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Maintenance & Repair Dealer vs. independent shop?
294 messages, Last post on Feb 12, 2008 at 5:09 PM
You are in the Maintenance & Repair Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright
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Partly due to a change in rubber spec. - different mfr. with slightly different OD, but mostly because normal around town driving "impacts" your set-up over time. Potholes, railroad tracks, driveway entrances, speed bumps, small animals  , all have their own input, even if your local infrastructure is in fairly good shape (as ours is). A $60 alignment seems a small price to pay to get everything back to factory tolerances, or to a different spec, if you so desire. New rubber is roughly an annual event for me, and I've always had at least one corner slightly outside the range when I change. |
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I think I've had one alignment on one of my cars and that was 10 years ago. I think a lot of people ask for alignments when really all they need to get the tire pressures right. I've had uneven wear from improper inflation and unbalanced wear in Alaska from the weight of ice in the wheels. It's all fine until the thaw and then shimmy shimmy shimmy. Make you want an alignment, but it's really just the rubber. |
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Oooo, I'm compulsive on inflation! That's a seriously good point, capitano. The number of cars I see every stinking day with obviously under-inflated tires just scares the socks off me. Consider what other maintenance items they might be letting ride if they can't even feel it when a tire's down to 25 lbs or less. I'll stick with aligning every rubber change. With low-profile summer tires of comparitively high stickiness and low treadlife on a fairly sporting suspension, not only do you feel abnormalities with relative ease, they become visibly problematic pretty quickly. No inclement weather in this area, so I've never experienced the ice in the wheels. Is that under a cap on a steel wheel? Seems like with an open alloy it'd be pretty easy to spot.
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Ice was from melted snow. I was driving an 89 Pathfinder. Anchorage averages 6 feet year of snow. It comes down around the first weekend in October and stays through March most of the time. I had a real short drive to work and I would take back routes that were rarely plowed to make it an 8 mile trip to at least get the engine to normal operating temperature (with a radiator blanket blocking airflow). I was driving in foot deep snow, sliding around having a blast. I had 31 10.5 R15 big M&S tires, but the snow was deep enough to get inside the rims. It would go slushy from the heat and then when I parked, it would freeze. Throws the balance off a little, but you don't notice as it is constantly melting and refreezing. Once the thaw comes in the spring, you think your entire front end is shot. On a somewhat related note, you could go to a car wash bay with garage doors and wash your car. When you opened the doors and drove out, it would freeze dry (no spots!), but then you'd have to break the ice seal around the door to get out when you got home. Those were the days. Now I am in Miami and can only dream of seeing snow. |
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I have one of the 12 (well, not really) Lincoln LS's with a manual transmission. Back in '99 Lincoln sold several of us a bill of goods having to do with competing with BMW & Audi, but I digress. . . So, here am I six years on, needing some scheduled & unscheduled maintenance. The unscheduled bit is a clutch slave cylinder failure that became apparent last Friday. Since I had to put the car in for that, it seemed appropriate to have them do the plugs (which requires taking off the intake manifold & much else) & a few other specialized jobs. I've used an independent for our generic minivan to good advantage, but a Lincoln with a manual transmission doesn't lend itself to that sort of thing. The Lincoln dealership claims they have a mechanic who's actually seen (& worked on) a manual LS before, but talk is cheap. Either way, I'm confident there aren't 15 independents in North America who have. I'll get the car back tomorrow or Friday (it says here), so it'll be interesting to see how this all turns out. Stay tuned. |
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Replying to: wale_bate1 (Jun 13, 2006 12:31 pm) Net
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Replying to: netwon (Jul 17, 2006 2:45 pm) The last three times I've had one front outside (barely) of the factory spec. First time out it was the driver side, but that was on a brand change too; second was passenger and third was passenger. But you're correct, the variance was nothing to sell the farm for! I might be throwing away a little cash, but with low profile rubber that's fairly wide, $60 doesn't seem all that much for a tad of peace of mind. I'd still suggest doing the alignment with any change in brand or model of tire. |
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Hi, I recently took my 98 Toyota Camry (65,000 miles) in for my annual inspection at my New York City Toyota Dealership . I was told that there's a leak in the power steering system, that I need to replace the rack and pinion steering in addition to other parts, that the repair will cost between $1500 and $2000. I was also told that I have to replace my front and rear suspension which will cost $3000. Are these charges reasonable for these repairs. I only authorized the power steering repair to pass my inspection. Can anyone recommend a Toyota dealership or independent in the New York City area that you absolutely trust that I can get a second opinion about the suspension work. Thanks. Shel2
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Replying to: shel2 (Jul 23, 2006 5:03 am) Not what the hourly rate quote is but the parts break down for OEM Toyota is as follows from Micheals Toyota (www.originaltoyotaparts.com have used before) * P/S Pump: 4 cyl 286.00 6 cyl 261.00 * P/S Pump Overhaul kit (if they use this no need for new pump): 24.00 * P/S Rack & Pinion: 4 cyl & 6cyl: 210.39 * P/S High Pressure hose: 4 cyl 110.00 6 cyl 318.00 So V6 cost all parts worst case 789.00 for parts. (not including fluid) Front Suspension: * Front spring (ea): 54.00 * Front Strut (ea): 127.00 * Front Wheel bearings (ea): 40.00 * Front Wheel bearing seal (ea): 21.00 Rear Suspension: * Rear Strut (ea): 152.00 * Rear Spring (ea) : 55.00 * Rear Wheel bearing (ea): 119.00 Worst call front & rear suspension parts: 1018.00 (and you'll need a 4 wheel alignment. As for the labour make sure they aren't using the book time for each component. There is also I time quoted for a front P/S overhaul, and a front/rear suspension over haul. On my Corolla (01) it was 6 hours to do Strust & springs in all four corners. But if you looked up spring, then strut etc it works out to 14.5 hours. Hope that helps, Netwon
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Replying to: netwon (Jul 27, 2006 4:25 pm)  i here in nyc the repair shops like to steal your airbags too.
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