him to show you the fine print where it says that the warranty is voided if the shop *thinks* you were doing something that they consider inappropriate.

Call the owner. Tell him you want your money back so that you can take the car to a shop that will do the alignment and stand by their work.


(I hope you paid by credit card. Put it in dispute... they cant win).

 

By the way, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get the alignment printouts from before AND after, especially if you have a lifetime or warranteed alignment.

 

I know WTF if you have a modified car you are definately not going to drive it like a old woman. I know I told them about reporting them to the BAR and they said oh ok we'll do the alignment. No more mention of driving conditions. Yes I always pay by credit car for that reason.

 

I thought they would. Again, always get the before and after alignment printouts. Places with lifetime and warrantees will screw your car up to try and get you not to come back. Believe me, I know. Always use the BAR as leverage.

Glad you got your car fixed.

ps: what was the name of the shop?

 

It's not they think...they can look at your tires and KNOW that you WERE FLYING AROUND CORNERS....Look at your sidewalls, or the outer block of the tire tread, if the mediator can verify that you INDEED, have pushed the car to the point that the fresh marks on your outer block/ sidewall, or fresh damage on wheels or tires, guess what, you lose the case...end story. If you use anything to try and cover up the marks, they know what is naturally made, and what isn't, tire shine won't save you, or even minor scrubbing.

I went through this at the shop I used to work for, and another shop that does alignments for several retail performance stores.

-I am ASE Certified.

 

ASE certified -- sweet!!! I have a question about an alignment machine. Is it possible (within reason) for a machine's calibration to be so far off that the toe (aligned perfectly) could read "out of range." A shop is trying to use this as their defense, but I've been told by one alignment specialist that they are full of sh*t. Furthermore, they have to be able to say to the BAR that if it was off that bad, that they could not tell and that everything was an accident. Otherwise they would have made a "false or misleading statement...which by the exercise of reasonable care should be known to be fale or misleading," right? Which is in violation of article 9, application 3371. I was hopping I could get a second opinion. What do you think???

 

Toe can read "out of range" if the toe is wayyyyyyyyyyyy off. This is usually the case w/ tie rod changes. It's not really calibration. It ultimately comes down to the technician who is doing the work on the car, that the Alignment Heads are on the wheel evenly and level.
You could've miunderstood what he was saying, and I am being neutral about it, but get something in writing, and hopefully you were charged less than $50 since its only front wheel alignment, not a 4 wheel alignment.
The technicians could also overlook several suspension components such as tie rods(inner and outer), lower ball joint, lower control arm bushings. If the technician has no idea how to inspect these key components, the alignment would be worthless, and a waste of your time and his.
At the shop I worked for, one case, we proved that there was a slight fender bender after an alignment, and he made a HUGE case about it. During an investigation, we became suspicous since he used ALOT of tire shine + freshly sanded an area on his wheel, and he came up w/ the lamest excuse...LoL. Later he admitted to hitting a parked car, after discovering fresh bruising on the tire, and deep damage on the wheel.
Another case at another shop involved a severe accident, and blame was given to the technician, which all accusations dropped, when components used in a previous accident repair were cheap POS components, and failed under "extreme" street conditions...

 

To make a long story short, I had my car aligned at a good shop after going through hell with the lifetime alignment place. It was aligned perfectly and I got the printout. A few days latter, I had it aligned at the lifetime place and got the printouts. The caster and camber were a degree or so off (which I think probably indicates a machine problem). But the toe was supposedly out of range according to their machine. They told me that I needed a camber kit and that they would not align the car otherwise. I even showed them the printouts from the other place and they lied and told me that I had been screwed over by the other place when in fact the numbers were perfect. So, at this point they definately knew that someting was messed up with their machine (if that's the case), and they left it that way for months.

Anyways, I took it to the good shop latter and he said my toe bolts were waaayyyyy out of place. He said that no machine error or accident could account for the placement of the bolts. This is why I think they are at least in violation of 3371. How many degrees does the toe go to??? What do you think now that I've explained better?

Thanks a lot for your input.

 

I live in Hawaii so I don't think you'll be going there anytime soon. Anyway its Island brake & alignment. They specialize in modified cars(suspension) Its only a 180 day warranty on alignment. Its hard to get a lifetime from Midas or firestone because I have a dropped car.

chimp DJ: Yes I know they can tell you've been hanging turns. Kinda hard to notice that its worn all the way to the edges. Just like on a bike you can tell a good rider just by examining his tires if they are worn to the edge with no unused portion you know he's a rough ride-a.

 

Is it possible to mess up your alignment by taking turns at high speeds? My car feels like it needs alignment.

 

How can toe be out of range, and FYI, there are no TOE BOLTS ?
Toe is controlled by a inner tie rod, and there is a nut on it, that locks against the outer tie rod. Loosening that nut and turning the inner tie rod, yields the adjustment. As for caster and camber being off...first, was your car EVER in an accident ? If it was, then potentially your Caster would be off. second, has there been any suspension damage to lower arms or spindles ? third, has the shop checked all the KEY Components I spoke about in the above post ?
fouth, do the technicians know how to check for these problems ?

The alignment machine can read upwards of 3.0 degrees of toe deviance/side, depending on software and alignment machine hardware.
Toe can go as far as your inner tie rod moves w/o falling out or running out of threads.