I just got some Michellins as3+ on my is and was wondering if Firestone does a good job on alignments for our cars or should I just go through the Dealership. I only ask cause I was thinking of getting the lifetime alignment for $180 here near my house but didn’t know if they would actually do a good job or not. Thanks in advanced!

 

Make sure you call and find out what alignment machine they have, I called one Firestone near me and they claimed my car (2015 IS 250) was too new for their alignment machine, also check the reviews because some of them have bad ones lol

 

 

I had good experiences with Firestone alignment many years. I took my lifted 4runner to many places and they couldn't do it. I took it to Firestone on Brookhust and Chapman. They did a good job. I have lifetime alignment for my 4runner.
Couple months ago, I took my son's Civic there for alignment. They also did a good job.
@OP. I see that you are in Cal. but not sure where you are at

 

Alignment quality comes down to the tech. Not a store or machine. The baseline on which an alignment is performed is based on how accurate the tech is and how much he cares.

For a good alignment, I would ask specific questions of the tech and ask to be involved.

For example it's been my practice to either specifically ask that the steering wheel be perfectly centered before the tie rod jam nuts are tightened or sit in the car yourself AS they are being tightened. I got so **** about my alignments that I ended up doing them myself on the rack (thankfully I was friends with the owner of a shop) the owner was good too but i didn't mind doing it myself. I've found many techs just loosely center the steering wheel as loud crappy music is blaring from the radio and as they have 20 other cars waiting. i've found the steering wheel to be disturbed or not centered. this will cause your wheel to be off center as you go straight and you'll pull your hair out.

There's no mystery around doing alignments. all you're doing is loosening a fastener and pushing on stuff using your arms.

It's a vastly misunderstood topic so a lot of people romanticize it and make it a bigger mystery than it is. any tech can do a good alignment as long as the interest/effort is there.

It's one thing you want to get right the first time cause going back is a hassle and a big time sink.

 

And by the way you don't have to be necessarily hell bent on factory specs. an alignment can be anything you want it to be.

factory specs are just how the factory wants the car to behave given a million different considerations.

You can still have a good alignment and be out of factory "spec." The goal on this type of car is compromise between performance and wear. that being said the factory alignment is fine.

 

I will thank you!

Hmmm, when I called to get replacement tires, I told her that I also would want a lifetime alignment and she never argued back lol. Maybe it was just to get me in the shop.

I use to have in on my Integra and I honestly couldn't complain but that was an older car and now that I have this one I just want to make sure I do it right

Thanks for the info, I just want to make sure I get the most out of my Michellins since they're not cheap lol. But it feels like a major difference between these tires and the original stock ones. Although the stock lasted about 30k Miles before I actually replaced them.