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Thank you in advance for your constructive advice. My car is a 2013 Mini Cooper Hardtop S. A year ago I purchased two runflat tires and was sold a lifetime alignment warranty on the car. There were no symptoms, but it was offered at a discount and I did not know better. Last week I purchased replacement runflats for the other two tires and was told I need an alignment, but it would require the purchase of a special tool for $82, that camber alignment is considered 'Exotic'. Attached is the alignment printout. Should I ask for my money back on the lifetime alignment or should I get the car aligned? Thanks again.
That’s really close enough for most folks.
If it were me, I'd take out the plastic pin on the left front top strut mount and shift it inboard for
just a little more negative camber - more negative camber is better in the front anyway, to a point.
You could also take the pin out of the right front top strut mount and shift it outward to even out the camber,
but I'd just leave it at -1.0.
The front toe may require a minor tweak after changing front cambers.
The rear left toe is so close to spec it's not worth adjusting.
Camber alignment is "exotic" and needs a "special tool"? Give me a break. That is a load of horse puckey, any shop with an alignment system can do camber. They are trying to rip you off. If you paid for the "special tool" and came back in 6 months, then what would they make up? "Oh, MINIs are special, we need a $500 upgrade to our alignment system to get the special software license to align MINIs."
Reminds me of the time I was at the oil change place with my old Jeep for an oil change, with the coupon it was as cheap as DIY and less mess. The guy there was giving me a song and dance about how my coolant had "gone bad" and needed replacing. To try to convince me he dripped a couple of drops on a sheet of paper and and said "see? Look at that! You need new coolant!" I listened to him, then let him know that just two weeks ago I had replaced the radiator and drained/refilled the coolant with brand new. Then I had a chat with the manager.
Call them on it. Tell them they are full of (words I can't use on the forum) and to do your alignment or give you your money back. Look them up on Yelp and give them an appropriate review, and report them to the BBB and your state's Bureau of Automotive Repair while you are at it . Lying cheating scumbags.
Yes, they are full of crap.
There is a special tool for rear toe that makes it a little easier to dial in, but it's not absolutely necessary. It's an eccentric socket.
You need a 24 mm socket or wrench to change the rear camber (or a pair of vice grips), and if you do that, you need to redo the rear toe after.
There's only a little bit of adjustment range there.
There is no front camber adjustment unless you remove the locating pin mentioned in the earlier post, and then, just a little bit of range.
You do need a 10 mm wrench to loosen the strut mount bolts, hardly exotic. The tie rods take a standard wrench to loosen and tighten for front toe adjustment.
actually there is a special tool to adjust rear toe
and for camber like your currently at, there is basically no adjustment, I would knock the white pin out of the side that is at -0.3 to try to get it closer to the -1 side.
They are definitely trying to rip you off. I got a deal on a three year alignment at my Goodyear Service Center and have yet to hear anything so ridiculous. I’ve been changing shocks, struts, and springs often enough recently that it’s been well worth it because I get the alignment checked and adjusted as needed every time I installed a new one. I think I have enough time left for a final alignment after I have my new RMW coil overs installed.
you need to tell those guys to do the work to your satisfaction or refund you the money and take your business elsewhere. I believe I’d be looking for a new shop anyway.
The shop said they're sending me gift card to compensate me for my time.
Given cristo's saying that the misalignment is "really close enough for most folks," I'll assume the cost of additional tire wear from the misalignment will be minimal and I'll wait for six months and have the alignment done with a tire rotation. No use wasting my time getting it done now.
