Purchased a Firestone Lifetime Alignment Plan

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: hate2work
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
OP I'd wait till I needed an alignment, then decide if a LT alignment is worth it.


Frank, I think he's already bought it.

Personally, I have never had an alignment done on a car I've owned. Unless you go around hitting potholes at 40 MPH or running into curbs, I don't see how the front end can even get out of alignment. Or unless you have an accident, of course.


I realized that. The alignment is only as good as the tech doing it, we have one really good tire place around me, and they know it and charge accordingly. I think I'm going to change my alignment policy next time I buy tires. If the old tires wore well, I'm going to skip the alignment. I've had alignments that were actually worse than before, and had to go back. As a fellow NY'er posted above, as soon as the car goes on the machine you pay for an alignment even if you didn't need it.

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

I don't get it either. My 01 Escape has almost 170k and has never needed an alignment. One thing I like about Discount Tire is that they don't try to sell other stuff. If I do need an alignment I would trust my Ford dealer rather than a Firestone Store.

 

[Dave Hess]

Depends on the roads in your area.

What type of equipment they use at Firestone ?

 

[Spector]

Indydriver

I stated it was my opinion as to lifetime alignments. My experience was with Merchants tire by the way. Now I use an honest independent. In general lifetime product warranties are not worth the paper printed on, take Midas etc. where the muffler is for life, problem is, they then charge an arm and a leg for the pipes, labor etc ( sure the muffler is free) which far exceeds what the original work cost.

As noted, due diligence on all repairs is the key

 

[tom slick]

My local shop does a "check" for free and only charges if adjustments are needed. Out of 5 "checks" I've only needed adjustment once for being 1/2* out on toe. That's on a F-150 with 85k miles and a Protege5 with 185k miles. The roads around here are not great.

My point? 5 "alignments" over 5 years cost me $45. $122 isn't a huge amount but I'd rather invest the other $77 somewhere else.

Considering the TVM of that $77 I would have made $58 on it.

 

[mikered30]

PA has the second worst roads in the country and it seems like construction season never ends. Potholes everywhere so I feel better knowing the alignment is the way it should be. Also after doing my own suspension work it is nice to know that it can be checked too.

 

[mechtech2]

If your get print outs of exactly where you are at, then this could be worth it. More like insurance than maintenance, though.

I do my own, but it is tedious [and near perfect!].

 

[chad8]

Originally Posted By: Johnny248
Originally Posted By: chad8
I have had over 30 cars plus 40 years of driving and have had one alignment because of an accident done by the body shop. My tires usually last from 40000 on up.
My kids cars both needed one at $29 locally. They hit pot holes and blew rims.
I can not justify it.
$122 for something that might be needed twice in a cars life .
Keep that firestone in business. Not me.


where can you get an alignment for $29??


http://autotechclinic.com/coupons

I went for a $59 trans flush and they did a nice job too.
Very considerate shop.

 

[hattaresguy]

Yep and I have never found a Firestone in my area that can do a good alignment.


I only align a vehicle if the tires are wearing funny.

 

[rjundi]

Alginments dependent on the tech who operates the machine more than the machine itself. If you can get a consistent tech your golden.

My local Firestone is a horror show in the past, I heard management adjusted though. I am permanently scarred from national tire chains now....I do feel a bit bad though that I use a regional tire chain to fix flats free(3x over) which they actually patch from the inside and balanced.

 

[teambeechstreet]

Originally Posted By: Spector
My opinion, after the initial alignment, when you bring it back ,they never do the work, just give it back to you after driving in the bay.

I've worked with three different guys (one worked at a local firestone, one worked at a firestone several towns over, and another worked at a wheel works) and they all told me that the lifetime alignment was a crock. After the initial alignment, if a customer returned for the "free" alignment the techs were told to drive it into a bay or around back, not do the alignment while attending to other jobs, and then drive it back out front and call it a day. I know that this doesn't represent every alignment shop, btw.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Quote:
I once bought a lifetime alignment from Montgomery Wards - a well-established reputable store. They went out of business three years later.

Through the years I had alot of family and friends buy a ton of products from Montgomery Wards..That was a awesome company..I have nothing negative to say about them..They sold excellent products and had awesome service..It was very sad to them go!

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
For the Prius...

With the store special and the national special this weekend, I paid $122. Considering the roads around here and the kind of driver I am, it will be worth the money since my local Firestone shop is great. Although their alignment rack is the older Hunter DSP600, they have the code link adapter that will perform the required steering angle sensor reset (aka zero-point calibration) after the alignment.

Does anyone else have one of these policies?


You have a '11 Prius under warranty with 3000 miles on it and you bought a lifetime alignment plan from Firestone?

Beautiful.

 

[Drew99GT]

Having delt with alignment issues recently on my mom's Impala, I've found most chain stores to be fairly incompetent at doing good alignments. They'll clean it up, but it won't be perfect. I recently took her car to a specialty shop that only does alignments and suspension work and the printout they gave me was actually useful and the alignment I had done at a chain store just a month ago was still way off to fix the rear toe/camber problems the new Impalas have. They got it perfect and didn't even need to install the new GM spindle rods. It's like driving a new car again; the steering wheel returns to center by itself when going straight after a turn, it corners better, it rides better.

It's amazing how screwed up the alignment can come from the factory on some new cars.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Having delt with alignment issues recently on my mom's Impala, I've found most chain stores to be fairly incompetent at doing good alignments. They'll clean it up, but it won't be perfect. I recently took her car to a specialty shop that only does alignments and suspension work and the printout they gave me was actually useful and the alignment I had done at a chain store just a month ago was still way off to fix the rear toe/camber problems the new Impalas have. They got it perfect and didn't even need to install the new GM spindle rods. It's like driving a new car again; the steering wheel returns to center by itself when going straight after a turn, it corners better, it rides better.

It's amazing how screwed up the alignment can come from the factory on some new cars.



Even if they get it perfect, with my roads here it`ll be out of spec with in 6mos.

 

[hattaresguy]

Wait seriously for a 2011 Prius? That was a waste of money, its not going to need an alignment for years. Its still under warranty to just have the Toyota dealer do it. Besides you live in CA how bad can the roads be? You guys don't get frost heave.

My moms Rav4 we bought her in 2007 still hasn't been on the alignment rack and it has 35k miles on it.


You seem to like to spend money on that car?

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Wait seriously for a 2011 Prius? That was a waste of money, its not going to need an alignment for years. Its still under warranty to just have the Toyota dealer do it. Besides you live in CA how bad can the roads be? You guys don't get frost heave.

My moms Rav4 we bought her in 2007 still hasn't been on the alignment rack and it has 35k miles on it.


You seem to like to spend money on that car?


I thought the critic didn't like the car? he's spending money on that car so he must love that prius.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

I had a lifetime alignment on a new 94 Mazda B2300. I sold the truck after 3 years when my new job required having a car. Next set of tires I am going skip the alignment on my Saturn. Tires are wearing well. Though I know the tire shop will try to change my mind.

I have a suggestion, before you do something ask the question. That may give you a chance to think about things.

 

[01rangerxl]

I bought a lifetime alignment from Firestone for my Explorer, then never used it. Firestone offers it because alignments are not needed very often if ever for most vehicles, at least under the ownership of one person.

I took my '01 Ranger into Firestone for a free tire rotation at around 80K miles and had them do an alignment check, also free. They gave me the printout, the truck didn't need a thing, it was still well within spec. Total bill, $0.

It takes a lot to really screw up a vehicle's alignment. My Ranger has been in two front end collisions, gone over numerous curbs, gone off road, and generally been driven hard on fairly rough roads. At 108K miles it tracks extremely straight and the tires wear so evenly I don't bother to rotate them. It had one alignment very early in its life under warranty when a tie rod end was replaced due to a torn boot, but the alignment hasn't been touched since then.

I don't think you have to worry about Firestone not doing the work. Usually they have a big window showing the whole service area. I have been to 3 different Firestone stores in 2 states and haven't had problems. I've got a fair amount of free work out of them too...leak plugs, rotations, alignment checks, etc. The only thing that was a bad deal was the lifetime alignment, and all the freebies have made up for that.

 

[Papa Bear]

The Critic isn't dumb enough to buy a lifetime Firestone warranty, he's just pullin' our chain. He hasn't even posted again in this thread......