I don't get it -- I sold my '97 Saab because it kept having all these problems that I was paying through the nose to fix. Then I bought my Acura because I'd heard that they were good cars and low maintenance. So why, after having had my car for a little over a month, have I already spent almost $500 in getting its little "problems" fixed? Now it's the alignment!

I find myself having to compensate for the alignment by turning the wheel a little more to the left. After getting an oil change on Saturday, I thought I'd take it to the local tire & wheel shop for an alignment. Imagine my surprise when I get a call from the mechanic saying that I need some ball joint for my car so that he can align it properly. I have NEVER heard of this before! Not even my Saab required some special part in order to have it aligned!

So, he quoted me $136.38 for that part, plus like $160 for labor, plus the alignment is so bad that the inside of the tires have the threads showing, so I need new tires, and he told me that each new tire was about $100 each, total around $750.

Does this sound right?

If I really do need that ball joint thing, does anyone know where I could get it cheaper? I live in the Bay Area, and as you know, the cost of living here is so high that I find myself "barely living!"

 

quit 'cher bitchin'!

 

and the CL is a car that will never give you problems.....as long as you leave it parked. that goes for all cars! every 350 miles i have to spend 30 bucks on my car!!! I DONT GET IT!!!



oh, and buy your acura parts online at www.acuraautomotiveparts.com

 

Typically if you take care of the acura it is very reliable. I take it you bought the cl used so who knows. thats why u got fucked on the alignment. that really sux man. ball joints do go, but that too is usually a result of the driver. accidents, hitting potholes, crazy driving, stuff like that. i dont know what year you have but i have a 97 with 80k, dropped 2" and my ball joints r fine. that estimate seems reasonable. once the alignment is fixed it will be a whole diff car.

 

at 66,000 miles. my ball joint broke. making my suspension totally fail. not only breaking the joint, broke the axle, bent in my fender. This was all after acura supposedly "repacked" the ball joint with grease two times. Im pretty sure there is a recall from acura on this problem. Especially with the 97CL's. Defiantely check that out before you put money into the ball joint somewhere else.

 

that sucks.

 

Okay, I don't like the price that the mechanic quoted me for that ball joint thingy that I need...I think I'm going to order the part(s) online, but I don't know what I need to buy. In order to get my car aligned, what part(s) do I need to buy that have to be installed so that the mechanic can align my CL?

97 3.0 CL
79,200 miles

 

haha totally disregard what i say...

ball joints are covered under a warranty, call acura and find out, if you VIN falls under that its FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE under warranty

 

ur bout to hit that magic 80k. id take it to acura and tell them somethings wrong with ur tranny too, before the warranty runs out on that.

here dogg http://www.alldata.com/TSB/01/97011131.html

take it in for all this stuff. plus the tranny. even if there is nothing wrong with it. just say it shifts hard comming out of first to second. acura doesent fix the old tranny they just replace it. so hopefully if u talk to the mechanic he will give u the hook up. they get paid eather way so.....

 

Thanks for the suggestion! actually, it DOES shift hard from first to second, so I'll add that to the list of other things that I'm going to have them look at (like my driver's side window, and how it makes a LOUD, annoying noise when I open or close it), and the ball joints that are supposedly MISSING from my car...Hopefully my out-of-pocket costs stay close to nil...

 

If you didn't buy the car from the dealer you go to, get ready for a possible fight. I found that the Acura dealers in my area were less than hospitable when fixing my EGR recall issue. You might want to keep the Acura 1-800 customer line handy. They helped in getting my repair paid for (1-800-382-2238).

Good luck!

 

Is this problem more likely if the car is lowered?

 

yes, ball joints, CV/universal, whatever you want to call them do go out. my 89 legend had to get them fixed when it had about 90k on it (about 11 years old). it's one of the woes that comes w/ a FWD car, and is mainly caused by cranking the wheel hard until it stops all the time. if you hear it creeking or clunking when you turn the wheel hard, then that's def. your CV joint. and as far as i know, those prices seem reasonable to fix.

also, bad alignment causes uneven wear in your tires, so spend the money, or be prepared to spend more down the road. it's just another one of those maintenance things...

btw, how many miles on your car?

 

if they bring that shit hit em in the eye with a torque wrench

 

probably causes it to prematurely wear. but who knows, if its dropped right i dont see why it would cause any probs.