Huge Cost for Wheel Alignment

Wheels, Tyres, Suspension, Chassis, Issues and Fixes
Col Lamb
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Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:38 pm
Location: Lancashire

Post by Col Lamb »

bilun777 wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:07 am My OPC quoted a special price of £150 after they'd informed me my macan was slightly toeing out.
A local garage "lasered" mine for £60.
Nice cup of tea and biscuits while I waited as well. :)
So they must have checked the alignment to know it was out and then wanted £150 for essentially five minutes work adjusting the mechanism, this was nothing but a rip off.

The local did it all for £60 which is way more like it.

I would certainly have argued that the out of alignment was due to a manufacturing default with the OPC
Col
Macan Turbo
Air, 20” wheels, ACC, Pano, SurCam, 14w, LEDs, PS+, Int Light Pack, Heated seats and Steering, spare wheel, SC, Privacy glass, PDK gear, SD mirrors, Met Black, rear airbags

rydercowan
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Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2016 7:32 pm
Location: Scottish Borders

Post by rydercowan »

Tall Phil wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 11:32 am :shock: :shock:

Just had the GTS into the OPC for a wheel alignment.

There has been some confusion as their system had it in for a check up just to look at the wheels :x

So they can't do it today and I over on a long drive fro a couple of days. More wear on the front outside shoulders. :(

Anyway, they would have to rebook it in because it has lane departure cameras and AAC they say that would add 3 to 4 hours onto the front wheel alignment :o

Initial quote being over £500 for front wheel alignment.

Hmmmmm... seems an extremely inflated price for a wheel alignment. Extraordinary in fact. Unless anyone on here tells me that is normal.

I guess I will be going to Micheldever
Bournemouth OPC attended to the 'wistful sigh' when manoeuvring at low speed, replacing part of the steering column. Shortly afterwards I noticed that the steering wheel was not centred when driving straight ahead; my initial thought was that it was related to the work on the steering. It turned out that the wheel alignment was significantly incorrect. The cost quoted for full realignment was in excess of £500, but in the circumstances it was discounted to £320. They did tell me how many hours work were involved - I can't remember other than it was a big job, and it spread over 2 days.
alxgb
Posts: 389
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 10:41 pm

Post by alxgb »

Tall Phil wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 11:32 am :shock: :shock:

Just had the GTS into the OPC for a wheel alignment.

There has been some confusion as their system had it in for a check up just to look at the wheels :x

So they can't do it today and I over on a long drive fro a couple of days. More wear on the front outside shoulders. :(

Anyway, they would have to rebook it in because it has lane departure cameras and AAC they say that would add 3 to 4 hours onto the front wheel alignment :o

Initial quote being over £500 for front wheel alignment.

Hmmmmm... seems an extremely inflated price for a wheel alignment. Extraordinary in fact. Unless anyone on here tells me that is normal.

I guess I will be going to Micheldever
Don't go to Centre Gravity, you'll faint at what they charge but what they don't know isn't worth knowing.

£500 for standard configuration at the OPC is typical OPC pricing. They tried to charge me £410 to fit and replace a battery. I bought a better battery online for £110 and fitted it myself. It took me 7 mins from the time I opened the bonnet and I wasn't even rushing. Undoing two bolts and then tightening those two bolts a couple of minutes later.
bilun777
Posts: 171
Joined: Mon May 16, 2016 11:55 am

Post by bilun777 »

Col Lamb wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 9:48 am
bilun777 wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:07 am My OPC quoted a special price of £150 after they'd informed me my macan was slightly toeing out.
A local garage "lasered" mine for £60.
Nice cup of tea and biscuits while I waited as well. :)
So they must have checked the alignment to know it was out and then wanted £150 for essentially five minutes work adjusting the mechanism, this was nothing but a rip off.

The local did it all for £60 which is way more like it.

I would certainly have argued that the out of alignment was due to a manufacturing default with the OPC
They did check the alignment on it's first service and gave me a nice print out.
They didn't tell me about it until I collected the car ,otherwise I might have said "Go ahead and adjust it".
I couldn't really blame a default as the car had done 20,000 miles and the printout showed the tracking to be just in limits.
The front wheels were showing slightly more wear on the inside edges which prompted me to have it tracked locally.
My own peace of mind really... :)
Sapphire blue SD,Luxor Beige,Delivered Nov 16.
Ferdie
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Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2016 2:23 pm
Location: South Wales

Post by Ferdie »

A couple of years ago a mate cracked a rim on his DB7 and it was in to thousands, as they said they had to return it to factory for 4 wheel jig alignment to fully guarantee correct alignment around the car. - he didn't keep it that long after that experience :) .

I would have thought that quick-fit had some pretty good kit for slight wear correction but it sounds like the OPC is also expending quite some effort looking for route cause for the problem at those prices :?
991.1 C2 - Black Edition
(Prior) Macan SD - Night Blue
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Deleted User 2325

Post by Deleted User 2325 »

I also have Lane assist and ACC.

These have been set up from new.

If the wheels go out of alignment why would this affect the cameras? Surely they are fixed and if the wheels are adjusted back to where they should be the cameras will work as was?

Perhaps I'm missing something?
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Guy
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Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2014 11:06 am
Location: Warwickshire

Post by Guy »

Macadam wrote: Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:44 pm I also have Lane assist and ACC.

These have been set up from new.

If the wheels go out of alignment why would this affect the cameras? Surely they are fixed and if the wheels are adjusted back to where they should be the cameras will work as was?

Perhaps I'm missing something?
My thoughts exactly! But the garages have invested in some very expensive sensor/wheel alignment equipment and they need to recoup the cost somehow! ;)

Perhaps someone with greater knowledge can explain why this alignment needs to be so accurate. I doubt very much that it does, and I certainly wouldn't bother getting it done just so that my electronic lane-warning frog can croak at the appropriate moment!
Bigboyrolo
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Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:33 pm

Post by Bigboyrolo »

My nearby banch of STS - a national chain- has ultra modern 4 wheel alignment equipment. They check for free, showing the result on a tv in the waiting room, you pay for adjustment. I took a new Jag XF there with only 200 miles done, both front and rear needed adjustment - good old JLR. I’ll have them check the Panamera when I fit its winter wheel/tyre set in November.
"Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time" Pink Floyd.
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Macan SD Dark Blue/ Pebble, sold @ 16k miles Dec 16
Dandock
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Post by Dandock »

Are some OPCs trying to compensate for the lack of new cars to sell?
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rosino
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 9:00 am

Post by rosino »

Sorry to be bring this back to life but today I asked an OPC how much the alignment would be and he did indeed say that if cameras it would come to 600-700 pounds.

I still can’t begin to understand why if you bring back the alignment to factory spec why you would need to recalibrate the cameras...
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