Rep Power: 228

2 days ago i finally lowered my car. tokico hp shocks and tanabe springs. while getting the tie rod off the front left strut i completely shredded the end rods bushing. so i had to take it off, go to auto zone and get a replacement bushing. after that i took it up to tires plus to get the tires alligned. it was suppose to cost 60 dollars, and ended up costing 107.

first they said bc my car was so low (1.8 inches lower to be exact) they coulsnt get it up the ramps bc my bumper wouldnt clear. i told they guy, "i can take the front bumper off. he said "thatd be good. we cant do that bc we dont like messing with other peoples stuff". i said "no i can just rip it off and it should clear it". so i took it off and one of the dudes working there argued with me that the bumper doesnt matter. the side skirts wont clear. i said "no theyll clear, they might scrub a little but it will make it." sure enough it made it.

next, while aligning my tires the manager comes back in with another problem. he told me the bolt on my inner rod on my left side wont move for them to get it off. he said he had a 200lbs guy under it with a wrench and he couldnt get it off. i said "well then he dont know what the **** hes doing". he told me, "so were ganna have to replace it and it will cost extra. but unless we take it off we cant do anything. what we wanna do is take a air wrench to it. and if it stripps the bolt, that will be extra too." i was like "well ****. if its the only way, then go for it". i started to wonder if they knew what the hell they were doing..

the whole time i was freaking out. its bad enough i have strangers working on and driving my car. my cars like my girl, and i dont like peoples hand all inside of her. if you get me..i went through about a 1/2 pack of cigarettes. the manager told me that they cant adjust the cambers. and he tried explaining the "toe in, toe out effect" like i dont know what the hell it is. i know what that is..! lol im mean wtf? im not automotive mechaniclly challenged. my spelling may not be great, but come on. i explained to him im a automotive tech student and for him to just skip the teaching and give it to me streight. i actually told this dude im a member on civicforums.com hahahaha!

so in the end i payed 107 dollars. the wheels and alignment came out right but the steering wheel is about 1/2 off. i was a little less than pleased. so thats the last time i go there.

 
Rep Power: 812

haha first mistake was taking your car to tires plus lmao.

 
Rep Power: 280

Yup, taking your car to sears, tires plus, or any other generic auto shop will result in a nightmare.

The performance shop I take mine to outsources their alignments, but they are done @ the shop right next door and all they do is work on imports and sport cars.

Sears once told me I had to do a buch of stuff to my car once, and I told them they were retarded and walked away. They lie to make money. Sometimes they dont even do the work you pay them to do.

 
Rep Power: 228

nodoubt to both of you. ill never go there again. the thing is, where i live there arent any preformance shops/import shops. after i left there i was thinking if they stripped the stuff out of my car. you know, the little stuff that wont cause problems right away?

 
Rep Power: 812

depends on the sears i guess, if you know all the people and where they came from, it can be good. i took my car there several times and was happy with the work. all they did was compliment the car, didnt even mention any of the other stuff i knew had problems.

 
Rep Power: 280

that is true. The only time I went they did not know what to do with my kit, and then said i needed more parts to fix the camber kit, even though it was brand new. Something to the tune of $200. It was funny, but at the same time a little sad. They were really confused on the toe adjustment, but yea it does depend on the people and the sears.

 
Rep Power: 288

Holy mackrel, I can't tell you how many times I've been wary of taking my car to someone. That's why I try to do everything I possibly can now a days. Someone said to me once something like "The mechanics can do it, so why can't you" They can turn a wrench, and so can I. I just go to the books for help, and try to do it myself. Ever since then I've been happy with how my car is taken care of. If you don't have the right tools or resources or something like that, then screw it, I wouldn't do it either.

 
Rep Power: 240

YOU JUST GOT JUPED!..im sorry..and dont take it to sum no name boot leg shops dude. go with a big corprate.they have better services and if something goes wrong you can sue haha.

 
Rep Power: 228

tell me about it.
to this day my alignment stull sucks. hahaha i guess thats what i get. i was going to take it to goodyear but the people up there are dicks. i told the guy "if your being a dick head to me, what makes you think im ganna let you work on my car? sorry guy but f*ck you" and walked out.

 
Rep Power: 228

damn its so hard to find good mechanics, lmao

 
Rep Power: 240

did you try to do research online for places??..if u want you can drive around and try to hit a bump and hopefully it might throw ur alignment back in order haha....jk dude..

 
Rep Power: 228

i have actually done that. lol
me and my bro were messing around on a rainy day, and started doing doenuts. when i pulled out i was like "damn" my wheels were straight but my steering wheel was at a 1/2 turn. so i had to do more doenuts in the opposite direction to correct it.