Wheel alignment costs

[bimsb6]

We need a couple of front tyres on our lexus ,the drivers side is worn oddly so the alignment needs looking at, what is a reasonable cost ? Lexus quoted a reasonable cost for the tyres but wanted £150 for the alignment ! This seems well over the top considering they haven’t seen the vehicle .

[Rod200SX]

Last time I got mine done, which was a few years ago now, it was around £120 for 4 wheel on a Hunter. £150 is dear but not unusual for a main dealer.

[kambites]

At the risk of stating the obvious, it depends on the hourly rate of the garage in question. It should be able half an hour's work to do the front toe, plus you might pay a small premium for use of the machine.

Edited by kambites on Monday 4th May 12:52

[Radec]

About £30-40 at my local tyre place, even someone like ATS are about £50, I'm guessing Kwik Fit will be around the same.
Shop around I say

[vikingaero]

My local Kwik Fit has Hunter machines and charge £69 inc front wheel adjustment. In the end they couldn't free the ends so there was no charge.

Obviously if the rears need doing then there is an additional charge.

[untakenname]

For £150 I'd expect a full four wheel alignment and for them to add 70 litres of water to the front seat.

Last place I got mine done was £65 for a full alignment and they even adjusted the coilovers as one side was lower than the other even though the threads on the shocks measured the same.

[Accelebrate]

Elite Wheels in Reading charged £60 for a 4 wheel Hunter alignment.

[bimsb6]

Seems like my suspicions were correct to add some detail this is a 2 year old car with 17k on it , we had a front end prang a year back which i suspect caused the issue so i suspect only one wheel is out , last time i went to get any sort of tracking done they charged per adjustment .

[tr7v8]

Depends on what you're getting done & the level of adjustability.
My Cayenne was £120 & it worked to £20 per adjustment. From memory 4 cambers & 2 tracking. A lot of people are probably looking at basic front tracking.

[RB Will]

Local specialist place with a hunter charges about £70 for full 4 wheel alignment with adjustments included. Guy doing it sets up loads of race and track cars too.

I guess Lexus are just charging you an hours labour?

[blade7]

Depends who is operating the machinery, someone that knows what they're doing could set it up with string and a camber gauge. Someone that doesn't know, or care could stuff it up on a Hunter.

[bimsb6]

RB Will said:

Local specialist place with a hunter charges about £70 for full 4 wheel alignment with adjustments included. Guy doing it sets up loads of race and track cars too.

I guess Lexus are just charging you an hours labour?

My assumption as well .

[The Dictator]

The place I use in Milton Keynes charges £20 to check it and if no adjustment needed, that's it.

It's £50 if they need to make adjustments. I can also watch them do it, which is always a nice opportunity to have a poke about underneath.

[RobM77]

This depends what's being done. £150 is unreasonably high for a front toe check and adjustment, but I would say is fine for a four wheel alignment checking toe, camber and other measurements. Accuracy, and what you should spend, also depends on the equipment present at the garage - many will just do toe from wheel to wheel, without using the car as the reference point, which has obvious consequences.

[bimsb6]

The Dictator said:

The place I use in Milton Keynes charges £20 to check it and if no adjustment needed, that's it.

It's £50 if they need to make adjustments. I can also watch them do it, which is always a nice opportunity to have a poke about underneath.

Whereabouts mate , i’m near hockliffe so just south of mk .

[kambites]

blade7 said:

Depends who is operating the machinery, someone that knows what they're doing could set it up with string and a camber gauge.

You can do camber with a plumb-line, that's how I do mine. Caster is the bugger to measure at home.

[Court_S]

That’s less than BMW will lighten your pocket for a full four wheel alignment...their usual cost is around £275!

I usually pay around £100 for a full four wheel alignment, either from my local BMW dealer when it’s on offer or from an Indy who I know do a good job. Just because they have a Hunter machine doesn’t mean they’ll do a good job (I found out the hard way).

[blade7]

kambites said:

blade7 said:

Depends who is operating the machinery, someone that knows what they're doing could set it up with string and a camber gauge.

You can do camber with a plumb-line, that's how I do mine. Caster is the bugger to measure at home.

Someone lent me a camber gauge, so I used that and string before I took the car to Center Gravity. Was surprisingly close. Didn't fancy trying to measure to 1 degree or less with a plumb line.

[Speedgelb]

Circa £90 for a proper job (ie not just getting it 'in the green') at my Lotus specialist. Camber and toe, both axles.

£150 seems excessive.

[kambites]

blade7 said:

Someone lent me a camber gauge, so I used that and string before I took the car to Center Gravity. Was surprisingly close. Didn't fancy trying to measure to 1 degree or less with a plumb line.

It's not really any harder than measuring 1 degree of toe - you just need a set of vernier callipers, a very steady hand. I reckon I can get the top to bottom of wheel displacement within about a quarter of a mm.

I find fishing line much better than string though.