Dale's Alignment Testimonials....

Moderator: Administrator, Executive Members

Postby immorality » Wed Jun 08, 2005 5:07 pm

Ok, here's my story.

I took the car to Dale's for Jason the align. Jason was a super nice guy and I was happy with the car.

Within a couple days I was getting a vibration on right turns. This got worse each day, about the 5th day I jacked the car up to see what was going on. Turns out the two 17mm nuts that hold the strut assemble to the steering knuckle on the front left were completely loose to the touch.

So, I called Jason to discuss the situation. He said to bring the car in and 'he' would look at it. The day I brought the car in Jason was off. Another tech, who's name escapes me aligned the car.

I had to explain the situation to Dale because he was not aware, and I was only charged for the tire re & re that I had done at the same time.
User avatar
immorality
BCMR2 Web Admin & Executive Board Member
 
Posts: 9729
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2002 1:32 pm
Location: Burnaby
Status: Offline

Postby camshaft » Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:08 pm

Well I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience at Dale's
Personally I only deal with Jason because he has been a close personal friend of mine for years.

As for Dale himself he is a little rough around the outside untill you get to know him..

The prices they quoted you are normal going shop rates. So being a BCMR2 member your prices from toyota will be much lower. As the prices you are getting from toyota are what a shop like Dales would pay.
As for labor I'm sure they where normal labor rates being applied..

So if your planning on DIY then your going to save yourself alot of money.
If you where thinking about returning to Dales.. I would just make sure you talk to Jason and make sure your appointment is when he is there.
And you talk to him directly

As I have posted many a time... the rear toe adjusters are always seized and should be looked at before going to Dales..
So you can save yourself some cash on the parts and the labor..

Myself personally I have Jason do all my alignments because he has actually owned a MR2. As well as a EF Civic...
So he knows his MR2's...
Can you say this about any other alighment shop ?

Cam

UFO wrote:i had an issue that i want to bring up. i booked my alignment with jason for monday morning about a week ago, went in yesterday morning and all was well. except that jason wasnt there

darryl took my car for a testdrive, put it on the hoist and discovered that i had worn rear balljoints on the car. so no alignment for me today. i am given a quote of $520 to have the rear balljoints replaced with Moog parts, and alignment done (an extra $80 if i needed new rear toe adjustment collars, total $600). obviously i cant have that done right away because 1)i have to go to work after 2)i wasnt ready to fork over $500+ at the time. i was charged $25 plus tax for the inspection, which was fair and i gladly paid. i tell dale and darryl i will have to reschedule, and check out prices from dealer, and other closer by places.
- rear balljoints $128
- alignment $60
- balljoint install ~$270
- taxes ~$64
- rear toe collars incl install, if needed $80

dale then goes off about how if i got the balljoints done elsewhere, he would charge me the full rate for the alignment. told me that a customer had 'the nerve' to bring his car back for alignment after they diagnosed worn balljoints (im assuming he paid the inspection fee as well). i was not happy with the way this transpired, as i paid for the inspection and that's what i got. if i want to take my car elsewhere to do the balljoints, i should be free to do so without any obligation to have them done at dale's. the balljoints dont 'seem' to require that much work, from what i've gathered so far. its something i can attempt to tackle at home, and save myself the 3-4 hours of estimated labour at $80/hr. oem rear balljoints are $30us a piece from partznet, and about $65cdn each from local dealer after the club discount. i was offered a reimbursement of the $25 inspection fee if i had them do my balljoints.

at this point, i will not be going back to dale's for the balljoints OR the alignment. i'd rather save the 40 minute drive each way and pay a few more bucks as what i spend on gas to dale's will more or less make it end up costing the same. i hope that having jason there would have been different, so i would like to give the benefit of the doubt. as jason wasnt there, i did not mention a club discount or anything of that sort to dale or darryl, since i dont know if jason had made any prior arrangements with either of them.
Licensed Auto Technician, Gov Inspector, AirCare, Pressure Fuels Installer
Mr2 Parts
User avatar
camshaft
MR2 Veteran
 
Posts: 9007
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2003 11:10 pm
Location: Cloverdale
Status: Offline

Postby Project_Mr2 » Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:23 pm

I very happy with his work to this day.... even when my rear toe adjustment collars were seized, he gave me a bit of break.

Would go to him again.
Project_Mr2
Papa '2
 
Posts: 758
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2002 12:43 am
Status: Offline

Postby 2-yota » Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:55 pm

I was just at Dales a couple weeks ago to get my alignment re-aligned again. It's best that you deal only with Jason and have him do the work from beginning to end. He's a good guy and many would vouch for his experience.

UFO: If you don't want to make the trip out to Dale's again for whatever reason, maybe try Advance Automotive in Richmond. John has an equally good alignment rack there and has also done numerous MR2's as well. Only question is whether his techs there would have the experience that Jason does in "tuning" your MR2 (unless if you get John to do it himself!)
-Ed
Black MR2 Turbo
User avatar
2-yota
Papa '2
 
Posts: 1052
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 9:10 pm
Location: Burnaby
Status: Offline

Postby UFO » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:44 pm

i was under the impression that i would be dealing with jason, as i made the appointment with him and told him i was with the mr2 club. when i get there, Jason's not there. no biggie, i figured the other guys there are just as competent.

i have no qualms with the pricing, it was fair enough imo and the labour time was from his big book of labour rates. i didnt try to get out of the inspection charge, i understood that having them spend the 15 minutes to take my car around the block and hoist it up and wiggle each wheel, would cost me money. fair enough.

my problem comes from trying to be pressured by Dale into having the work done by them, when i have the choice to shop around first or get a second opinion. essentially, i was told that if i had the balljoints done elsewhere i would not be welcome back to them for an alignment, if i could work up 'the nerve' to go back.

i have explored other closer options for work on my car, and when the time comes. thanks for the recommendation Ed, i have heard good stuff about Advance also. so i guess in a nutshell, make sure you deal with jason only and ask if he will be the one working on your car. i think i've said all i needed to say
Ron
-lover of MR2's
User avatar
UFO
Grandfather '2
 
Posts: 2483
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2003 1:17 am
Status: Offline

Postby redtwo » Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:51 am

Dale's do the alignment on REDTWO and also sprinterkb's 2. Can't say anything bad about Dale or Jason - they know what they are doing.
1969 Sprinter w/4age
1991 MR2 Turbo
2011 Scion tC
Last Chance Garage
User avatar
redtwo
Junior '2
 
Posts: 475
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2002 8:43 pm
Location: Abbotsford, BC
Status: Offline

Postby Narfy » Tue Jul 26, 2005 1:11 pm

2-yota wrote:UFO: If you don't want to make the trip out to Dale's again for whatever reason, maybe try Advance Automotive in Richmond. John has an equally good alignment rack there and has also done numerous MR2's as well. Only question is whether his techs there would have the experience that Jason does in "tuning" your MR2 (unless if you get John to do it himself!)

john himself did the alingment on my dad's lexus SC400... he did quite a good job... was able to even out the front end by adjusting the rear thrust angle...

for my MR2, i used aaron... he's a member of this board... as of this week, he'll still be at B&F automotive... he's a good guy to deal with... he owns 2 MR2s...

my old corolla, was aligned by don at PDM racing... he also does awesome work...
i eat waaaaay too much sushi...
2nd place best stock MKI at BC2004...
fng@regencyauto.com
User avatar
Narfy
BCMR2 Sponsor
 
Posts: 4801
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2002 12:20 am
Location: Regency Toyota Vancouver
Status: Offline

Postby Saiko » Mon Jun 26, 2006 2:14 am

*I have question, thought I'd ask it here, before I bother Jason.
Does he do other cars as well? or strictly mr2's?
ie.) corolla gts and mazda 626?

tia.
Eric
92T
Go CANUCKS!!
User avatar
Saiko
Grandfather '2
 
Posts: 1759
Joined: Sun Jul 11, 2004 10:43 pm
Location: Raincouver
Status: Offline

Postby camshaft » Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:53 pm

Anything with 4 wheels..

As for the discount you have to ask him about that

Saiko wrote:*I have question, thought I'd ask it here, before I bother Jason.
Does he do other cars as well? or strictly mr2's?
ie.) corolla gts and mazda 626?

tia.
Licensed Auto Technician, Gov Inspector, AirCare, Pressure Fuels Installer
Mr2 Parts
User avatar
camshaft
MR2 Veteran
 
Posts: 9007
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2003 11:10 pm
Location: Cloverdale
Status: Offline

Postby Saiko » Mon Jul 03, 2006 6:39 pm

another stupid question..

if when I'm driving, and the road "grooves" control where my car kinda goes, does that mean I need an alignment? (for an '87 corolla)
Eric
92T
Go CANUCKS!!
User avatar
Saiko
Grandfather '2
 
Posts: 1759
Joined: Sun Jul 11, 2004 10:43 pm
Location: Raincouver
Status: Offline

Postby camshaft » Mon Jul 03, 2006 8:20 pm

Where should I start..

Unfortunately grooves in the road seem to be a common sight these days. But a welcome sign compared to a gaping hole that has bent rim written on it. This isn't a sign of needing a alignment but to find a better road to drive on.

A car that is lowered or has wider or lower profile wheels seem to become prone to road grooves. Meaning that the car will pull or wander while driving or braking on them.

As for a alignment that is best seen by the steering wheel. If the wheel is off center or the car drifts or pulls to one side when driving on a good know road.
Please note that pulling or drifting can be caused by a bad tire.

Another way is by looking at your tires.
If the toe is out the outer or inner edges of the tires will develop feathered edges. Where running your hand along the edge you can fell a height difference between one tread to the next.
Couldn't find a good picture online.


Saiko wrote:another stupid question..

if when I'm driving, and the road "grooves" control where my car kinda goes, does that mean I need an alignment? (for an '87 corolla)
Licensed Auto Technician, Gov Inspector, AirCare, Pressure Fuels Installer
Mr2 Parts
User avatar
camshaft
MR2 Veteran
 
Posts: 9007
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2003 11:10 pm
Location: Cloverdale
Status: Offline

Postby bbarnumboy » Thu May 03, 2007 7:36 am

is this allignment deal still available....there hasn't been a post for about a year?
God created turbo lag to give the v8's a brief moment of hope
User avatar
bbarnumboy
MR2 know it all
 
Posts: 3097
Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Everett, WA
Status: Offline

Postby drscam » Thu May 03, 2007 8:22 am

bbarnumboy wrote:is this allignment deal still available....there hasn't been a post for about a year?


I'm pretty sure it is still available.
User avatar
drscam
BCMR2 Support Team
 
Posts: 13264
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 6:17 am
Location: North Vancouver
Status: Offline

Postby camshaft » Thu May 03, 2007 11:51 am

Yes it is still available

But the price has increased...

And you have to call before hand and talk to jason ... and make an appointment
Licensed Auto Technician, Gov Inspector, AirCare, Pressure Fuels Installer
Mr2 Parts
User avatar
camshaft
MR2 Veteran
 
Posts: 9007
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2003 11:10 pm
Location: Cloverdale
Status: Offline

Postby dutch » Thu May 03, 2007 2:23 pm

im going in tomorrow for an alignment with jason.
User avatar
dutch
Papa '2
 
Posts: 1461
Joined: Wed May 14, 2003 12:52 am
Location: Abbotsford
Status: Offline

PreviousNext

Return to BCMR2 Sponsors

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests