£200 for wheel alignment?!?

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imported_shkwav

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Hi,

The tracking on my S3 is quite badly out, it drifts happily to the left given half a chance, so i need to get the wheel alignment sorted. The Audi dealer in Slough quoted me £200 for this!! (2hrs labour apparently?!) So yestarday I took the car round to my local Merityre to get 2 new GSD3's fitted and asked them to do the tracking at the same time - they said they can't do the alignment on it due to the fact it's a quattro car with ESP... So do I really have to pay £200 for this or is there a specialist I can take it to for this job to get it done cheaper?

Cheers,

Kev
 
Take it to a specialist, someone like supertracker, I had mine done properly and it was £82
 
I had mine done in my local dealer for £75!

He initially mentioned something about £75 to setup and then more money for adjustments but when I laughed and said he was taking the michael he said he would do it all for £75!

He said the reason why they charge for adjustments is mainly due to the effort involved with older cars that parts had seized etc. But as mine was low mileage and not that old he said it would be fine.

Ask him if you can come to some sort of deal? £100?

Worth a try
Rich.
 
I thought the drift to the left was normal on all VAG cars.
Is it a severe pull?
 
All cars should have a slight drift to the left on an even road, something to do with nodding off at the wheel and not running into oncoming traffic.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I thought the drift to the left was normal on all VAG cars.
Is it a severe pull?

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, it's a design feature! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

stops UK drivers from crashing into the on-coming traffic when they fall asleep at the wheel!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh_2.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
All cars should have a slight drift to the left on an even road, something to do with nodding off at the wheel and not running into oncoming traffic.

[/ QUOTE ]

****** u beat me to it
 
[ QUOTE ]
better not drive abroad then eh...

[/ QUOTE ]

alternatively, you could just stay awake /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Yep it's a very noticable pull - definitely not the norm! It's only started doing it recently and the other car I drive gives me a pretty good benchmark for going in a straight line /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Kev
 
[ QUOTE ]
All cars should have a slight drift to the left on an even road, something to do with nodding off at the wheel and not running into oncoming traffic.

[/ QUOTE ]

Stop talking ******... No roads are flat there is always a convex shape to them to allow drainage for the roads! Its called rain. So its only concivable that any car will drift slightly to the curve of the road. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
 
I thought the falling asleep explanation was far more entertaining!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
All cars should have a slight drift to the left on an even road, something to do with nodding off at the wheel and not running into oncoming traffic.

[/ QUOTE ]

Stop talking ******... No roads are flat there is always a convex shape to them to allow drainage for the roads! Its called rain. So its only concivable that any car will drift slightly to the curve of the road. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Its just what i was told by a MAC instructor. You used to get a free advanced motoring lessons when you bought a new type-r.

Most roads have a camber negative camber running from centre to edge. Thats why we have adverse camber signs when this isn't the norm /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Its just for drainage, sorry to dissapoint you guys.

I wouldnt listen to every thing a advanced driving instructor says. This notion is just hearsay! One big mis-conception.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Look at any engineering drawings that have road designs, they dont point out angles on roads for dozy piliks wanting to crash their pride and joy..it says drainage.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, makes sense. It just sounded plausable from the ex-piggy instructor
 
So are all cars meant to pull to the left a little then or not?
 
alo mate

if your in london, go to northway tyres in colindale, NW9 i think, they do it for about £80.00 and its a laser system!!
 
no cars are not designed to pull at all, what youre getting is natural assistance to drift to the curve of the road. Gravity dear boy, gravity.

Im sure youve all kiked your football down the road or rolled a marble, the ball will always land in the gutter.
 
audi upgrades
Cheers mate, sounds good but it's a bit far into London for me. Anyone know of any suitable nearer High Wycombe/Slough/Maidenhead way?

Cheers!

Kev
 
My car drifts to the left - not so much of a pull. My local ETB reckons that they can do the job of alignment for around £45 plus VAT. They have 4 wheel laser alignment equipment and the car has been programmed in so I dont think thats an issue. What is however is that a Specialist was telling me the car is all adjusted on the subframe and suspension points which is what makes it difficult for your run-of-the-mill tyre place to do. Is this correct? Can someone describe definitively how it is done so I can quiz them on it before sending my car there?
 
Fooking hell.

£45-55 + VAT is the norm for a 4WA.

try www.Fontain.co.uk in Iver

Should pull slightly to the left. My left rear castor arm is slightly misshapped and makes the car pull more to the left despite a 4WA. Solution: to apply KW 'under' tie-bars to bring it in line.
 
Forgot to add just had new front tyres and the steering wheel is slightly off centre if that helps.

Still question remains what is actually involved in doing the alignment - is it all adjustable on the subframe suspension points?
 
Oakies just spoke to Fontain and they said this is how its done: First subframes are aligned to car, then the geometry of the suspension is set up to achieve a true drive. £153 all in. Shame they are 160 miles away from me though... Anyone know of a company in the midlands that can do this? Do not want to go to main dealer although at this rate I may have to.

Also discounts going to ETB I guess as I am sure they would not go the whole hog of aligning subframes to vehicle etc...
 
audi upgrades
Got my wheel alignment done by Kwik-Fit, they used some sort of laser guided system - showed before and after print outs, they done a good job on it.
 
Whatever you do don't go to the high street cowboys like kwik-fit.
As suggested above go to a supertracker specialist. Should be about £80-£90
 
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