20,000 mile service

[Kennyr44]

I went in for my 20k free service. The kid comes out and shows me a printout of my wheel alignment being off and wants me to sign up for a 20 minute toe set for $89. Were talking the quick lube lane at the Toy dealer. He said they check it. My tires are wearing perfect. No thanks it takes a better con to get me.

 

[Jhalko]

How do you know it didn't get knocked out of alignment last week? Not that I particularly trust dealers but if the machine says its out of alignment and they show you the sheet what else does it take to convince you?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

[MENTION=117936]Kennyr44[/MENTION] What does the print-out look like?

I honestly have some mixed feelings with those Hunter/Other Brand "Quick Check" units. They seem to work as designed, but I'm not sold on the accuracy... well consistency.

They do spot if your Toe is out, the camber and caster is more questionable though; I've seen a lot of times where it states that camber and caster is off but when it's on the alignment rack the Camber and Caster were far less out.

But if the Toe was very out, it may not be bad to get it adjusted, doesn't always show immediate tie wear.

 

[Kennyr44]

How do you know it didn't get knocked out of alignment last week? Not that I particularly trust dealers but if the machine says its out of alignment and they show you the sheet what else does it take to convince you?

Their printout shows it at the very edge of being in or out of spec. What would convince me is me checking it myself or a person I know and trust checking it. I worked in the service department of dealerships for 27 years and can say the percentage of work recommended actually needed is a very very small fraction. Anything is possible but in this case not a chance. Cars easily stay in alignment for many years and big amounts of miles. We had service writers that would try to sell an alignment to every customer that they wrote up. They were the ones that had big paychecks.

 

[Concon40]

Do it!!

I took my TRD pro out when it was only a couple thousand miles old and apparently put it out of alignment with a strong articulation. Didn't notice a problem for a long time. Needless to say. After 12,000 more miles my tires had taken a turn for the worst. I prematurely wore a year off the tires and gave them a case of the wa wa's.

I wish my techs had checked it and told me ealier. However if you are just looking for an excuse to get new tires then by all means. Ignore them.

 

[catrains]

Their printout shows it at the very edge of being in or out of spec. What would convince me is me checking it myself or a person I know and trust checking it. I worked in the service department of dealerships for 27 years and can say the percentage of work recommended actually needed is a very very small fraction. Anything is possible but in this case not a chance. Cars easily stay in alignment for many years and big amounts of miles. We had service writers that would try to sell an alignment to every customer that they wrote up. They were the ones that had big paychecks.

the last time I aligned my 2000 truck was in 2001. I did the alignment and @170K just got my 3rd set of tires. 80-90k miles each set, all worn perfectly even on all 2 sets . these new tires look like I just put them on now 9 months old.

free toyota servicing is to get dealership work sometimes unneeded.

it would be nice if they checked the alignment when you purchased it but that does not happen.

and as most of us know if you do not drive into curbing or do hard off roading alignment should not change on a 20K mile vehicle. perhaps 100K then things do wear and the alignment will go out some.

there is a toyota dealership in my town that does this stuff to woman owners. I then checked this out on the reviews owners made.

 

[Kennyr44]

I took my TRD pro out when it was only a couple thousand miles old and apparently put it out of alignment with a strong articulation. Didn't notice a problem for a long time. Needless to say. After 12,000 more miles my tires had taken a turn for the worst. I prematurely wore a year off the tires and gave them a case of the wa wa's.

I wish my techs had checked it and told me ealier. However if you are just looking for an excuse to get new tires then by all means. Ignore them.

Very true if you 4 wheel heavy but a mall cruiser will probably never need an alignment till parts wear.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

If it's at the edge of the specifications then I wouldn't worry about it as it's probably barely out of spec or not as close to the edge as it states (like I said the "quick check" machines are more of a rough check as I've had cars that were "out" be "in" on the rack)

Very true if you 4 wheel heavy but a mall cruiser will probably never need an alignment till parts wear.

Eh, that's true for the the most part; but it depends on where you live also. Bend has much nicer roads (even when they are in disrepair) than the Bay Area where I lived. The roads in bay are so ridiculously bad they'd knock out alignments easy. Hayward had potholes that made me happy I drove a lifted 4x4 and made me wonder how my co-workers with lowered Hondas even drove through town.

But really unless you hit a seriously large pothole you're probably looking at only a minor variance in toe over time.

 

[Keda69]

20k

the last time I aligned my 2000 truck was in 2001. I did the alignment and @170K just got my 3rd set of tires. 80-90k miles each set, all worn perfectly even on all 2 sets . these new tires look like I just put them on now 9 months old.

free toyota servicing is to get dealership work sometimes unneeded.

it would be nice if they checked the alignment when you purchased it but that does not happen.

and as most of us know if you do not drive into curbing or do hard off roading alignment should not change on a 20K mile vehicle. perhaps 100K then things do wear and the alignment will go out some.

there is a toyota dealership in my town that does this stuff to woman owners. I then checked this out on the reviews owners made.

I just had my 20k service yesterday everything was great.

A couple of months ago my wife went to get new tires on her 2014 pathfinder from the local mavis store. The guy comes out tells her she needs an aligment for 150.00 . so ofcourse she tells me and i go talk to him. My first question is how far out is the alignment? He says i don't know . we didn't put it on the machine yet. well then how do you know its out of alignment? from the tire wear. Well before you try and charge me 150..00 for an alignment why don't you put it on the machine first. Don't you know it came back perfectly aligned? I wish i had the tools to do all my own work. I don't trust dealers or any other automotive place.

 

[nb rob]

You sound like a lot of fun to work for.

 

[Jhalko]

I just had my 20k service yesterday everything was great.

A couple of months ago my wife went to get new tires on her 2014 pathfinder from the local mavis store. The guy comes out tells her she needs an aligment for 150.00 . so ofcourse she tells me and i go talk to him. My first question is how far out is the alignment? He says i don't know . we didn't put it on the machine yet. well then how do you know its out of alignment? from the tire wear. Well before you try and charge me 150..00 for an alignment why don't you put it on the machine first. Don't you know it came back perfectly aligned? I wish i had the tools to do all my own work. I don't trust dealers or any other automotive place.

I don't understand why you would even go to a place like this? The tire shop I go to will run the truck through and if they don't need to adjust anything, they don't charge me anything! Find a more trustworthy shop that gives good service.