Advice required with new tyres + wheel alignment
Discussion
Hoping the PH massive can help me with a problem I have. I recently took my Saab 9-3 on a European roadtrip - before this, it passed its MOT which had an advisory for the front wheel alignment as the front near-side tyre was worn around the edge (the other tyres were fine). The day the roadtrip started I took the car to an independent tyre fitter (whom I'm assuming has to stay nameless) to get the wheel alignment sorted and replace the two front tyres.
They did this - took ages to do it mind - but I paid and left. Driving away I noticed that the car was pulling to the right and if anything the tracking was worse than it was. However, I decided not to take it back as I needed to get to Bournemouth to pick up my girlfriend and make the ferry we'd booked, and they took long enough to sort it in the first place, and it didn't feel too far off.
Fast forward two weeks, roadtrip ended and the alignment feels even worse than it did before - furthermore something doesn't feel "right" at all and perhaps worse I've just noticed [u]both[/u] tyres (2 weeks old) are now worn very badly down around the outside edge. What prompted me to check this was that I could hear tyre squeal even at low speeds when cornering.
Obviously I will be taking it back to the garage but I thought I'd ask for your advice first - obviously the tracking needs to be sorted, but do I have a legal right to expect new tyres fitted at their expense? What's the best way of approaching it?
Any help gratefully received.
They did this - took ages to do it mind - but I paid and left. Driving away I noticed that the car was pulling to the right and if anything the tracking was worse than it was. However, I decided not to take it back as I needed to get to Bournemouth to pick up my girlfriend and make the ferry we'd booked, and they took long enough to sort it in the first place, and it didn't feel too far off.
Fast forward two weeks, roadtrip ended and the alignment feels even worse than it did before - furthermore something doesn't feel "right" at all and perhaps worse I've just noticed [u]both[/u] tyres (2 weeks old) are now worn very badly down around the outside edge. What prompted me to check this was that I could hear tyre squeal even at low speeds when cornering.
Obviously I will be taking it back to the garage but I thought I'd ask for your advice first - obviously the tracking needs to be sorted, but do I have a legal right to expect new tyres fitted at their expense? What's the best way of approaching it?
Any help gratefully received.
It's worth pointing out that when I left the tracking feeling "off" it was almost imperceptible and I wondered if it was just me at first. It was only over the course of the week that it got worse.
Just as an update, armed with the receipt I returned to the garage today, and found on the journey there the car was getting worse and worse to drive.
They gave it a quick once-over and sheepishly admitted that it looked like the track rod end bolts hadn't been tightened up when they did the alignment
although weren't sure why this was.
They sorted the tracking (apparently each track rod end was 45mm out) and replaced both front tyres without question. Job's a good 'un - thanks for all advice.
Just as an update, armed with the receipt I returned to the garage today, and found on the journey there the car was getting worse and worse to drive.
They gave it a quick once-over and sheepishly admitted that it looked like the track rod end bolts hadn't been tightened up when they did the alignment
although weren't sure why this was.They sorted the tracking (apparently each track rod end was 45mm out) and replaced both front tyres without question. Job's a good 'un - thanks for all advice.
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