Think I've Been Had

[DaveEllen]

Bit of a story but here we go...........

When my IS200 was MOT'd I had a "free" inspection carried out prior to the warranty running out. They said (nameless at moment) I needed a rear anti roll bar bush and front foglight (it was misted up). Booked it in for 2/4 thinking result on the foglight wont have the hassle of fixing the misting up myself.

After TDI lowered it Mark said to have the wheels aligned ASAP. So rang em up & arranged for that to be done at the same time.

Dropped car off...........

Got a phone call about 3 hrs later asking why I wanted the wheel aligned........said I'd had it lowered and fitter suggested it. OK the man said..........

Got another phone call anothe 2 1/2 hours later.......Mr Ellen the foglight is'nt covered under warranty.........Thought not I said but yoyr chap said it was and I have it in writing, never mind though I'll fix it myself........deathly hush........But we've fitted it..........Well atke itb off I'm not paying for it...........OK we will only charge 1 hour labour for the wheel alignment not the normal 2 hours.......Alarm bells ringing in my head.........OK I said.........

WEnt to collect it and put my concerns to the guy who was polite & said it was the best they could do and it would have cost me 3* £90 plus cost of foglight (£75) needed car for work thought bo**ocks lets go........

Got in car (remember its supercharged etc) pound fuel light on (was on 1/4 full ...........so why was it driven ?

Aside from the obvious my ? to you all are

1) Is the lexus labour charge £90 per hour ish

2) Is a road trest required after wheel alignment

Depending on what you lot say........the could be a load explosion in SE London very soon & its not Saddams revenge.........l

[Steve]

sucks!

I caught a mechanic driving fast in my car once (yes it does go fast sometimes) I was in front of him and he unaware that i was driving my old nissan in front.

Again no need for a test drive! I know put a piece of papaer on the dash with the mileage written.. that takes away any temptation

I best they were all gagging to have a go too!

[Matthew_McNally]

Aside from the obvious my ? to you all are

1) Is the lexus labour charge £90 per hour ish

2) Is a road trest required after wheel alignment

Depending on what you lot say........the could be a load explosion in SE London very soon & its not Saddams revenge.........l

1) About £70 an hour up by me, so in London, could be!

2) I am pretty confident that my car was not driven after an alignment, but either way, surely it doesn't need to be tested to the extent of a 1/4 tank (conservative estimate, hard for 30 miles?)

Name and shame 'em mate - and put this in a dealer review

[DaveEllen]

Thanks for that........name & shame will be the least of what I'm going to do.

Hoping Chris Shipley can give me some (anonymous) confirmation on the wheel alignment thing.......

[Steve]

who's chris?

[DaveEllen]

or may phone around a few Lexus dealerships...............

another ? how long for a whell wheel even alignment ?

[Monster-Mat]

nope theres no need to do a road test after alignment.

because in theory the alignment brings everything back to 100%

you would only test drive if you belived the alignment readings were not correct

these people have been driving your car.....go for the jugular

[Zee007]

hmmmmmmm.... interesting this - when I had my wheels aligned at my dealer, they also took it out......whilst i waited......

[Claire G]

Waste 'em. Name and shame and tell them you've shared your experiences with the 100's of fellow Lexus drivers.

[ricky_is200]

Probably wanted to see how a supercharged IS200 drove. I bet they were lining up to drive it!

[DaveEllen]

Thats what was worrying.........

So peeps..........the consensus is No roadtest after wheel alignment.....

Also.......How long did your wheel alignment take ? 2 hours seems an age..........it drove fine no pulling etc..........

[Zee007]

Thats what was worrying.........

So peeps..........the consensus is No roadtest after wheel alignment.....

Also.......How long did your wheel alignment take ? 2 hours seems an age..........it drove fine no pulling etc..........

Mine took two hours too - and they did a road test after (round the block)..........

[DaveEllen]

Cheers Zee

So its only the "road test"

mmmmmmmmmmm

Letter formulating in my mind

[greeneyes]

Alignment on mine took only 45minutes. I stood and waited, and watched carefully! Front took a bit of toe-in, and rear was fine. No test driving either.

Cost about 15pounds!!!! .

$45NZ

[tdiplc]

Wheel alignment does not generally take more than an hour unless there are any major problems with seized adjusting parts.

Road testing is discretionary. Theoretically it should not be required but it can be useful and should only take a few minutes - not a quarter of a tank. I try and road test whenever possible.