alignment expected after bushings replaced? + noises

[slipknotted]

Hi all, apologies if this is the wrong place for this post but I couldn't find anywhere better. I've had my Skoda Rapid in for a full service and wear 'n' tear items at a local independent Skoda garage this week, total bill came to £1100 as I do *a lot* of miles so there's a lot of wear 'n' tear. Just wondering if the garage replacing the bushings would be expected to carry out an alignment? I would assume so as bushings aren't miniscule things that would (and have) affect the geometry of the suspension. The steering wheel is off-centre by about 20 degrees and the car definitely handles less predictably so I'm certainly ringing up tomorrow to see if they'll rectify it but I'd like to know if they've forgotten or I'm expected to pay for an alignment as well.

The second issue is the car now makes an almost plastic scraping or crunching noise whenever I drive over any considerable bumps which is peculiar because I don't see how bushings could cause such a noise, so either it's a coincidence or the garage has made a mistake somewhere. I had a brief look underneath the car to see if there was any plastic undertray hanging down or the like but everything seemed fine, again I'll bring it up and see what their response is.

I'd just like to add I've done 8k miles in under two months so I'm very acquainted with the car and have treated it well, not launching it over speed bumps or rallying through cobbled streets and kept it at FSH where it's wanted for nothing and as a result the car is otherwise in amazing condition for the age and mileage (14 reg, 85k). What I'm saying is it's not a banger with bits falling off or a 250k mile stbox that's about to die, there's no reason for such noises and I'd expect the car to drive straight after an £1100 bill jfc. Thank you for your patience and I welcome all opinions!

[trickywoo]

Alignment should be a matter of course. I expect they put new suspension arms on and not pressed out and replaced bushes by themselves.

Noise could be just new bushes bedding in. Could also be that they tightened everything up without the suspension being under any load and the bushes are under torsion hence the noise.

Either way it needs taking back to them. Hopefully it will all be fixed but I’d be going to a different garage next time.

[BertBert]

I'm wondering what the question is? Garage has done a job that you have problems with and you'd tell them and agree how to resolve.

[Emily's dad]

Did the garage you went to have the correct equipment to do the geo?

My local independent was completely honest and upfront when I had some suspension work done recently. He could change the arms/bushes but said that I would have to get the tracking done elsewhere.

Was any of this discussed/clarified before the work commenced?

[KungFuPanda]

Unless a wheel alignment was specifically mentioned as being included as part of the job, I’d personally expect to pay extra for this to be done.

[martinbiz]

KungFuPanda said:

Unless a wheel alignment was specifically mentioned as being included as part of the job, I’d personally expect to pay extra for this to be done.

Really???? I wouldn’t, if I had my car in for steering or suspension work, I would expect it returned ready to drive, not to have to take it somewhere else to finish the job, if they don’t have the facility there then they should take it to be done before returning it to you. It’s ridiculous to suggest the owner should specifically request it, it’s part of the job. Conversely if the repairer made a specific exclusion at the start saying they can’t get the wheels re aligned after the job I’d be going elsewhere

[stevemcs]

I/We always include alignment when replacing suspension parts.

[Octoposse]

Just had some suspension work - coffin arms and bushings. One man band specialist - in the quote was the name of the place he’d take the car to for four wheel alignment, and the cost price to him that would go on the bill.

Can’t imagine you’d want suspension work on anything bigger / faster than a lawn tractor and not want the alignment done?

[brman]

A bit of an aside but I have always been puzzled by this "garage doesn't have the kit to do alignment" thing. If I can do it on my drive with some axle stands, bit of string and a ruler then why can't every garage do it?

A genuine question, it is something I have heard a lot and really don't understand.

[CarCrazyDad]

martinbiz said:

KungFuPanda said:

Unless a wheel alignment was specifically mentioned as being included as part of the job, I’d personally expect to pay extra for this to be done.

Really???? I wouldn’t, if I had my car in for steering or suspension work, I would expect it returned ready to drive, not to have to take it somewhere else to finish the job, if they don’t have the facility there then they should take it to be done before returning it to you. It’s ridiculous to suggest the owner should specifically request it, it’s part of the job. Conversely if the repairer made a specific exclusion at the start saying they can’t get the wheels re aligned after the job I’d be going elsewhere

In my opinion as a non garage owner but car enthusiast who is a little bit mechanically minded .


Any time suspension work is done the garage should be ADVISING and OFFERING alignment either in house or be working with another company locally, not every garage has an alignment ramp, this is understandable. Especially a smaller unit. In an ideal world you'd offer an alignment and then the mechanic would take the car to an alignment shop near by without the customer being made aware.

Unless it was a "friends and family" type favour job then I wouldn't think telling a customer to get their alignment done elsewhere is very professional

If pay £100 in labour and £150 in parts for your front dampers to be swapped then that's obviously not going to include an alignment, it should be costed in and then the customer can reject the alignment if they want, after the relevant warnings.

[BertBert]

brman said:

A bit of an aside but I have always been puzzled by this "garage doesn't have the kit to do alignment" thing. If I can do it on my drive with some axle stands, bit of string and a ruler then why can't every garage do it?

A genuine question, it is something I have heard a lot and really don't understand.

Just curious, how do you do camber? What about caster? How do you calculate the effective thrust angles?

[Volvolover]

brman said:

A bit of an aside but I have always been puzzled by this "garage doesn't have the kit to do alignment" thing. If I can do it on my drive with some axle stands, bit of string and a ruler then why can't every garage do it?

A genuine question, it is something I have heard a lot and really don't understand.

You cant do it properly like that, castor, camber, thrust etc

[Decky_Q]

brman said:

A genuine question, it is something I have heard a lot and really don't understand.

What you can do with string is approximately getting all wheels dead ahead. Few cars are designed for this set up and you have no way whatsoever of dialling in the correct measurements.

[brman]

Decky_Q said:

brman said:

A genuine question, it is something I have heard a lot and really don't understand.

What you can do with string is approximately getting all wheels dead ahead. Few cars are designed for this set up and you have no way whatsoever of dialling in the correct measurements.

I am confused, why not? Toe ,thrust angle etc are all done with a string box. Camber with a spirit level (or if you want to get fancy a £100 castor/camber gauge). In my (perhaps sheltered) experience castor is generally inherent in the suspension design rather than adjustable although you can work it out if necessary from camber change.
It isn't approximate either. A string box etc is easily capable of results way more accurate than required.

I get that it takes a bit of thought but it isn't difficult. Hence the question, there has got to be another reason (other than lazyness) why garages don't want to do it? Or is it that no-one has told them how and they think they need £1000s of laser kit to do it?

[voram]

KungFuPanda said:

Unless a wheel alignment was specifically mentioned as being included as part of the job, I’d personally expect to pay extra for this to be done.

Me too, based on my experiences.

My assumption is that alignment shouldn't be needed if the new parts are the same as the old. However, if someone has had their car go out of alignment as the bushes wore out and had it aligned to the worn bushes then clearly the alignment be "wrong" when the new arm is fitted.

IMO if a car drives right and you keep an eye on tyre wear you ought to be OK without an alignment anyway. Getting the alignment checked and set properly is rarely cheap.

[Captain Answer]

I don't expect it but I know enough to ask if it is/isn't included when perusing getting the work quoted

[9xxNick]

If they're happy to give the car back to you with the steering wheel 20 degrees off, they're not the kind of place that really gives a damn, are they?

How did the £1,100 break down, roughly?

[Volvolover]

Every garage I’ve ever used has never offered alignment after suspension or steering work without it being specified.


Some garages just don’t do it, not because they can’t but because they want to be doing something more profitable
In their limited space ;-)

[martinbiz]

Volvolover said:

Every garage I’ve ever used has never offered alignment after suspension or steering work without it being specified.


Some garages just don’t do it, not because they can’t but because they want to be doing something more profitable
In their limited space ;-)

You must have some S**t repairers around your way then

[Volvolover]

martinbiz said:

Volvolover said:

Every garage I’ve ever used has never offered alignment after suspension or steering work without it being specified.


Some garages just don’t do it, not because they can’t but because they want to be doing something more profitable
In their limited space ;-)

You must have some S**t repairers around your way then

Nope I have some excellent garages. To be honest there is a tyre and alignment specialist near me with proper 4 wheel hunter laser alignment and experience tells me nobody will do a better job than them anyway, i've had several cars over the years with no data on their database and they've come up with the goods. If the same guy makes a living out of doing nothing but alignment for the last 30 years then he's clearly doing something right.

As above you might get some places giving you a quick front wheel alignment with a bit of string and most folks will drive away happy thinking all is well but then that's not the same job....I get a printout every time telling me every starting measurement and every finished measurement vs manufacturer spec.