Alignment shops
#18
Registered User
iTrader: (5)
I'm one of the few who can't recommend island brake & alignment - check my yelp review, I'm probably the one and only who's had a bad experience with them however. ymmv.
fwiw, they never fixed my steering alignment, and only gave me bad advice. I took a stock car in, came out with worse.
fwiw, they never fixed my steering alignment, and only gave me bad advice. I took a stock car in, came out with worse.
#21
Registered User
iTrader: (5)
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Kaneohe
Posts: 468
Car Info: Bugeye Wagon - VF39'd
IB&A did a crap job on my alignment, too. The steering wheel was about 10* off center. To be fair I didn't take it back, because I had to be somewhere and was planning on doing some more suspension work in the near future, but there's no possible way the tech didn't notice it on his test drive. He obviously figured it was "close enough" and gave it back to me.
I'll go there again, but the tech won't be doing the test drive, he'll be riding along while I do it.
I'll go there again, but the tech won't be doing the test drive, he'll be riding along while I do it.
#22
Registered User
iTrader: (11)
IB&A did a crap job on my alignment, too. The steering wheel was about 10* off center. To be fair I didn't take it back, because I had to be somewhere and was planning on doing some more suspension work in the near future, but there's no possible way the tech didn't notice it on his test drive. He obviously figured it was "close enough" and gave it back to me.
I'll go there again, but the tech won't be doing the test drive, he'll be riding along while I do it.
I'll go there again, but the tech won't be doing the test drive, he'll be riding along while I do it.
#28
Registered User
iTrader: (5)
yeah man, surprised me too, trust me, I really tried to give him the benefit of the doubt... busy? hot day? off day? I don't know - I did a test drive after the tech did and before I left the lot I noticed the steering off center.
he told me to take it for a drive and return later (since they were busy) if i still thought it was off - I returned about 2 hrs later after driving a few different stretches of road and his tech took me in after about 20m of waiting. He wasn't very welcoming or seemed to even care to fix the issue and later he told me over the phone 'just flip the front two tires, no matter if they're directional, do it anyway'
so obviously, i won't be going back there, I'd pay more for better service if I can find it anyway... I've had one experience at Rad's just asking for pricing and things before I brought my car in, was a lukewarm experience
he told me to take it for a drive and return later (since they were busy) if i still thought it was off - I returned about 2 hrs later after driving a few different stretches of road and his tech took me in after about 20m of waiting. He wasn't very welcoming or seemed to even care to fix the issue and later he told me over the phone 'just flip the front two tires, no matter if they're directional, do it anyway'
so obviously, i won't be going back there, I'd pay more for better service if I can find it anyway... I've had one experience at Rad's just asking for pricing and things before I brought my car in, was a lukewarm experience
#30
Registered User
iTrader: (58)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Waipahu,HI
Posts: 3,186
Car Info: '10 Xt Ltd, '05 X Beater, '01 GS300
Not sure exactly what you mean by "recon" specs. In order to pass recon, you just need to have an alignment that passes factory specs. As long as it's within tolerances, you're golden. The nice thing is that at IB&A, you can ask for specific camber and toe specs and they'll get it as close as possible (most times, right on) and it doesn't cost anymore.
As for Island brake and Alignment, they've done every Suby I've had, including most recently my LS430. I'm totally satisfied with the work and have never had any issues. Sorry you had a bad experience Tesh, hopefully it was just a bad day for them. As for Scotty's, I've heard a lot of good things about them, but I just never had a reason to go anywhere else. In the end, if you're just going to get an alignment within specs, you can go just about anywhere......Lex Brodie's, Firestone, Sears....etc. If you're looking for somebody that may spend a little more time to get you "specific" specs, then you may want to look into Island or Scotty's. It seems like price is a driving factor for you, so just got to look at what's more important to you.
As for Island brake and Alignment, they've done every Suby I've had, including most recently my LS430. I'm totally satisfied with the work and have never had any issues. Sorry you had a bad experience Tesh, hopefully it was just a bad day for them. As for Scotty's, I've heard a lot of good things about them, but I just never had a reason to go anywhere else. In the end, if you're just going to get an alignment within specs, you can go just about anywhere......Lex Brodie's, Firestone, Sears....etc. If you're looking for somebody that may spend a little more time to get you "specific" specs, then you may want to look into Island or Scotty's. It seems like price is a driving factor for you, so just got to look at what's more important to you.