I recently had my local Audi dealer rotate my tires, since I bought the tires from them and they included lifetime rotations. Immediately after the rotation, a shake developed at highway speed. No problem, I'll just have them roadforce balance the tires and get it fixed right up.
I called for an appointment, and also questioned how much it would cost since I've seen reports of it being on the expensive side. My SA quoted me $39.95.
I asked - "Is that per wheel, because that's even more than what I was expecting?"
SA - "Nope, that's for all 4 wheels."
Me - "Does that include any tires that need to be broken down and rotated to minimize the road force number?"
SA - "Yes, it does."
Me - "I also purchased these tires from you guys a couple of years ago."
SA - "Well then, you get 50% off that rate."
Me - "So it will cost $20 to have all 4 tires road force balanced?"
SA - "Yes."
That really surprised me, as I've had other shops quote me $20 per wheel in the past. So last night I had it in and it took about an hour as the tech wanted to be thourough because I stated the shake at highway speed. He test drove it first to verify the shake and balance all 4 tires. None were out of force spec, so he gave the suspension a good once over and found that one of the upper control arms had play at the ball joint end.
The SA went over that with me and knew that I would probably want to take care of that part myself, which I would since the last ones I installed were lifetime warranty. I went to pay the bill ($19.99 + tax) and the SA said don't bother. We see you as a long time valued customer (I bought the car from them 6 years ago) and they would pick up the tab on this one.
So, full road force balance of 4 tires and a good inspection of the suspension system with no intention of any upselling and I walk out of there paying nothing and enjoying a couple of cookies and a soda in the waiting room. Heck, the sales crew didn't even bother me as I drooled over the new S6 and S8 in the showroom. If I didn't have my kids with me, I probably would have test driven the S8 just to see how the new 4.0 twin turbo scoots.
I thought I'd just put this out there since the only dealership stories that typically get posted are the angry rants that they are all out to rip us off for as much as they can.
I called for an appointment, and also questioned how much it would cost since I've seen reports of it being on the expensive side. My SA quoted me $39.95.
I asked - "Is that per wheel, because that's even more than what I was expecting?"
SA - "Nope, that's for all 4 wheels."
Me - "Does that include any tires that need to be broken down and rotated to minimize the road force number?"
SA - "Yes, it does."
Me - "I also purchased these tires from you guys a couple of years ago."
SA - "Well then, you get 50% off that rate."
Me - "So it will cost $20 to have all 4 tires road force balanced?"
SA - "Yes."
That really surprised me, as I've had other shops quote me $20 per wheel in the past. So last night I had it in and it took about an hour as the tech wanted to be thourough because I stated the shake at highway speed. He test drove it first to verify the shake and balance all 4 tires. None were out of force spec, so he gave the suspension a good once over and found that one of the upper control arms had play at the ball joint end.
The SA went over that with me and knew that I would probably want to take care of that part myself, which I would since the last ones I installed were lifetime warranty. I went to pay the bill ($19.99 + tax) and the SA said don't bother. We see you as a long time valued customer (I bought the car from them 6 years ago) and they would pick up the tab on this one.
So, full road force balance of 4 tires and a good inspection of the suspension system with no intention of any upselling and I walk out of there paying nothing and enjoying a couple of cookies and a soda in the waiting room. Heck, the sales crew didn't even bother me as I drooled over the new S6 and S8 in the showroom. If I didn't have my kids with me, I probably would have test driven the S8 just to see how the new 4.0 twin turbo scoots.
I thought I'd just put this out there since the only dealership stories that typically get posted are the angry rants that they are all out to rip us off for as much as they can.