Wheel alignment - £150 at audi dealer :O or £25 from local tyre place?

[Garrity]

Hi all,

Car's due for a service and I need to get the wheels aligned so I enquired over the phone how much this would cost - £150 was the reply - then he talked about because it's 4-wheel drive and they are doing it cheap blar blar blar.

Now my local mot/type place will do wheel alignment for £25 (http://www.basingstoketyreandmotcentre.co.uk/) - my question is: Is this just high dealer prices or will audi look at/change something that the cheap tyre place won't?

Chris

 

[mk1chopper]

Audi will use a beissbarth unit to do your wheels which iirc is used by all vag service centers, the £150 part is because audi probably charge around £80 + vat an hour to work on your car, Jabba sport do 4 wheel alignment for £60 using the same equipment

 

[mk1chopper]

The other reason that its £25 is because they are an MOT centre, so there going to be doing a service like that more than audi would so they can afford to provide it to you a lot less than audi

 

[Garrity]

I know the basingstoke place has some laser or infra-red alignment thing - not sure if that is similar to this beissbarth unit?

 

[Aky]

Maybe I don't understand this but the rears are fixed anyway aren' they so how can you do alignment on the rears? Surely you just match up the fronts to the rears so just a tyre place would do. Is it the fronts that are out of line?

 

[Jay]

I had mine done a few months ago. 1 of the tracking arms had seized which had to be replaced before it could tracked, this cost £15 then cost me £20 to have it aligned! They used some infra red device. The mechanic even showed me how much the wheels were out before he started to align them. Its been perfect since.

I had been to a few garages beforehand....all said that Audi's needed to be alligned by the stealers.

Kwik fit also use the same device but were charging around £50.

and it is only the front wheels which need doing.

 

[ChriS3]

If you're getting quotes for £25-50 for the alignment, then I'd very much doubt its a full four wheel alignment. You need the front wheels lining up with the rears to make sure everything is as it should be.

 

[AndyMac]

Find a 4 wheel drive specialist centre (supertracker), don't use Audi or a high street place.
Should be about £75. And no it's not just the front wheels.

 

[Aky]

I thought 4wheel alignment is where you align the front wheels to the rears. Am I missing the point here or are the rears fixed therefore no movement? Isn't it the tie bars which makes the movement? therefore no need for Beissbarth?

 

[Garrity]

only the front wheels which need doing.

Ah, I thought cause of the four wheel drive on the S3 the rear wheels wern't fixed (as they are on my 205) - though this is just an assumption as I has the front wheels aligned when I had new tyres fitted a while ago and even then the car still went right when I centred the steering wheel - looking at the printout I got back then it said the rears where off centre so I assumed they could be adjusted.

 

[ChriS3]

Rears have a slight toe adjustment. Camber is only adjustable if you fit the tie-arms.

 

[Jay]

I thought 4wheel alignment is where you align the front wheels to the rears. Am I missing the point here or are the rears fixed therefore no movement?

I thought the same thing. I asked the mechanic this question and he told me that on an A3 the front wheels are supposed to be square with the rears.

I suppose you get what you pay for.