Tire Alignment

[PatronWizard11]

Can anyone read these numbers and tell me if my car needed an alignment? The dealership convinced my wife that she needed it. I do not know what these numbers mean.

[rothwem]

Yeah, you probably would’ve had inside edge wear on the right front if you didn’t get the toe fixed. I’m kinda surprised it didn’t pull to be honest.

[PatronWizard11]

I am just bothered that it took them a week to send me the scan, when the head shop manager told me he would do it the next day, on three separate occasions. I'm not even sure that the alignment scan he sent me was for my car, nothing on the paper has any specifics. When they told her she needed it, it was just verbal. they didn't show her anything to prove it was necessary. My wife knows better now.

I am going to drop the matter but I still wanted to know if the numbers above at least showed that an alignment was necessary, in case that was in fact for our vehicle.

is it customary to test people's car for an alignment if they're just getting an oil change and headlight wire replaced?

[thesis]

is it customary to test people's car for an alignment if they're just getting an oil change and headlight wire replaced?

No, I've never experienced that before! If she mentioned the car was pulling to one side, maybe, but if not, that's like half the labor, just putting the alignment plates on and running the scan.

It does look like it was out, just not by much. But "not by much" can mean chewed up tires in a year's time. I was too lazy and cheap to pay for an alignment, thought setting my car's toe using toe plates after a tie rod change was good enough. Tire ended up wearing almost through the outer layer on the inside, where I couldn't see what was happening. Cost me way more in the end! (new tires)

Some shops print these with colors, green for "in spec" and red for "out of spec". It just makes it easier to visualize. Some places don't even give you the print. I definitely prefer when they automatically give you a print and the print has colors. You could search for a shop that does that, but there are worse ways this shop could have gone about this. I'd be annoyed, too, but the vehicle does appear to have needed an alignment

[Home Stretch]

No joke, I got new tires put on once, and when I went to pick up the car, the manager told me I needed an alignment and it would be $60 if I wanted to go for it. He showed me the same kind of print-out we're looking at here.

I also didn't really know what I was looking at but after a minute of thinking I said "go for it". He grins at me and tells me they already did they alignment because (like @thesis just wrote), most of the labor is just in running the scan. He said if customers say "no", then he just lets them know they got a free alignment.

It was super weird. On the one hand it was convenient that I didn't have to wait for them to do the alignment, but on the other hand it seemed seedy that it was kind of a gamble and I "lost" by agreeing to have the work done.

Never went back there, either way.

[thesis]

It was super weird. On the one hand it was convenient that I didn't have to wait for them to do the alignment, but on the other hand it seemed seedy that it was kind of a gamble and I "lost" by agreeing to have the work done.

Never went back there, either way.

Yes, very seedy. They may have been desperate for work...good not to go back there, though.

Slightly off topic, but I had a shop top off my fluids as a courtesy, though I didn't ask for it. The problem is, they overfilled the transmission fluid, such that it started leaking out from the overflow valve on the top. It freaked me out because I thought it was a major seal leak, then realized it was just overflow. There are good mechanics and there are excellent shops out there, but I still do as much as I can on my own car, within reason,  because of things like this :(

[PatronWizard11]

It was super weird. On the one hand it was convenient that I didn't have to wait for them to do the alignment, but on the other hand it seemed seedy that it was kind of a gamble and I "lost" by agreeing to have the work done.

Never went back there, either way.

Yes, very seedy. They may have been desperate for work...good not to go back there, though.

Slightly off topic, but I had a shop top off my fluids as a courtesy, though I didn't ask for it. The problem is, they overfilled the transmission fluid, such that it started leaking out from the overflow valve on the top. It freaked me out because I thought it was a major seal leak, then realized it was just overflow. There are good mechanics and there are excellent shops out there, but I still do as much as I can on my own car, within reason,  because of things like this :(

I found a good toyota certified guy we sometimes use. the only problem is time. I needed a wheel bearing replaced (it was starting to get real bad) and the dealership quoted over $800. This guy did it for $200 and changed my oil. I had to wait a week for an opening so I rented a car for a few days but it was totally worth it $$.

[HipGnosis]

is it customary to test people's car for an alignment if they're just getting an oil change and headlight wire replaced?

Was this a new car dealership?
I took my '14 Ford fusion in for a recall (steering something bolt).
When I picked it up they had a print out of an estimate for $4xx of work they "advised" I have them do. I had to sign that I was aware of the advisement AND that I declined the work.
That was last yr.  The car hasn't conked out or burst into flame.

[Home Stretch]

When I picked it up they had a print out of an estimate for $4xx of work they "advised" I have them do. I had to sign that I was aware of the advisement AND that I declined the work.

Hah, I took one of our cars to the Lexus dealer last year for an airbag replacement recall (otherwise I'd never set foot in a Lexus dealer - they're great used cars but wayyyy too much $$ new) and they did the same thing. I didn't have to sign anything (nor would I be willing to, because that's weird), but they wanted $1,200 for new tires (car had 25% tread life left and when we eventually got new tires they were $600), and $120 for a new headlight (bought one at AutoZone on the way home for $12 and swapped it in the parking lot).

What a racket.