On 9 Jul 2017 09:36:11 -0400, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Second-best (and perfectly acceptable) is a $25 alignment check-only, just
like I go to diagnostic-only smog stations, where all they do is MEASURE
the front toe and front camber (which is all that I need).

I would be very, very suspicious of anyone who did this. They likely have
some kid who knows how to put numbers into the machine doing the job, instead
of an alignment expert doing the work.

This makes logical sense that the industry might not benefit from having a
$25 alignment check only.

In a way, one could argue that it's like having an appointment to the
doctor where they only checked your eyes for the need for glasses and
nothing else.

It's going to take the tech about half an hour to do the suspension check
over....going around pulling on things and hitting things with a mallet and
getting some sense of the general condition of the suspension. Then he is
going to spend ten or fifteen minutes talking with you about how you drive,
THEN he's going to start measuring the suspension. So figure an hour's time
for a full-priced technician just to look everything over.

Again this is logical. An hour could easily be $100 shop rate.

What you MOST need is the guy pushing and prodding and hitting things with a
hammer to make sure everything on the suspension is stable. The actual
alignment on the machine is the easy part and the less important part.

I never disagreed that it's best to have the alignment checked.
I only pointed out the "opportunity cost" was an entire mounted tire.

Cost of alignment check = cost of 1 mounted tire

The logic is so inescapable that I was surprised people had trouble with
that math, since it's simple logical math that they teach you in school all
the time ("opportunity cost") although the "true cost" is what I need to
calculate, not just the upfront cost.

You take it to the tire store, they put it on the machine, they measure it,
they put shims in so everything looks good on the machine and they declare
it aligned. But if you have anything loose and worn, it will be out of
alignment again by the time you get it out of the shop. Before putting it
on the machine you need to verify this isn't the case.

Yes. I know. I talk to them while they're aligning my vehicle and I ask
what they're doing. Sometimes they kick me out behind the yellow line but
other times they let me walk around with them.

But to pay for an entire mounted tire just to save on a mounted tire seems
like throwing good money away logically as it was aligned two years ago
(and at that time, it needed it because the front left was wearing really
fast).

It's maintenance. Every 3,000 miles you change the oil, and you look over
all the hoses and belts and check the fluid levels just to make sure everything
is okay. You're not wasting time or money doing the check just because it
_is_ okay. You spend the time or money to make sure it stays that way. Every
once in a while you need to check the state of the suspension as well.

This is a good point in that it's the standard cost of maintaining a car
just like rotating the tires and changing the oil is.

I just wish it didn't cost as much as the thing it's trying to save!
I think the price point is set too high - but you've made a point that it's
an hour and an hour costs what an hour costs. Period.

And yeah, finding someone who actually knows what they are doing and who
can do a careful alignment is rare, and it's worth supporting that person.

Trust in the mechanic is also important. I agree.