I argued to no end with those idiots. Even had a 3 way phone call with corporate. The store manager was screaming at the corporate lady when she didn't realize I wasn't on hold. Couldn't believe it. Probably could have went back with the alignment sheet from the other shop.
Or like lifetime engine warranties. Oh, you didn't come in every 6 months or 7500 miles, so warranty is void.
Mine you can adjust everything. That was one of the things they were trying to rip me off on. The guy didn't know what he was doing and had the alignment so far out of whack, that they said it needed a caster/camber kit. They claimed the kit had longer bolts than what were already on the truck. Either that or they said they had none and needed them. I can't remember.
Yep. I believe it was $169 for an alignment and like $20 more for the lifetime one. Total rip off. The independent shop I brought it to was $79.
Glad I'm not the only one. I think they hire techs that don't know what they're doing. Or the turnaround is so high nobody stays around long enough to be trained
Idk, after all that I just said I'll be extra careful not to hit anything for the next few years to make up for this $230 alignment loss. I'm not spending $1000 bucks on a set of tires and then paying for a bad alignment. The $79 alignment just seemed much more reasonable in my eyes that even if I needed one every couple years oh well. I honestly totally forgot about that lifetime alignment I got until now. Just the decided it wasn't worth the hassle.
Normally there is still a bit of adjustment possible via the strut to knuckle bolts and the top, strut mount, or offset bolts/washers/bushings, subframe adjustment, prying with bolts loose, and more. Of course if there is collision damage, it could need some new parts or a bigger hammer to fix. In other words there are adjustments possible, but shops don't want to do more labor or have a grunt doing it that doesn't know what to do.
One time I had problems after was when that old timer didn't tighten the caster camber bolts up enough and it would pop down by my feet if I hit the brakes good with the trailer hooked up. Didn't do it empty.
The old "adjustable cam bolt requirement" scam for only $119 extra. Happened to me 3 decades ago and I walked away. I have the impression that mechanics work at Firestone cause they can't get a job at a real shop. I'm sure there might be a few competent managers at Firestone shops, but very rare.
They wanted one ball joint replaced for a cool $800
