Wheel alignment costs
Discussion
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 .
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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 .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.
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).
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).
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.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.
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