Typical price of four wheel alignment?

2000 Mazda Protege ES

Just bought four new tires and installed at Sam's Club

Local garage wants abt $80 to align all four wheels.

Is that price good? Bad?

Reply to
me
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That's about the going rate around here for an alignment.

Problem is that most of the people doing alignment work have no idea what they are doing. They put the car on the machine, punch in the model of the car, and they do what the machine tells them to do. This is a recipe for disaster if everything else isn't perfect.

And, a bad alignment job is a lot worse than no alignment job at all.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

Why do you think you need one? Were your old tires worn improperly?

I think in my life, I've had more problems casued by incompetent people "aligning" my car that were fixed by them. If you have a reason for having the car aligned, shop carefully. I'd rather have the alignment done by a good experienced technician using an older machine than by some jack leg using the most modern new machine. Unfortuately the only shop I truested in the last twenty years is out of buisness now. The owner got old, and the property was very valuable. He cashed in (I wish I could). Fortuantely, I haven't needed anything aligned in the last 10 years. Unfortunately given the numebr of potholes in my area this year, I might soon need to find a shop. Sooner or later I am goign to hit a big one.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

If your old tires have no wear problems you don't need an alignment.. All shops usually try to tell you that you need one even when you don't.

That price is fair BTW.

Reply to
m6onz5a

That reminds me of the last suspension job I did myself... on my '55 Studebaker. I got it all back together, eyeballed it and called it good, and drove up to the alignment shop. I brough the shop manual with me, with a sticky note on the page with the alignment specs and procedures. They were unable to align the one front wheel - I tore that corner back apart and here the NOS trunnion that I'd bought didn't have the recess for the hex key to adjust it stamped in it! D'OH!

I think they felt sorry for me, because they only charged me a couple bucks extra when I brought it back instead of charging me for a whole 'nother alignment.

nate

Reply to
N8N

No, they felt sorry for you because you're driving a '55 Studebaker.

I get the same sort of response when I call the BMW dealer up and ask for points and plugs.

---scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

snipped-for-privacy@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote in news:hobho5$6hv$1 @panix2.panix.com:

You're buying plugs at the dealer? What kind does your Bimmer/Beemer take?

In 1965, Mr. Nagel's ownership of that Stude would have pegged him as a schoolteacher, bookkeeper, or grocery-store clerk. In 2010 it makes him a rakish daredevil; if he was a skydiver, he'd be the kind that would jump out of the airplane without checking to see if he was actually wearing his kid's backpack by mistake.

Reply to
Tegger

Some day I will learn not to buy expensive keyboards :)

Although it's been a while since I've been called "rakish" so I'll take whatever compliments I can get...

in my defense, it's a coupe, not a sedan. Now the Ugly Truck, which I actually drove to work today, does pretty much scream "painfully practical cheap bastard." (hey, it was raining, I needed to get material to job sites, and the only company truck that I knew would be available was an open stake body.)

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

That price is okay, IF Sams Club has mechanics that are worth a crap.

What do you expect in price??? Nothing? But if you get a good job, that price is not at all bad.

Reply to
hls

Well. here's the problem. I want the Bosch Silvers, which are the cheapest lowest-grade plugs Bosch makes. They are great plugs.

If you go into your local auto parts store and ask for Bosch plugs, they will sell you some overpriced platinum-plated crap which does not last long in

1970s engines. Nobody in the US other than the dealers and some specialty distributors like Bavarian Motorsport carries the cheaper Silvers. Oh, and they all charge more for them.

That's what I find so ironic about the whole thread.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

This a car or bike?

Reply to
Steve W.

Car. 2002, although I like the Silvers in the E28 also. If I had a bike, I'd probably try them there also.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I've been able to buy Bosch Supers at my FLAPS, although I haven't had to in quite a while. I share your opinion of the platinums, they are just not suitable for carbureted engines, foul a plug and you have to replace it, period. I have had clerks try to upsell me to platinums, no thank you!

nate

Reply to
N8N

I don't want supers! I want silvers! Although frankly I have not tried the supers in many years and if I could get them locally I'd try them.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

They run OK in my Studbuster and I used them in my 80's VWs as well; not sure if they're suitable for Bimmers or not. Had an E28 years ago but I don't remember even changing the plugs. I think I may have taken one out, said "meh, looks OK" and put it back.

I've had good luck with Autolites in Studebakers as well, but also have no idea if they are suitable for BMW use.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Nate Nagel wrote in news:hoe77e01cf6 @news5.newsguy.com:

I don't know if you're still running a genuine Stude engine, but I've got a Motor's Auto Repair manual from the '50s; it gives only Champion plug numbers. This manual runs from '46 to '56.

The manual is a hoot to browse through. Wanna know what plug to use in your '53 Kaiser Dragon? It's there.

Reply to
Tegger

I have had trouble with Autolites and NGKs in both the 2001 and the E28, which surprised me as I'd never had any issues with them in Japanese cars, MGs, or Fords ever.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

They used Champion plugs exclusively from the factory. However, opinions vary on actually using the factory recommended plugs - some people think they work fine, others will say that Autolite or Bosch are less likely to foul and not clean themselves.

In fact, it was a discussion much like this that prompted the creation of my web site, as I attempted to purchase spark plugs for a Stude V-8 at a parts store that was going out of business (everything on sale) and they couldn't cross-ref the now obsolete part numbers that I knew (e.g. J12Y for an R-motor, likely now only available as RJ12YC, and currently sold by an unrelated "stock number") to something that they could sell me.

I now know WAY more about Champion, Bosch, and Autolite spark plug part numbers than someone who doesn't work behind a parts counter should. (well, OK, I'm stretching the truth a little, I still can't figure out Autolite part numbers without reference material.)

I also have somewhere a 60's era Champion catalog which was extraordinarily helpful in "filling in the gaps" between the original Stude parts book and what is currently available... (some of the part nos. Stude used are so old that they aren't currently listed at all even as "superseded by")

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

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