Did Sears Rip Me?

[berbes]

i bought some tires at the local sears ('95 325i). i bought from them for years, and they always said they couldn't do the alignment, it had to be done at a dealer. when i go to pick it up, they charge me and say they were able to do the alignment, even though they couldn't 'find' the mech to ask him specifically how he did it.

can someone verify or deny sears ability to do this work?

[Hownowevilcow]

ANY shop who does allignments should be able to give you a report of the "before" and "after" specs. If they say they can't because (insert lame excuse here), ask to speak to a manager and insist the car is put on the machine again. Sears is a big company and if you complain, they will make things right.

[Furious]

hes correct any alignment shop that uses advanced alignment (computer calculated) can give you a read out, the only time you wont get one is if they did it manually with an alingment stick (which is quite easy to use but not as accurate as the lazers.

[supark]

if at all possible - don't do the alignment at Sears - bring it to a specialty shop. Should run you about $75 for a four-wheel alignment.

It's better than getting it done at sears, realizing it's still out of spec and having to bring it back a couple times to get it right (this has been my experience with them)

[BeachBunny]

Probably, yes. I would kick their ass.

[triggrhaapi]

I find that on cars with lowered suspensions, the best alignment is by hand, not by machine. On my ex 325is, I got a computer alignment that only got it down to 0.1 (0 is ideal) whereas a skilled mechanic got it to 0 by hand. If someone tells you that they can't align your car because the drop added negative camber, tell them they're idiots and find another mechanic.

[abemcclellan]

kick there ass SeaBass! haha. jk. i just had to put that in. my brother had the same thing done to him. someone told him some kind of crap like that nobody can do bmw alignments, only the dealership can. is this true?

[berbes]

Originally posted by abemcclellan@May 13 2005, 10:27 AM
kick there ass SeaBass! haha. jk. i just had to put that in. my brother had the same thing done to him. someone told him some kind of crap like that nobody can do bmw alignments, only the dealership can. is this true?

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yes, PLEASE someone answer. can only a stealer do a proper alignment? do regular franchise shops need 'special' bmw tools?????

[nukeduster]

Originally posted by berbes+May 13 2005, 05:01 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(berbes @ May 13 2005, 05:01 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-abemcclellan@May 13 2005, 10:27 AM
kick there ass SeaBass! haha. jk. i just had to put that in. my brother had the same thing done to him. someone told him some kind of crap like that nobody can do bmw alignments, only the dealership can. is this true?

[snapback]344113[/snapback]

yes, PLEASE someone answer. can only a stealer do a proper alignment? do regular franchise shops need 'special' bmw tools?????

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[/b][/quote]

any 4 wheel alignment shop should be able to do it, but you ahve to put 200lbs in the front seats of the car (i believe its 200lbs, its something like that, or im thinking of jaguar.. at any rate it needs to be weighed down)in order to do an alignment properly. i doubt sears did that.

[jshearer]

I just got my car back from the shop and they did an alignment no problems. They are not a dealer so therefore someone else can do the alignment.

[berbes]

to followup-

i did get contacted by sears, and they first stated they could do the alignment on ANY car, but when i brought up the 'weights needed' brought up by nukeduster, they buckled and arranged a full refund on the alignment. it seems to be a case where the shop was trying to bolster their bottom line for corporate....take note and be careful, almost smacked of a case a few years back where a large franchise did that and was nailed on a national level...wasn't that montgomery ward's or something?

thanks, nukeduster !!!