Worth getting 4 wheel alignment done?

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/dev/null

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Unfortunately I live in the north west of England where it seems that councils are unable to maintain roads to any degree of standard for driving on. The other week I hit a pothole doing about 20mph and blew both tyres on one side. It was several inches deep but covered in water so you couldn't see it at all hardly - just looked like a puddle which given the road size was completely unavoidable. Had all four tyres changed @ Audi as they were getting ready for replacement anyway - £500 just after xmas = not the best present I could have asked for. They did the health check thing with all tyres off and there was no play etc in the suspension and all ok. They sent me the Audi Cam video of them doing this.

Then over the weekend I was driving along a dark country road near mine, again only doing about 35/40mph. Come round a corner and WHACK! another pothole - the other side this time. Get out and the tyres look fine, so I carry on.
Then about 10 miles later, the tyre pressure light comes on - I think "oh no!" so pull into a petrol station to check. However all the pressures are correct on all four wheels.
Checked again yesterday and none have gone down, and the TPMS hasn't pinged again since (I reset it after checking the pressures), however I'm a bit worried now - something obviously triggered the sensor a while after hitting it, and if it's not the pressure then could it be that it's knocked the wheels out of line a bit?
Car feels fine to drive, no pull to either side etc - it just doesn't give me much confidence. :(
I guess I'm looking at £££ to get it 4 wheel aligned properly? Is it likely to be worth it given what has happened? Or could it be something else? Or am I just being paranoid?

Car is A4 Quattro
 
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/dev/null said:
Unfortunately I live in the north west of England where it seems that councils are unable to maintain roads to any degree of standard for driving on. The other week I hit a pothole doing about 20mph and blew both tyres on one side. It was several inches deep but covered in water so you couldn't see it at all hardly - just looked like a puddle which given the road size was completely unavoidable. Had all four tyres changed @ Audi as they were getting ready for replacement anyway - £500 just after xmas = not the best present I could have asked for. They did the health check thing with all tyres off and there was no play etc in the suspension and all ok. They sent me the Audi Cam video of them doing this.

Then over the weekend I was driving along a dark country road near mine, again only doing about 35/40mph. Come round a corner and WHACK! another pothole - the other side this time. Get out and the tyres look fine, so I carry on.
Then about 10 miles later, the tyre pressure light comes on - I think "oh no!" so pull into a petrol station to check. However all the pressures are correct on all four wheels.
Checked again yesterday and none have gone down, and the TPMS hasn't pinged again since (I reset it after checking the pressures), however I'm a bit worried now - something obviously triggered the sensor a while after hitting it, and if it's not the pressure then could it be that it's knocked the wheels out of line a bit?
Car feels fine to drive, no pull to either side etc - it just doesn't give me much confidence. :(
I guess I'm looking at £££ to get it 4 wheel aligned properly? Is it likely to be worth it given what has happened? Or could it be something else? Or am I just being paranoid?

Car is A4 Quattro
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I think that it's more down to how it's feeling while driving and how your tyres are wearing to let you know if you need to get your alignment done to be honest. I got mine done after I had springs fitted and I believe it was £120 on a laser alignment machine, so it's not a ridiculous price. Worth it if turns out your alignment actually is out as it could save you a fortune in tyres.
 
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That's the problem - I don't want to be waiting until £300-£600 of tyres are all knackered before finding out it's out! :( Then again I don't want to be spending £120+ for nothing.

How much does it need to be out by before it's noticeable in the drive?
 
/dev/null said:
That's the problem - I don't want to be waiting until £300-£600 of tyres are all knackered before finding out it's out! :( Then again I don't want to be spending £120+ for nothing.

How much does it need to be out by before it's noticeable in the drive?
Click to expand...

Quite a lot in ours cars I think. There was a lad I speak to who had his lowered and didn't feel like it was riding badly but ate through two tires (to the chords!) in about 2k miles and only noticed when he aquaplaned badly...
 
You can use strings, pieces of wood and a smart phone to get a decent base line to perhaps 90% of what a rig could get to. It's quite good fun too. My mate changed the LCAs on my M135i and showed me how to. There must be a how to somewhere.
 
/dev/null said:
Hmmm... I might just get it done then. I don't really fancy trying to do it myself lol!

ATS reckon they do it for £65 - or would I be better doing it myself rather than letting them near it lol!?

https://www.atseuromaster.co.uk/consumer/car-services/wheel-alignment
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Audi used ATS for tyres under the service and maintenance plans when I had it and they were fine a few years ago at least. Just ask them if they'll do a print out before and after for you and you should be good. :)
 
Bargain at £65 indeed. Not worth getting your hands dirty. I agree with the need for a print out too, even at that price.
 
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Audi charge £99 for an alignment. well they did for my wife's A1 last year and took then a full day as top up all the fluids and ask for the car to have a full tank of fuel. they did the alignment and then took the car for a test drive and the technician wasn't happy so they did the alignment again. so was worth the cost.
 
I normally have half a tank and the place I use ballast the car with driver weight only at my request.
 
Ok so I called the dealership just out of interest to get a price. The service rep said unless there is pulling to one side or a judder then it’s probably ok, but to keep an eye on it. She said it’s £170 because and it’s about 4 hours of a job!!? So she advised to leave it for now but monitor it - apparently the itpms can be quite sensitive and hitting the hole quite hard could have caused some air to leak out of the valve.
I certainly don’t fancy paying £170 - I know dealers are notoriously scandalous but surely the £65 ATS job can’t be doing just the same??
 
Well Audi charge over £100 an hour, possibly upwards of £150 these days, I doubt if ATS do...
 
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The tyre pressure monitoring system doesn't actually look at the air pressure at all - it does in fact monitor any difference in drag / resistance between each of the front wheels. The idea is, if you have a puncture then that tyre would create more drag thus displaying a warning of low tyre pressure for that side. Apologies if you knew this already; just didn't see a mention of it in any posts.

Sounds like there could be some misalignment for sure.
What's it driving like now?

I wouldn't say you're being paranoid - mines still understeering but tbf the alignment made a big difference!!

I hit a curb during the snow period and it threw things right off...
have hit a few pot holes too (never took out a tyre let alone two though - there must be some serious pot holes up north!!)

ps. Kwik Fit cut me a deal on alignment when I bought tyres through them - they knocked it down to £50 for a full 4 wheel jobby with 2 rechecks / re-calibrations after FOC!
 
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Yes I could not imagine how they'd measure drag. Just goes to show not to believe what they say in a service department...
 
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