by UFO » Wed Jun 08, 2005 12:01 am
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.
Ron
-lover of MR2's