Hello all,

Being that I've been out of circulation for quite some time, bout 13 years car-less, I'm really not dialed in to what any of the shops run. I assume that some of the bigger shops, like Pep Boys or what have you, might run specials for customers. I'm thinking something like the shop offers to check your alignment for free. If you need an alignment, then it would cost you.

When I was driving, I remember some tire shops would do this pretty much yearly. Does companies still do something like this?

My alignment is fine, but it would be nice to find out how fine it is. I don't have any pull or anything, just would be nice to know everything is cool.

So does any shops ever do yearly specials worth watching out for?

 

Not sure if there's one near you, but I see this...

Big O Tires - southern california Promotions, Discounts and Coupons

Keep in mind that the rear is virtually not adjustable. If it's out of spec, you'll need these...
http://www.spcalignment.com/componen...AFrom&to=USATo

I bought a set for our Fit because it's worn the inside of the rear tires since day one. Shop didn't want to install the shims. Been putting off finding another shop.

 

Around here, the Honda dealers often run alignment 'specials'. Currently, the store that sold us ours is offering alignments for ~$75 USD, as opposed to a 'normal' alignment price of ~$110 at area tire stores.

Go to nearby dealer websites, there is usually a dropdown for Parts & Service Specials. Also, if you register your VIN at the Honda Ownerlink site, your info is forwarded to a nearby dealer who will email & snail-mail you coupons...

 

I got the lifetime alignment at Firestone. It was on sale for $150 and you can get an alignment every 6 months/6000 miles for as long as you own the vehicle. Since I put a lot of miles on the Fit and planning on having it for a long time, I figured it'd be a good option.

 

I don't think you get that equipment has changed in the 13 years you haven't owned a car? Most of the big chain type shops that have lifetime alignment, their equipment is now go/no go. Basically the "tech" aligns it to the box turns green or is within tolerance of the factory settings. Doesn't mean perfect or what it's actually supposed to be set at or what an independent shop would align it to. It just means it's within tolerance. For what you want or what I assume you want by knowing what your actual alignment is compared to factory settings? You need to go to an independent alignment shop who isn't probably going to check it for free. You get what you pay for.

 

NTB checks the alignment free with new set tire purchases, If needed they usually discount the alignment for one time, but give you a better deal if you snag the lifetime alignments with free rotation and road hazard.

 

Agree Rob!

We have two cars that are "green" on the rack and both are chewing tires like they are candy.

I'm sure they can still get numbers and set to whatever is desired. I need to research and bring them the settings I want. Did that back in the day with a known problem car and it solved the alignment for the rest of it's life with me.

 

dont waste ur money if your car tracks straight and not seeing any odd tire wear. the only thing adjustable on this car in factory form is front toe. and you'd be paying like $50 for just the front alignment only unless free with new tires or something.

they can charge you (like $100) for 4 wheel alignment but then they will just show rear alignment angles you rather not know about..cause you cant adjust it anyway. lol

 

this. 10char

 

Yep,, ^^^ is what a regular shop will do, a REAL alignment and chassis shop has the tools to literally bend mounts if they have to to make it right and not damage any thing or leave you with a shoddy job.. They also make fixed adjustment caster and camber plates for nearly every car, the shop opens up the holes in the strut tower gets the car aligned correctly and uses special bolts to lock the plate to the tower.. Also has the side benefit of getting rid of the crappy design of the Honda strut mount. Talk to Autocross folks that do Solo II on a road race course, near every track I've been to, there is a real chassis and alignment shop somewhere within a few minutes drive..

That being said you can align your own car very easily with < about 100 bucks worth of tools.

 

Well if it's some free service or offer, I'd take whatever is offered. Obviously the more, the better. I think what would tell me alot about this Fit is how my MPG is, and really I've only gone through one tank and that was just for feeling things out with it. My current tank is really the first tank to get a gauge on how things are setup and that one is currently pegged at F.

 

If its a bran d new one, it takes about 10K for the car to settle in to the bushings and such, But FWIW I have seen numbers like 20 to 30 % of all new cars are at the ragged edge of being in alignment off the showroom floor, I've had every car I ever bought new or used aligned within a week or so of purchase..

It takes a lot of misalignment on a new front wheel drive car to affect mileage, tires are the bigger hit.

 

This really boggles my mind. How you can really expect ant business to give away there services away for free? Or what the hook is if that particular service is free? Do you go into your employer and work for free?


Any way not sure why you’re obsessed with the alignment when you don’t think anything is wrong? Why you’re trying feel things out in regard to the alignment and MPG? Where do you even get that correlation? If you truly believe you’re going to get better mileage from a particular alignment or alignment specs that’s not going to happen from a chain. Myself I get custom alignments to my specs on the car I race. I actually sit in the car during the alignment to compensate for my body weight. This is from a small independent shop that specializes in performance work. Obviously it costs me more for this type of service. My perception is that you won’t pay for it? My advice to you is just drive your car and enjoy it. If you hit some potholes or something that might affect your alignment then worry about it

 

BTW I checked my alignment in two places. The front end readings are matching each other and still in tolerance despite 2 times jumping the divider at 30 mph and blowing the tire up. The rear readings were quite different one shop measured rear toe as 0.10 L and 0.12 R other shop showed them to be out of tolerance:


Of course, I thanked both places for inspection and left. The manager of the second place was not so happy ) because of that

 

Hello Rob,

As I stated at the beginning;
I'm thinking something like the shop offers to check your alignment for free. If you need an alignment, then it would cost you.

So yeah I think shops can make money doing this. What's far more important for them is that they have possibly made contact for the first time to a customer, more important than that, they might have made contact before a competitor. So yeah I can see companies offering this.

Also even though it not as important as say changing your oil, I think this alignment thing could be an item on an imaginary checklist. To me it would be something that could show that everything is OK, or within spec.

Finally I'm betting the high mileage guys would have something to say if alignment is important or not to achieving their goals.

 

Just outta curiosity, how did you arrive to the conclusion that one was correct over the other?

 

Well, if rear toe will be that bad, one of the tires will wear on inner side and another on the outer side however they both wearing the same way