Alignment Woes

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Hi everyone, hope you're all staying positive and testing negative!

My apologies. I have had much higher aspirations with the forum however work overtook all parts of my private life.

 

Well not one... I've had my '16 GS300h since Sep'19 and have very much enjoyed all +35k miles spent together.

That was until I took it for a service with Lexus Cardiff on the first anniversary of my ownership in September '20 (2nd service since owning the car). It all went down from there.

 

The car had been diagnosed with an Aircon Amplifier issue at the start of 2020. I had noticed that every time I got into the car it took about 2min for the aircon controls to become active and the temperature setting always seemed to reset to 20 degrees. I was very eagerly awaiting an amp replacement delivery so that they could repair under warranty, although it took quite a while (thanks to "the thing") they managed to strip the dash and fix my issue. The replacement is working fine, and I got to experience what 40°C feels like inside the car on a summers day. No problem.

It was also time for new tyres (just the back, fronts had a few 1000's motorway miles left in them), so I've ordered the dealer to have them replaced like for like. They did - and whilst at it advised me that I have the alignment checked and corrected to preserve tyres. No problem at all, there will be no expense spared on this car I thought. I have made sure to include in my correspondence that I feel there is no current issues - the car tracked perfectly, steering wheel was right on the money and tyre wear nice and even.

I get an email back with readings -  slight toe offset on front and rear, caster out of norm(strange), and slightly varying camber at the fronts. I thought I must've been wrong and they can get it set much better for me.

Queue the pain.

 

I pick the car up at the end of the week, drive it home and notice that my steering wheel isn't quite right. Turns out I'm about 10-15° out on the steering angle - something that does not go unnoticed on the first driven mile. And it only gets worse the further you go. I had to wait to take it back as I had scheduled quite a busy week ahead therefore I put about 1500 miles on the clock before returning to them for a re-adjustment. They were more than happy to oblige and upon re-visit they admitted that it was unacceptable how the steering was left. This is where it gets worse - the service manager had told me that they took it out for a test drive at least twice and could not fault the new alignment. I pick it up on a Saturday - the steering is still off, a little bit less off, but still off. Oh and the car drifts to the left now, great.

Quick phone call with the manager on Monday and we come to a conclusion - we need to replace the fronts as they are throwing this whole thing off (supposedly the worn tyres that are put right have a tendency to steer you off due to uneven wear - fair enough). The car gets left with Lexus for another week later on as I get a brand new NX as courtesy. Tyres get replaced (more to come on that later), a Hunter specialist comes into the workshop to help the technicians with achieving absolute perfection on alignment of my troublesome vehicle. Car is ready to go.

I pick it up the following Monday. Upon arrival I find my vehicle parked in the prime location of the lot. It took me less than ten seconds to realise they did what I fear the most - the car has been "washed". They knew not to touch it, however the scratch-and-shine specialist saw it in the morning, thought he missed it and didn't want to lose his job.

Burning up with anger I pick my car up and take it home - I now have a polishing job to complete, on the house as they admitted the wrongdoing and agreed to pay a detailer to fix the damage. 

But here is where it gets interesting - the wheel still feels off to me. Not by miles. Not so that it renders it undriveable. But it's still noticeable to someone who spends so much time in the one thing he takes away with him every week. Plus my lane keeping assistance now features a "suicide mode" where it keeps dragging my car to the very left of the lane on towards the rumble strip. And the worst bit is that it's now been 6 months since my last visit and I'm too afraid to mention the alignment again in fear of them messing it up even more. 

Ergo this post - Does anyone know of a Lexus Dealership that they could trust in the UK. One that I could take this car to and be 200% sure that when it gets set again I could achieve that "perfect" alignment again? The car now has 50k miles on it, it isn't much. My GT86 has nearly 60k and the steering on that is within 0.01° perfection. I know it's doable.

PS. Those front tyres they replaced on the last visit - Bridgestone Potenza RE050A were replaced with Potenza 5001's, so not quite the like for like I asked for. I noticed about a month and 2000miles later(next car wash, thought it looked different), by that time I deemed it too late to even get back to Lexus Cardiff and thank them on the great choice.

 

TLDR: Took GS300h for service and got advised an alignment. Dealer unable to get it right and I'm left with a ruined ride and steering angle that's off. Looking for advice.

[Herbie]

Hmm...

The 'TLDR' should be at the top instead of reading down to it   

It's probably too far for you to go but I can highly recommend Lexus Teeside, who have great people in all aspects.

Hope you get it sorted Igor.

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2 minutes ago, Herbie said:

The 'TLDR' should be at the top instead of reading down to it   

Didn't want to spoil the story for those with time!

 

Funnily enough I was working in Newcastle as this was happening and their branch suggested reaching out to Teeside as Newcastle didn't do alignment. However it was never on my way.

I'll keep them in mind, I'm at the point where any branch is okay as long as I can trust them to sort this out - to do this I need to reach out to a trusted source of opinions. My fall back guys are at RRG Macclesfield.

[johnatg]

I took mine to Blink Motorsport in Winsford. Spot-on alignment job - they use a Hunter Hawkeye system. Just recently had my MX-5 aligned there - also a spot on job.

[200h]

i know a lot of people aren't fans of kwikfit but i havent had

any issues with them using the hunter hawkeye system and

our cars always track true, kwikfit have a geocare plan you can buy

its circa £120 to have the tracking checked and adjusted

up to 8 times in a 2 yr period without charge which i feel is

excellent value for money, as always it depends on how

competant the person completing the task is,

just make sure the car isnt left in N or your Battery may go flat.

 

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Thanks John, Lexus Cardiff has the same Hunter system and from what the technician was telling me they had previous issues with RC's and GS's but never with any other model. I wonder if it's anything to do with the staggered wheels.

How long did it take? I might see if they are available, I'm currently in Staffordshire so could make the trip down!

[johnatg]

About 45 mins. You do need to book. Call on 01606 212326.

Directions on the web site https://www.blinkmotorsport.com/

On both occasions I've been there they quickly dropped what they were doing and put my car on the rig.

[200h]

when my car had to spend some time in my local bodyshop

last year one of the first thing they done was an alignment check ,

they didnt have any issues using the hawkeye on my car

and my alignment was spot on with no adjustments necessary.

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I've just missed their opening hours but I will try them tomorrow, thank you for your help John.

 

Mark I fully appreciate however I know two Kwikfit outfits local to me in South Wales haven't got the best reputation, plus if the main dealer is having issues I was hoping for motorsports business' advice as they tend to be more accurate than OEM.

Is yours a Premier or Luxury? I'm wondering if I'm onto something here because only the F sport and GSF came with staggered wheel options.

[200h]

i got it wrong the tracking did need adjusting but only slightly 0.1 of a degree in total

i have attached a copy of the report

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Thanks Mark,

Wish mine was like that, this is what the hunter had measured: