Okay...brace yourselves for an epic tale.
End of January 2011. I purchase 4 new tires for my van. We'll call this place Jason's. I noticed that it pulled slightly to the left, but didn't think much of it. It got much worse. So, I figured that I better have an alignment done.
Tuesday - August 16 - I have an appointment for a Tire Rotation, Oil Change, and Alignment at a (different) business. We'll call it John's. The guy at John's tells me that he can't do an alignment without first replacing the outer tie rod ends. So, I tell him to go ahead and do that. Once it's all finished up (alignment and all), he tells me that it still pulled to the left. So, he swapped the front tires, and now it pulls to the right. He tells me that one of the tires has a "radial pull". And the only way to fix that is to replace the 'faulty' tire. Total cost for this trip: $375.00
Next day. I go to Jason's and explain the problem. They put on the lift and tell me that at the moment, there's nothing they can do, because the INNER tie rod end on the drivers side needs to be replaced. After that is fixed, then they can check the alignment and see if there's a problem with the tires. Jason's can do the work, and it'll cost $260.00 for parts/labor for the inner tie rod end & an alignment.
I call John's and tell him what was told to me. John's basically says that the inner tie rod end is fine, and that Jason's is full of it. To prove it, John's is willing to replace the inner tie rod end, and do another alignment. I would only have to pay for the part(s).
I talk to the guys at Jason's and they look at the alignment report. The caster numbers aren't there. They say that it would have been next to impossible to do an alignment with a faulty inner tie rod end. They agree that there is a possibility that one of the tires has a radial pull. But they won't know until there is an alignment done, and they don't trust the alignment because of the inner tie rod end. Jason's DID say that if there was a problem with a tire - they would replace it at no charge.
By this time, I'm seeing red. I feel like both shops are pointing their finger at the other one. In fact, both shops did bad mouth the other at different points in my conversation.
Now, you could say that I wouldn't have had this problem if I would have stuck with one shop. I won't go into the reasons why I went with John's. It's not really important to the story.
I called John's back, and scheduled an appointment for Friday. I know how much an inner tie rod end costs, and I can guess how much they'll charge me... (probably $65-$75) I really don't want to spend another dime at EITHER shop...
My brother-in-law is a mechanic. I gave him the quick version. He said he'd look at it, but he's not free till next week.
Anyone have any suggestions on what I should do? The alignment is still off, and it still pulls to the right. Just enough to be a problem...
End of January 2011. I purchase 4 new tires for my van. We'll call this place Jason's. I noticed that it pulled slightly to the left, but didn't think much of it. It got much worse. So, I figured that I better have an alignment done.
Tuesday - August 16 - I have an appointment for a Tire Rotation, Oil Change, and Alignment at a (different) business. We'll call it John's. The guy at John's tells me that he can't do an alignment without first replacing the outer tie rod ends. So, I tell him to go ahead and do that. Once it's all finished up (alignment and all), he tells me that it still pulled to the left. So, he swapped the front tires, and now it pulls to the right. He tells me that one of the tires has a "radial pull". And the only way to fix that is to replace the 'faulty' tire. Total cost for this trip: $375.00
Next day. I go to Jason's and explain the problem. They put on the lift and tell me that at the moment, there's nothing they can do, because the INNER tie rod end on the drivers side needs to be replaced. After that is fixed, then they can check the alignment and see if there's a problem with the tires. Jason's can do the work, and it'll cost $260.00 for parts/labor for the inner tie rod end & an alignment.
I call John's and tell him what was told to me. John's basically says that the inner tie rod end is fine, and that Jason's is full of it. To prove it, John's is willing to replace the inner tie rod end, and do another alignment. I would only have to pay for the part(s).
I talk to the guys at Jason's and they look at the alignment report. The caster numbers aren't there. They say that it would have been next to impossible to do an alignment with a faulty inner tie rod end. They agree that there is a possibility that one of the tires has a radial pull. But they won't know until there is an alignment done, and they don't trust the alignment because of the inner tie rod end. Jason's DID say that if there was a problem with a tire - they would replace it at no charge.
By this time, I'm seeing red. I feel like both shops are pointing their finger at the other one. In fact, both shops did bad mouth the other at different points in my conversation.
Now, you could say that I wouldn't have had this problem if I would have stuck with one shop. I won't go into the reasons why I went with John's. It's not really important to the story.
I called John's back, and scheduled an appointment for Friday. I know how much an inner tie rod end costs, and I can guess how much they'll charge me... (probably $65-$75) I really don't want to spend another dime at EITHER shop...
My brother-in-law is a mechanic. I gave him the quick version. He said he'd look at it, but he's not free till next week.
Anyone have any suggestions on what I should do? The alignment is still off, and it still pulls to the right. Just enough to be a problem...