A friend recommended Alignments Plus to me saying that Errol was an amazing tech and always did a good job on his car. So I took my track car (1989 BMW 325i) in a few weeks back because of a toe issue. Unfortunately they are now under new management and none of the techs/service writers that are listed on their website are still there - just one new service writer and one new mechanic. Anyways, they diagnosed it as bad inner tie rods on both sides of the car, but quoted me over $300 to replace it. No thanks! Bought everything I needed for $100 and did it in my garage in one afternoon.
Anyways, I paid $30 for the "free" inspection - they said if I came back within 30 days for an alignment, I'd get the $30 credited towards the alignment. So I came back (within 30 days) for the alignment and dropped the car off. I explained that on my car neither toe or camber is adjustable in the rear, and camber in the front is not adjustable. So only front toe is adjustable. So I was just asking for a 2-wheel alignment, and the tie rods (which adjust front toe) were brand new (and not 'frozen', not rusted).
I get a call from Alignments Plus mid-day today and they had some questions about what I wanted. I explained that I wanted zero toe, and the mechanic was talking about "steer ahead" and "tolerances" and I just assumed he was saying he may not be able to get it to exactly 0, so I said 'sure, as close to zero as you can get is fine'.
I got in later to pick up my car, and the toe is set to 0.15 deg both sides for a total toe of 0.30 deg, not zero... While I was waiting to talk to the mechanic, I offered to pay so I could be ready to go. When I dropped my car off, they said it would be $40-50. I was under the impression that was before the $30 credit. Apparently not! They wanted $80 to adjust JUST FRONT TOE on brand new tie rods! I guaranteed no frozen joints, because again.... brand new tie rods! Not a spec of rust on them. And of course, they don't accept credit cards, so I had to run across the street to a 7-11 to use their ATM to get more cash, since I was expecting just $20 (not $50).
When I got back I ended up getting in a 20-minute argument with the "mechanic" about toe. The manufacturer recommended specification, for my car's front toe, is between positive 0.11 deg to 0.19 deg (positive toe = toe in).I specifically asked for zero (0.00 deg). Yes, it's outside of the recommended specifications, but I asked for it because I'm taking my car to a road course for a track day (Grattan Raceway) and I wanted a little better turn-in response on the track.
The "mechanic", however, kept insisting that by setting the toe to the middle of the manufacturer recommended specifications (0.15 deg toe in, in this case), the wheels were now pointing exactly straight ahead. If you know anything about toe, that's not what that means. Wheels exactly straight ahead would be zero (0.00 deg) toe. 0.15 degrees is toe in, meaning the front of the front wheels are pointing slightly inwards towards the middle of the car.
He then proceeded to say that obviously he was correct because the "steer ahead" value was zero. Steer ahead, however, is literally just the difference between left and right toe. So, for example, if one side was toed in and the other was toed out, when your steering wheel is straight the wheels would actually be pointing NOT straight. Hence, your "steer ahead" would be non-zero. However, since both sides of my car were toe in at the same 0.15 degrees (total of 0.30 degrees), the "steer ahead" is zero. That does NOT mean my wheels are pointing exactly straight ahead, that would be toe = zero. This may sound a bit confusing, but any even mildly competent mechanic should understand, or be able to understand, this!
TNow, I don't mean to say that I am a suspension expert - I am most certainly not. However, I know the basics of vehicle dynamics because I'm an engineer who works on chassis components at a major automotive manufacturer and because I worked on a Formula SAE racing team in college. Oh, and because I just love this stuff!
Either way, it's clear to me that the mechanic has no idea what he's talking about. He may be OK at simply wrenching on cars, but personally I prefer a good mechanic who knows what he (or she!) is actually doing. It's also pretty clear to me that the service writer (owner?) is there just to try to milk people out of money. He didn't seem to care at all about my concerns over the quality of work that went into my car, he just wanted the most money he could get from me. Most places charge $90-100 for a FOUR-wheel alignment, which would be front and rear camber AND front and rear toe. This place charged me $80 for JUST front toe adjustment on BRAND NEW (un-rusted) tie rods.
TLDR; Mechanic doesn't know what he's talking about, service writer grossly overcharges for a very simple job. I will not return to Alignments Plus, and I will not recommend it to anyone else. read more
