lltfly

This week, it has been nightmare on alignment for my two cars. back and forth to tire warehouse and town fair tire.

1. bought a set of new tires for 16 Elantra, did the alignment, 3 times of adjustments, the car can not go straight. they said their machine has issue, then ask me to come back again, steering wheel still slightly not in the center. swallow down the pain after 4 times alignment.
2. bought my lovely 12 TL a set of new tires, did the alignment, WTF, again, when car goes straight, steering wheel is off the center. Town fair tire did the job. terrible job, not feel friendly. ask them to send me to another shop to check and redo the alignment, oh man, steering wheel goes to another side when car is driving straight. not friendly also, just because I was there at 6pm, they close at 7pm. (wtf I cancelled the meeting, got off work at 4pm to try to get there at 6pm, 2 hours driving. also called and made appointment before I started off).
3. besides, My TL is vibrating terribly when driving around 75 miles. I drive same route to work every day. same segment of highway, immediately notice it. asked Town fair tire to redo the balance. will test on highway tomorrow when go to work
Why this simply thing can be so hard. two cars I paid 1200 dollars total for 2 set of tires without any satisfaction. WTF WTF.
Am I too picky on steering wheel? but before doing the alignment, they are right in the center when going straight. Is alignment supposed to be the precision purpose? I am so tired of this.
Should I go back to town fair tire to do the third time alignment for my TL? I can allow Hyundai off a bit but TL~~~~ . Is off center the very common issue on alignment work?

thoiboi

You should find a new competent alignment shop

lltfly

it could be wasting money. they just do not pay attention on the work. how do I know who is competent.

jtech316

Definitely take it to a different shop. Hit up your dealership and see how much they charge or just ask around.

01acls

Yelp it, that's a review site/app. Its better than nothing.

Blaze9

Check out firestone. For 150ish you can do lifetime alignments on your car. I actually have an appointment tomorrow for mine. Takes about an hour, less even.

thoiboi

Where are you located, ask around the regional forum for recommendations.


Or yelp it like mentioned below .

Soal Man

Sounds very frustrating. Only advise to you is to have them rebalance the tires and get it properly aligned could be that the weights they applied isn't properly placed. The shops you mentioned should compensate for their negligence. Speak with the shop owner or manager and try to get it resolved ASAP. Best of luck.

hadokenuh

Definitely incompetent alignment/tire shops.

lltfly

Thanks for all your recommendations. make me feel I have backup here. Thankful.

Town fair tire looks like the biggest tire vendor and maybe tire and wheel related job vendor in New England. looks like they have pretty fancy equipment machine to do it. that is why I paid decent to do the work, think they at least are specialist on tire work over dealership.
I think defintely I can go back to them ask for the third time alignment for my TL. but I am a little bit expecting the same outcome from them after two times alignment with them at two different stores. Or I find another garage to do it. but I am afraid of starting over the story again.
I am thinking they just adjust the tire rod to be within the computer's acceptable range. as long as is the green on the screen, their work is done.

thoiboi

This is exactly why i stopped doing the lifetime warranty at discount tire and firestone and the like... they couldn't care less..

I pay $100 per alignment at my local mom and pop shop. He is extremely meticulous and goes back to correct his work front to rear if it changes. He makes sure to completely zero out toe and make sure it's right on the dot in the middle.. Well worth the extra dough IMO.

potmilkz

same here.. since i only get alignments every 6 months i dont mind paying $100 each time..

where do you go to btw?

also you going to crown point meet this year?

thoiboi

OH SNAP! I didn't realize you were in the area too

Cyrus is my man: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jc-auto-house-temple-city

I wasn't aware of that meet. Also my stock ass 3G probably wouldn't be much to look at.. I might go and lurk though...

potmilkz

i use to go to cyrus as he was around the block but i found myself hating to wait for his time consuming alignments.. last time he worked on my car for 3 hours..

hes good and all but he charges more than another place that does the same quality work and half the time.

go to a1 automotive on las tunes, the alignment guy there is spectacular, ive recommended a few people that use to go to cyrus to a1 automotive and they loved a1 better..

a1 automotive does not require appts a day in advance, you can just call them and ask if they are busy and if they are not just let them know you are coming and they will have a spot for you ready.. plus they charge $70 to do an alignment that was the same quality as cyrus but half the time and $30 cheaper.

try it out next time, a1 is very good. i forgot the guys name but ive been going to them for 2 years now.

thoiboi

bookmarked, thanks for the heads up! do they take credit card? That's one thing Cyrus doesn't do either.. I don't mind that he takes a while, i haven't waited 3 hours though.. I think the longest was about 1.5 and it was because I was just shooting the shit with him while he was working.

potmilkz

they do take credit card and walk ins available

thoiboi

welll shiet.... I'm going to have to check them out on my next alignment now!

fryrice

I am in the same boat as you OP, my steering wheel is not straight and the car definitely pulls to the left more.

Let me know if you find a good shop in MA. I do plan to go into the dealership and get it done.

lltfly

I will go to dealership to do it again. I do not know which local garage is trustful.
they looked at me like "this is a fucking picky guy"

thoiboi

Don't let that deter you.. The dealership MAY be your best option at this point. I think some of us (me included) are just fortunate to have competent alignment techs around us

08KBP_VA

The equipment means shiet if the fools dont know how to use it properly, which is basically the case. Any race shops/tuners there or specialty shops? Ive given up on big box monkeys they have no clue and no pride in their work. All the good ones leave for better opportunity. Next best would be dealer.