Jim74656

Wow, I hope you get a speedy resolution to your situation, I am working on my situation (posted a thread on it) and the dealer I am working with is wanting to work with me to ensure I continue coming back! Sad to see your having the opposite happen to you!

bodon

I am obsessive about service on my cars,but the dealership is the last place I'll go unless its a warranty situation. I have a really good shop and have everything done there. And they are very CAREFUL with my car. They know how fussy I am and do a great job.

SplitSecond

Thats the way to do it. Though I do a lot of my own work, and only if i can't do it without a lift or don't have the specialized tool, ect. does it go to the shop. My car only goes to the deal in a last resort situation. Too many careless kids in/around the car for me to want to bring there. Then there are the horror stories of the employees there taking these cars for joy rides, doing burnouts, ect. Though I realize that those are rare occasions.

Jim74656

I am the same way and I even will double check there work to ensure that it was done correctly (and will not authorize payments until I've checked my self) and if it's not I'll have it redone, also I will watch and if it has to be taken on a ride that Is why I have GPS tags installed in the vehicle (I know some may feel that is excessive but it also allows me to track the car (or my truck) from my phone and will get alerts if it's taken above the speed limits for the area the car is drivig through.

FordService

Great, Mustang259! Thank you for the info!

Deysha

yellowpony1568

I have been a lurker here for quite a while, but I hardly ever post. When I read the title of this post, and then many of the comments, I had to share my latest experience with my local Ford dealership. I hardly ever carry my car to the dealership unless it is something I just can't do myself. Well, a few weeks ago, I carried my 2011 GT in because the inside of my front tires was once again being eaten away rather quickly compared to the rest of the tire. They placed the car on the alignment rack, and determined the camber needed to be adjusted, but their was no way to do this without caster camber plates. I agreed, and informed them that I would buy a set of plates, install them over the weekend, and return Monday morning to get the alignment and two new front tires. So Monday, they did the work and said everything should be fine now. When I looked at my bill, I noticed I was charged for a 4 wheel alignment. Now as anyone with a Mustang other than a 2015 would know, their is no adjustment on the rear just the 3 normal adjustments on the front. I asked him about this, and he told me that if they have to adjust the camber, then that makes it a 4 wheel alignment. By the way, this is the same guy that had told me previously that the tires wearing on the inner edge was just normal for a Mustang. Well I challenged him about alignment, and he stuck by his guns that I had to pay the additional $50.00 for a 4 wheel alignment even though only the front was adjusted. To make matters worse they also ordered the wrong size front tires even though I told them that I wanted exactly what was on the front now. I was letting my guard down a little about dealerships, and they once again proved to me why a lot of people steer clear. I probably want go back for anything other than a problem only they can fix even though I was seriously considering buying my future tires from them..

SpectreH

I bought my '13 on July 8, 2012 with 11 miles on the odometer. It has never been back to the dealer since then. If I lived in Atlanta where I bought it, I would have let the dealer touch it because they are a good dealership. I have not heard anything good about the local dealerships near me so I do all the work myself - which has simply been routine maintenance, CAI & tune, and exhaust at this point with 33,000 on it.

FordService

Hello yellowpony1568,

I’d like to get this experience documented for you. Please PM me with your VIN, dealer, mileage, full name, and best daytime number.

Deysha

houtex

It is not a normal alignment, and costs more time. That is why the four wheel alignment *charge*, because of the extra adjustment you've added by having that plate up there to align the camber. It's more work. They deserve compensation for it.

Source: I can do my own alignments on the racks now, I was taught, and I work for a dealership. Dang right I'm going to want more money for doing the extra work. No offense, but that's the deal.

Now, if your car is NOT lowered, but the camber is out, that's a frame problem and you probably need it fixed, not worked around with the camber plates.

yugoboss

Agreed

yellowpony1568

houtex, I respectively disagree with your take on this. If a 2 wheel alignment doesn't include actually adjusting either the toe, caster, or camber then what is everyone paying $80 for, just an alignment check? I realize that toe is basically all they really adjust if it is stock, but just because my car is lowered about an inch with caster camber plates. doesn't justify adding another $50 just because the guy had to loosen a few nuts and move the strut .So, $80 just to check to see if it's with in tolerance, but an additional $50 if the guy actually has to do a little work. If this is the case, then they need to have this where every customer can see it. Calling it a 2 wheel or 4 wheel alignment in this context is wrong when it should be an alignment check, and then an alignment whether it is for 2 or 4 wheels.

LivinTheStangLife

It shouldn't be a 4 wheel alignment charge. If anything they could add a little for adjusting caster, camber but not the 4 wheel alignment price. That just seems shady to me

Jazzman442

Man can you imagine what the charge will be when they really have to do a Four wheel alignment. This is Bull Crap a Front wheel alignment is adjusting all the possible adjustments. In Florida all the shops know this at least the ones I go to. Most here spend at least an hour getting mine perfect. I will not accept anything else.

Hey wait there is a 6 wheel alignment coming soon for the new Mustang LOL

houtex

You can respectfully disagree all you'd like. And still the shops will go with what I've said: If it's NOT STANDARD on the car (note, not just Mustangs), you might/will be charged more.

Simple. As. That.

Standard Fox and up does not need anything but toe. As are a whole TON of the cars out there using the lower control arm/strut tower situation. Caster/Camber is *baked in* with the frame, and if it's off, you need a *frame shop*. Or the plates if you can get them.

And if you knew what went into getting the car on and off the alignment rack in the first place, it's still *TIME*. Time that is spent now on also crawling up on the top side and doing the caster/camber that shouldn't be there. Time that is being taken away from the next car in line that's awaiting the alignment machine.

Further, plates are NOT all the same, so the alignment tech has to spend MORE time figuring out what to do with that thing. It's not shims on an upper control arm, after all, THAT'S standard on those type cars.

And yes, I'm referring to the idea that caster/camber/toe is standard on two wheel alignment on some cars. Indeed. 1964.5-1978 Mustangs, you are correct in that they have upper control arms and use shims to deal with caster/camber, and that would indeed be standard, and expected. So you can expect a standard 2 wheel alignment, because that's what they expect, and it's a very well known thing, compared to the various C/C plates out there, and the extra effort even compared to the shims on upper control arms that is involved.

Heck, if you had instead gotten camber bolts, they'd probably not charge for it, for an eccentric bolt is a known thing... and you don't have to go up top to fix it.

So again, you can disagree all you want, but the reality is time is money, and you cost more time. Therefore you will now pay more money.

Take the caster/camber plates off and you can then enjoy your standard two wheel alignment charge again.

yellowpony1568

Houtex, no need to get your panties in a wad when someone disagrees with you, this is still the U.S. where we still have freedom of speech. I totally understand your point on the time it takes to put the car on a lift and check to see if the car is within spec, but the term alignment means at least to me, someone changing whatever they have to to get my front wheels back into alignment, not just checking it. It should be called an alignment check for $80.00 and an alignment for $130 plus whatever amount it takes to adjust the rear wheels on an IRS car. I worked at an automotive service center when I was going through college, and we charged $25.00 for a 2 wheel alignment and $50 for a 4 wheel alignment. I guess pulling a car on to an alignment rack has gotten tougher, since the price is now 3 times as much. To say that having to adjust the caster camber plates is more difficult and requires more money is BS. Any competent person can find what to do on a particular plate in 5 minutes on the internet. While I realize all plates are not created the same, they all work same way and are not difficult when changing the camber or caster as they are designed to do.

LivinTheStangLife

I learned how to do alignments in school and worked at a dealership for awhile. I can tell you once you know how to do them those techs can whip them out quick(there are the few exceptions if things are seized up). I watched those techs check alignment in twenty minutes, that was pull it up, get it set, check it and if it was good pull it back off. They practically fought over who got alignments because they could make so much money off the time they got for them since they were getting an hours worth of labor done in 20 minutes. Even setting toe most of them took another 20-30 minutes, if they needed to get a little more involved the spent a little more time but they hardly went over the hour time very often. I'm pretty sure they had a set check price between 2 and 4 wheel and added time for the different adjustments as well

houtex

It's not wadded panties. It's the idea of worth, and how little people value the time/effort/knowledge.

"Oh, it doesn't take much time!" "Man, that's so easy." "That must not take any skill."

Kinda like the lady who tried to get out of paying my bill for having to come back and readjust her computers because we'd swapped out her ancient ones for new ones, and we *TOLD HER THEN* we might have to do that, and it was extra, because we don't work with them, THEY do. So the finalizing of what they wanted, after all the notes about 'this should do this, that should do that' was done, and was NOT part of the original swap, but new things, and all is hunky dory and she's all ticked off about paying for the new work.

"But what about the *challenenge* of doing it?"

Oh, forget you, lady. I can't feed myself on a challenge. Pay me for my work/knowledge.

But whatever. Y'all do what ya want, but disgruntledness about cost=you should do it yourself, I would think, if you value it less because you have something weird on your car/think it's easy.

keltymd

I was a tech for years. We would do an alignment if only the front was touched it was a two wheel. If we did a rear reference it was a thrust angle. Talk about getting screwed houtex try doing an alignment on any of the 70-80s full size where you shim the upper control arm to adjust the camber caster major pita but it was still a two wheel alignment no rear adjustment.

houtex

Oh, I know. I wouldn't want those old upper control arm cars to come in with todays "hurry the heck up and get off the rack!" mentalities of the quicker MacPherson strut situations. They'd be there all **** day with those.

But still. "Two wheel alignment." Suckers!

Of course, they could just refuse to do it because of the age (and associated shims and crap). Just like all the nearby dealerships for Honda motorcycles don't want to work on my bike because they might break it. For an oil change. Cry me a river.

Music man in Pcola

Hey folks: let Deysha do her job...she is REALLY good at keeping Ford Service on their toes.