peewizzle

I have been needing an alignment since I bought my 3G in April. Tire Warehouse, a local tire chain in New England, was advertising an alignment special for all 4 wheels @ $65 pre tax. I thought damn good deal since Honda will charge me I believe $90.

This morning I decided to go there and they said it'll be 30 minutes because it's slow. Keep in mind I live 1 mile from their shop so I decided to stick around no biggie.

30 minutes goes by and I ask how alignment is going and they say no big deal just adjusting rears now. Another 30 mins rolls by and the store manager Mike comes around and sits down with me and gives me "bad" news. I'm like ummm ok??? Keep in mind, my car is practically RUST FREE. Although this 3G is from New Hampshire where salt is everywhere during winter, I inspected this car inside and out up and down before purchasing to make sure it was rust free.

Anyways, store manager tells me because of rust they snapped a bolt and can't continue with alignment. I'm like WTF!!! So he takes me around and we look at my car.

The bolt that attaches the right rear lower control arm, part #52360-SEP-A01, to the body of the car i snapped and they can't get it out. They are telling me after banging for so long a new arm needs to be purchased so they can cut the old one out and replace it. I said look are you guys going to pay for this because I came to get an alignment and now your impact wrench has snapped a bolt. They said they are not liable and after bickering back and forth they will do me a favor and only charge me 1 half hour labor, which comes out to $35, for putting the new one on when I bring them one...AND pay for the $65 alignment.

I was livid...

I respectfully said fuck off and limped the 1 mile down the street to my house. I'm at my work desk right now writing this because I am so pissed off. I had to drive my sisters' 2011 Civic Si, which I'm not a fan of because it's a loud ass car with JDM front and rear conversion blah blah blah. I like my nice quiet comfy 3G.

I called around to every auto part I could think of, and NOBODY has this arm in stock anywhere. Finally, I gave up, called the closest Acura dealer from me, Auburn MA which is an hour away, and had them overnight the part for me. $158.xx with all the bolts and whatnot...

Eventually this would've needed to get replaced but after unexpected bills the other week it's a lot on my plate all at once.

I now need to wake up at crack of dawn tomorrow, drive an hour in shit Massachusetts traffic to dealer, grab part, drive another hour home in shit traffic, bang the old arm/bolt out, replace it, then go pay for an alignment at Honda. *Honda dealer is in my city whereas Acura dealer is hour away* then get to work late tomorrow because of Tire Warehouse.

So because I went to get a $65 discount alignment...I'm going to end up paying Honda $90 + $158 for the part + gas & time & my own labor removing and installing part...

Sorry I needed to rant...

thoiboi

Sorry to hear about the debacle

lesson learned, don't go to those shops anymore. I used to do the $200 LIFETIME ALIGNMENT special at discount tire when i went in for an alignment and 15 minutes later they were done and the before/after spec sheet showed it still out of alignment


I'll spare you the "you get what you pay for" spiel.

peewizzle

I definitely got what I paid for...and some

To top it off with more BS icing, before I left one of the techs came out and said if I can't get the arm replaced and I want to drive the car to have a shop weld the remainder of the bolt to the body so that it doesn't move.

I simply nodded and drove off but in my mind I'm screaming WTF ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GIVING THIS TYPE OF ADVICE OUT!!??

thoiboi

Sounds like an angry Yelp review is well deserved for this place

peewizzle

Not sure if I want to do that yet because I've always had great experiences with them.

My mother goes to them for winter/summer tire changes and wheel balances. My sister goes to them for the same thing. After great reviews by both of them I started going to them over Firestone Complete Auto Care for wheel balancing since they're 1 of 3 places in my city that actually Roadforce Balance tires, the other 2 places being actual car dealerships.

The reason for them doing the wheel alignment special is because they recently just added the alignment machine to their shop.

I figured well they have done well so far I shouldn't worry...how wrong I was...now they won't claim responsibility, my car is up on jacks, and I'm out $$$

Can't wait to get home from work and chug a beer or two

thoiboi

Then I'd caveat the review as such. "Great for balancing and mounting tires, may need some training / have issues with alignment"

peewizzle

that's a great way to put it haha

you'd be perfect on a company PR team

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Stuff like this totally sucks, man...
sorry to hear it.

SayItAintTom

Shit happens, it's only $250, get over it, could have been worse.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

we've all been there, peeewwizzzle....maybe not specifically in your shoes, but we've all gotten the run around because of incompetence from somewhere.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I got shafted due to incontinence.

Midnight Mystery

So the technition broke bolt, that happens sometimes, but when he bent the arm because he was hitting it so much, that's a bit of neglect...

Go check out this video...http://https://m.youtube.com/watch?v...3A8&autoplay=1

peewizzle

thanks guys

so last night after making this post I got home, called a bunch of buddies, and it took us 3 hours using a grinder and sawzall to get the control arm off. 1.5 hours of which were us running around to stores and back getting all the necessary blades and beer

i then spent another 1.5 hours driving back and forth to Acura this morning to get the replacement control arm w/ hardware and reinstall was a breeze, literally 5 minutes. i still can't believe the fact that after fouling up yesterday, Tire Warehouse was still going to charge me labor because of their doing...and i never even received an apology. just a "hey we did this, u need to replace this part or else you can't drive the car"

made an appointment tomorrow morning to get aligned at my local Honda dealer, literally 7 miles from my home, so hopefully all goes well and i'm praying no more bolts or parts get broken

usually i don't get all worked up over money spent but right now it's difficult because i had to take over my aging mother's mortgage payments along with an unexpected exterminator bill and my own bills as well.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

glad you got it!!!
and its getting tough out there, financially. hope every one has pennies saved.

nfnsquared

How in the hell did they managed to bend the arm? That's ridiculous.

On the other hand, those bolts are known to freeze. It's happened to several of us. I would recommend replacing the other side's bolt as well and adding a good coat of grease to each new bolt.

For future reference:

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-t...issues-938635/

Superunknown

Fuck quickie lube and tire chains. Fuck 'em.

MBP_TL

Hopefully it all works out for you.

csmeance

Call up their corporate office and let them know of your experience, they'll make it right.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

^^^That's the right idea...with social media nowadays, all company's are walking on eggshells.

08KBP_VA

I commend you on your standing up to help mom. Had to do the same for my dad after my mom passed. Doing bills, cleaning house out and readying for sale I decided to treat myself to oil change due to my time constraints figuring what could they do wrong to an oil change on a Landcruiser.

Very easy...they over torqued the oil pan bolt on the previous oil change less than 500 miles and then when they went to put pan bolt back the over torquing screwed up the threads on the pan and bolt would not seat...temp plug in there now...said was me even though they had all records they did the last oil change and it isnt my daily driver. Honestly, I wouldnt want them to do the repair anyway...and on the manifolds on same truck...the douche bag lifted the landcruiser by the standing metal seam of the truck...yep guess what happened to the seams on a 2 ton truck...and worst part they tried to claim it wasnt them until they rolled the video footage and showed it wasnt pulled in that way with a bent running board. Now this truck has a very visible frame and as an apprentice the foreman should have been checking. Needless to say that was my final lesson learned to avoid those and all other hacks and do my own DIY.

Hope you got the same wakeup call I did and good luck getting this all resolved.

peewizzle

Went to Honda today and explained the situation and they were more than accommodating. Unfortunately, they said their printer was down so they can't print the alignment specs out...what??? I even asked for an email copy but they said they can't email from the terminal...hmm I don't know enough about their machines to contest so I let it be. They had to print the final receipt from a front office printer but oh well whatever I'm glad things are over. Drove up and down the highway for a bit and things seem good. Straight steering and no wheel play so I'm happy. $79.99 for an alignment at Ron Bouchard Honda.

I thought about doing that but at this point I'm just taking this all as lesson learned and will never go back to another tire chain again.

Yup there's a reason why I only do DIY work on all my vehicles, if I had my own alignment rack and wheel balance/mount machine I would never need to go anywhere ever haha.

Thanks for listening to my rant guys, here's to hoping my alignment issues are allllllll gone.

GreenSpades

I had a similar experience when I first bought my TL and was very frustrating. They fucked up the alignment TWICE. This was after I wouldnt even let Firestone try because they were deuschbags and said I had no appt after I clearly made one. Anyways this was at STS tire where I had good service before but they just could not do a simple freaking alignment and balancing. I ended up taking it to Acura after STS tried to BS me that the wheels were bent lol. I said show me. The kid, literLly he was still a kid, puts the wheel on the spinner for balancing and says look at it spin, it has a crooked pattern. What a dumbass. Took it to Acura and in the end it was only like $20 more to have them do it right with the road force machine. Something about this TL requires very precise wheel balancing.

t-rd

Something you should know about rear alignment.
- That eccentric bolt plus nut do seize up if no regular alignment has ever been done.
- A laser alignment rack doesn't mean jack s*** if the person doing the alignment can't do it properly. I had one of them lifetime alignment also from NTB, and the person doing the alignment didn't know what he was doing. My Accord came out with steering wheel crooked to one side in order to go straight. I went back 2 more times and he still couldn't fix it. So I ended up going to Honda for $99 to get it fixed.

Morale of the story, you might just want to pay a little more at Honda to get it done right every year instead of using a coupon. Honda sometimes has coupons also anyway for $79.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I agree...I only trust going to Honda now and I still have a lifetime alignment with firestone...
but what's the point of a guaranteed piece of shit.

csmeance

In all honesty that's the wrong mindset to have. The next person to go there will probably have issues just like you did. If you can prevent it for the next guy why not? You might be the next guy next time!

94eg!

If they broke that bolt at the Honda dealership, then this would be a thread about the evil "Stealership". The reality is you would still be responsible for the cost of repair. The difference is a large dealership may make enough money via volume of business (or even overcharging) to help offset the loss of $$ of comping labor and/or parts to keep your crybaby mouth shut. Smaller shops can't always absorb those costs since they usually have lower profit margins.

If your bolts are frozen, it's your fault. When those bolts freeze, the arm has to be cut out.

screaminz28

iTrader: (1)

Got to agree with this one. Those bolts are VERY apt to seize up. You can't tell the technician "go ahead and do this, but if the bolt won't come loose, try until just before it snaps off." Mine were so rusted, my buddy (who owns a shop) drilled them out. No need to cut the arm out and replace.

If you had an alignment done regularly, I'd sorta understand the frustration. Or, if your car had hubcaps and the tech had impacted THEM off, I could see being mad. But not this. Time to suck it up as a fact of life, and how things happen.

GreenSpades

The part where the tech really messed up though was when he broke the bolt and thought maybe he could still get away with it by oh I dont know, hitting it with a hammer? When he broke the bolt he should have gotten the shop foreman and then had them explain it to you. Not just start hitting things. Maybe they could have drilled it out or at least ASKED if you were okay with them attempting a fix. Maybe after the bolt broke you would have decided to take a different route. Cant fault him for breaking the bolt, can fault him for how he proceeded afterwards.

94eg!

I've been working on Hondas for 16 years now (amature) and I've never once heard of anyone drilling out a suspension bolt. Let alone a cam bolt. But who knows.

thoiboi

There's a first time for everything

peewizzle

Just so everyone is clarified. I bought the car in April 2016 and this is the first time an alignment has been performed since I've acquired the car. As originally stated, I sat there not knowing what was going on for about an hour before the store manager came over and told me after they broke the bolt and banged up the arm, without my permission to do so and unknown to me, and that I'll need a new arm and that the car is not safe to drive now.

The last time I had to deal with a frozen bolt on a rear arm it was on my 2G. I took that to Firestone Complete Auto Care and they right away told me they weren't going to attempt the alignment because they can tell the rear bolt is seized to the bushing. I commended them for that and had that fixed when I could afford to do so and would expect the same professionalism from Tire Warehouse, but I guess not.

I was pissed at first because I received NO APOLOGY for their doing and that this was a very unexpected expense. After speaking with Acura, they informed me it's common for that bolt to seize, which is why I decided NOT to jump on social media and badmouth the place or leave a negative review. Like I mentioned earlier, they have always done great tire work for my mother, my sister, and myself before this incident. Also stated above, I have accepted that this has happened and have taken it as an expensive lesson...but I guess sharing a negative experience with everyone makes me a crybaby? so I guess that's that then.

truonghthe

So i bought the car at 60k miles with no rust, car seen snow once. About a year later the bolt seized during a aligment requested by me. Acura dealer call me and ask permission to replace the bolt. I laugh and told them go ahead replace the whole arm but they keep insist replace just the bolt. So i told them i will be awaiting for the call that they need to replace the arm and two days later i got the confirmation lmfao. If you live in the snow state its very common for the bolt to seize. This is why i told people you get what you pay for, $60 you get inexperience tech who still learning vs $120 they would call and ask for permission.

GreenSpades

OP its okay for grown men to cry

and to 94eg: You can drill out anything with a big enough bit

94eg!

I would much rather sawzall the arm out and replace the bushing or complete arm, than have some retard attempt drilling through my subframe. Eff that.

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

I dont see the big deal here? you went in for an alignment, the attempted to do it, the bolt was seized to no end and shit broke. It happens, the car is over 10 years old in a northern climate

I had to cut my arms completely out when I swapped all my suspension, its just how she goes.

musiclevelz5

I have drilled out over a dozen seized bolts into the subframe on many different Hondas. No big deal. It is actually very easy.

You dont know how bad rust is until you work on Hondas in Ohio.

Scottwax

If they regularly serviced your family's cars, you'd think they would have been more apt to work with you on making it right.

N1h1l1ty

Yup, can confirm this is sadly a very common occurrence on our cars. Mine were seized to shit, and ironically enough, the first shop that did my alignment, that my parents also take their vehicles to ... didn't even do an alignment, nor did they let me know the bolts were seized. Only after taking it to my buddy's shop did I find out that the arm was shot. Took about 30 minutes per arm to get that shit out of there with an angel grinder and a beefy cutoff wheel. Replaced both arms, all the hardware, sprayed it with clear coat, and thus far a full season later, no problems.

EDIT: Also this inspired me to do all my own camber adjustments front and rear, and ALWAYS watch the alignment being done on the car by the mechanic. I'm very lucky now to have a mechanic that I'm friendly with that owns an R35 GTR and a 900 hp Supra and actually CARES about the work he's doing.

NVER ENF

Same thing here. My right rear was seized when I purchased the car. Went ahead and replaced both rears.
Also, be careful where you take your car. I thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of Firestone's (not all Firestones are the same) lifetime warranty one day. Wasn't a good idea... They ended up popping the clips out on both sides of the side skirts trying to get the car off the alignment rack. Luckily, that was the worst of it but i had to take the skirts back off when i got home and reinstall the clips. Not to mention they didn't even get the steering wheel straight. I won't make that mistake again. Take it to a quality shop you can trust.

Canadian3GTL

iTrader: (1)

So it's the shops fault that something was rusted/seized on your car? They could have easily came back to
you and asked for more money to deal with seized bolts, but it sounds like the tech was trying to do you a favour. They could have kicked your car out of the shop, charged you for the time they spent, and then told you they can't do the work until the seized bolts are fixed.

Maybe I'm missing something here.
If you had a contractor come Reno your kitchen, and he found mold under the floor, would you: a) blame him for the mold, b) make him pay for
the parts to repair the mold and not get payed to do it?
Its your car, it's your responsibility to fix. yes it's one thing if they for example; scratched a rim, or the steering wheel wasn't straight, or left a footprint in the car, or something like that. It's not their fault a bolt broke, that's uncontrollable on a 10 year old car.

This isn't a case of malpractice, it's a case of not understanding the circumstance. The tech probably tried their best, it also
sounds like he tried to give you advise on a temporary repair to help you out if money was tight. The tech just fixes your car, they can't control what goes wrong or how much it costs, contrary to popular belief.