I needed to take my '85 in for a wheel alignment and called around for prices. I explained what I had on the phone, was quoted $70 at several places. I finally made a 10am appointment for today at a local Goodyear shop. When I arrived for the alignment, they upped the price to $80 due to the fact that is was a "Corvette" ( I told them what it was) and needed all four wheels done (still no big deal yet). After an hour wait , they finally get my car on the rack, and then the service manager tells me it will now cost over $200 and 3 more hours to be "shim aligned"!

When I balked...the service manager agreed to lower the estimate to $165 due to the "miscommunication" over the difficulty of aligning Corvettes. I feel like I am being hosed...or is this basically right??

I just finished walking 2 miles home from the shop..and worked up a good head of steam . Any thoughts?

Thanks for any feedback.

 

My 4 wheel alignment at the Chevy dealer included shims and cost $79
I did not wait so I don't know how long it took
Sounds suspicious to me....

 

Lat Time I had mine done it was about 170-200---I gave them the specs i wanted-for autocrossing--I think that is about right-Iit does take a while if things are out of wac--but the 70-80 sounds like a come on---ask them fro the after specs they are done. Thats about what I paid both times I had it done
Good luck-
Ron

 

Thanks...that helps take the sting out of the price hike. The service manager said they had never seen a vette so far off on all wheels before...the print out was all in the "red". When I got the car last summer, it drove with the steering wheel at about 2 oclock. Now I know why.

I had just installed a lowering kit and new rims all the way around. Might have contributed to the problem.

 

Even if the car is lowered, front alignment adjustments are still made like any other car with upper and lower control arms and tire rod ends. Shims are used on the upper control arm and the tire rods are adjusted with the threads on them.

The rear alignment is done with the rear tie rods and shims for the control arms. At best, you should have not paid much more than the original $80 quote for a 4-wheel alignment. My take is that you got ripped off.

This is one reason why I don't go to stores like Goodyear, Firestone, Sears, or Les Schwab nor would I ever recommend them. You really need to find a competent and reliable auto repair facility to get alignments done.

 

Yep....lesson learned. After another 2 mile hike down to pick the car back up...got even more convinced. The area I live in is full of tire shops and short of real repair facilities. I think the shop was overbooked too, and that is why the delay was added, and when they realized how far out it was. Ended up with a bill for $140...lower than the second estimate...but still feel a bit hosed. At least I got some sorely needed exercise.

 

I actually think the stealership in my area that I had problems with got me a good alignment for $69.95, + 7% sales tax. Wherever you took it to ripped you off like I would rip off a rice wing on a Honda. Those little shops you go to like on the side of hill billy country are usually the ones that cause the most trouble. This one place called McGee Tire in my town that said an alignment for my 89 Corvette was $199.99 and he said its gonna be done right with the stock specs. I just walked out of their and said, "You're a scammer!" Turns out that 4 people sued them already for "shortcut scamming." If you don't know what that is, its when a shop sells a used part as "new." It all happened within 6 months. Its probably still happening today to old people, women, young folks, and just people that don't know $hit about their cars. Its very sad how white collar criminals still dominate businesses like no other.

 

When I had tires installed @ NTB, maybe, I was lucky but the Alignment guy used to work for Chevy, & he used extra care in doing mine.
He printed the computer readout for me.
When I got home, I checked it with the specs from the manual , & it was all OK !

 

Most shops do charge more for a 4-wheel alignment, which is required on the Vette. Plano Tire (in Plano, TX) charges me $112, lets me sit in the car while they align it so it will be exactly right with my autocross setup, and doesn't look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them how I want it set - priceless!

 

[QUOTE=c4cruiser]The rear alignment is done with the rear tie rods and shims for the control arms.[/SNIP]

How is this done?

I've never seen the work actually being done on the rear.

Thanks,

Jake

 

As long as the alignment is correct any amount is worth it.
I pay 68.00 for my vets.
If I want it set up for the track then it is 125.00 and it has to have the tires I am going to run on it,I give them the spects I want it set to.
The extra money is I help them.
I always pay to have it my way.

 

There's a little mom and pop shop here call Hughley's that I take my Vette to for alignments. The place has been there for over 40 years, and has an excellent reputation.

They charge me $75 every time....even after I replaced all my front and rear suspension bushings with polyurethane, which put it way out of spec. They always have it done in less than an hour.

I wouldn't go anyplace else. I can take my 84 to over 100 mph on a level road, and it tracks straight as an arrow.

I strongly suggest you find just such a shop where you live. Talk to friends and co-workers and get recommendations.

I've had my entire suspension off my car, in my own garage, so I feel very confident making this statement: There is absolutely NOTHING mysterious about a C4's suspension. It's actually quite simple. Given an alignment rack and an hour or so, I could do it myself. In fact, a lot of folks set up their own alignment jigs in their garages and do their own alignments.

"Shim aligned"? How did they define this? The only place shims are used are on the front upper control arms to adjust caster and camber. And it just involves loosening two nuts, inserting or removing the appropriate shims, and retorquing the nuts. Same procedure as with most vehicles.

The rear uses two cams to adjust camber, and two tie rod ends to adjust toe....that's it. They simply back the car onto the rack, and set the toe reverse of the front.

If you pay more than $75-$85, IMHO, you are being hosed. You are justified in informing this shop that they are little short of criminals, and you will pass this information on to the tight knit Corvette community, with the advice to avoid their facility.

I'm quite sorry....you've fallen victim to the infamous "Corvette Tax"

 

[QUOTE=JAKE]c4cruiser....incorrect. No shims are used on the rear.

Jake...on the rear, they loosen the bolts that secure the two cams (mounted on the rear end carrier) that control the strut rods, set the camber, and tighten the bolts. That's it. No shims are used on the rear. Then they just adjust the tie rod ends to set the toe. Finished.

 

I respectfully disagree. The alignment should be done correctly, at a fair price. This is like saying that a $5000 monthly power bill for a 2000 square foot home is OK as long as the lights come on correctly.

Two things come to mind;

1. Consumers should educate themselves well enough to make an informed purchasing decision, but they should not be gouged by unscrupulous shops just because they lack the information needed to make a prudent choice.

2. When a repair facility conducts themselves in an inappropriate manner, it behooves people to take their business elsewhere.

Anyone financially sodomizing a Corvette owner just because of what he or she drives is a criminal. Yes, some parts and services for our cars do cost more. A 4 wheel alignment doesn't fall into this category.

 

I would have been gone as soon as they told you $80 instead of $70. When he came back and said $200 you could respectfully ask for your car back. If a quote comes in at more than twice the original number there is no way in hell that they should go ahead and do the work without asking you. If they already had, too damn bad for them because you already agreed to pay $80, or $70. The instant they thought it should go over that they are obligated to tell you before continuing with work.

It looks like they did tell you before actually doing any work, so at this point you should have told the guy to get bent and sought a second opinion.

 

He was going to charge me $30 just for taking the readings and pulling it off the rack....plus after an hour wait, the work was fiinally in progress The wierd part is that this is one of the busiest and most known tire shops in town...and I saw a steady stream of GM and other dealership people dropping off cars. Never again. They lost my business for sure.

 

Did he tell you this beforehand? If not he can't charge you for it.

 

No...It was just part of his rap, and a closing move in hindsight. He made it seem so much harder than a normal job. Since it was my first alignment (for any car)...and my first use of this popular service center, I naive to what was a reasonable price. Then after the car was in air, the manager showed me printouts full of "red" readings and claimed a lot extra TLC and shop time was needed, but he could make it exactly to GM spec, they handle all of the dealer alignments ...etc etc.

Wanting the best "TLC" for my '85, I left it there. On my hike home the price change tactics hit me... and I wrote the forum to get feedback. The initial responses were mixed...so I chalked it up to regional price differences and degree of difficulty...Now I see it as another Corvette ownership lesson learned, and hopefully the info may keep another newbee owner from being taken. At least the car tracks right now.

 

I paid 68 dollars this morning at Firestone and all four wheels were way out of wack. It pays to shop around.

 

Are you in SoCal?