Stu

WTF ...... Good luck !!!

JffGRY706

well....I hit something in the blizzard. steering wheel seemed off center. front end alignment $60. guy says front end is fine, but back is out of spec and up sells me to 4 wheel alignment for $109. all seems fine now. I doubt they do any of MRLexus90 procedure. Not the Lexus dealer, but shop with Tune & Brakes in name.

Tom57

Did you get a printout of alignment specs before and after?

JffGRY706

no I did not. I got one 13 months ago when I had my 2 front shocks replaced. It is like the first one and I do not understand the lingo. mostly green, except the center box which is 5/8's red. they left 2 panels hanging down so I have not returned to that FORD dealership. Lexus fixed the panels on my last service. This place that I went to has excellent word of mouth reputation, does brakes on high end cars. I had them check my brakes front and rear ( all good) and mentioned that I had hit something in the snow. I can tell that it is better now, I would almost say it is MUCH better. for me that is money well spent.

oldkystude

My 2004 LS UL has had an intermittent air compressor activation which made me think I had a bad air strut bag. I'm now not sure that is the case. (The car does not leak down over several days in either high or normal heights I bought the tech stream system and have it working normally now. What I'm concerned about is that the steering wheel sensor is reading 165 with the wheels straight. I've also got accelerometers reading zero and some reading high. I appreciate the handheld tester info but can these sensors be zero'd using tech stream? I'm not finding techstream procedures anywhere for this.

(Techstream is amazing btw now that I have a good adapter and software.)

lextout

does it jerk before work?

Johnhav430

Old thread...I disagree, but acknowledge $49 for an alignment is cheap. Lexus gets $79 here.

I did a lifetime at Firestone for $170, and every setting is green except for rear right camber, which is -1.9 with the limit being -1.8.

In FLA, no local shop would do my buddy's wife's Q5--including Firestone. Since when do garages turn away business....of course, when they cannot do the job. Audi gets $200 there.

The printout by the OP is IDENTICAL to Firestone's, which to me, implies they have the same equipment.

Am I a s***** to spend $170, probably, we all know the house wins. But I figured since this is an old car, there is a chance that parts don't stay aligned as well as a new car, and also, if I had work done say at an indie, I can get a "free" alignment afterwards. So I would break even on #2.

And I hate to admit this, Firestone did a better job on my LS430, than BMW did. Not only did BMW not perfectly center the wheel, they broke something on my rear suspension, so the $10/hr. stereotype imho is bunk. A guy making $40/hr. broke something on my car, denied it, the dealer denied it. I won in the end (BBB)....I just think one is going to get different results by trial and error. That's why, when you find someone you like, stick with them.

5t341th

iTrader: (16)

I am a hunter trained and certified alignment technician. Most of the newer cars require special procedures for alignments, which is why some shops would deny alignments for fear of making it worst. Dealers hold the power on those cars. Cars old like ours don't require such so it's much easier.

Johnhav430

Sweet, I would love to be trained and do my own alignment. When my uncle ran a shop, he was ok with us using the equipment on weekends. I got as far as wheel balancing, which I think is cool.

Just took my wife's car in to Firestone. Again, the printout is identical to the OP's printout.....SIGH 3/4 were out! And we got Michelin Premiers 5500 ago...sorry. I felt the front left inner was scalloping....toes out. What kills me is the dealer peformed an alignment maybe 10k prior under warranty. I didn't see the printout, did they?

Call me an idiot, and Firestone got a bad reputation from the Explorer stuff, but they seem to have good customer service. So I asked my guy, is there a system that checks alignment in under 2 min., as customers drive in to new car dealers? He goes, I think Audi has it, you can ask them next door.

BINGO!! My buddy with the Q5 said so. I think BMW has it too, good upsell. I was thinking, if Firestone had it, it would pay off with the lifetime alignments. Because they say come in anytime you feel you need it. But if they could check in 2 min. and verify all is good, they could make even more margin on a lifetime alignment....

Listen I would slam anyone who doesn't do a good job, I think my Firestone did a good job on my LS430 and my wife's AWD SUV....my BMW, however, is off limits lol

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

The Lexus dealer near me does the quick alignment check. I was surprised that that the SA brought me a printout so quick. The machine is was right there as soon as you pull into the service bay.