At the risk of making myself sound really old,
Whatever happened to a mechanic that acctually cares about his customers or the quality of his work?

So I had bring my truck in today that I just bought a couple weeks ago. After driving it for a little while I realized that at highway speeds it was drifting over to the left. Then upon inpsection, I noticed that it looked like the front drivers side tire was wearing on the outside edge of the tire much faster then any of the others.

Since I am about to embark on a road trip from Virginia to Maine, I figure I better get this fixed prior to.

So Step one, I call the dealership where I just bought the truck along with a 5 year warenty. I explain everything to them and they tell me that they can't do anything about it untill wednesday of next week! Which is 3 days after I leave on my trip.....

So then I call the Goodyear shop just down the road from my house where I have had a lot of other work done on my other vehicles. They say "Bring it in, we don't have any vehicles waiting right now!" So I get there ( less then a mile away) and they tell me its going to be a 2 hour wait. WTF! So after lossing my mind they finally agree to take it right in.

So I get a tire rotation and alingment done. After they are finnished and I look at the print-out for the alingment, the before measurements are all F'ed up. Then there is a note next to the measurements written in blue ink that says " The Before measurements are not accurate cause windows froze, the measurements shown are after we started adjustments." So I have no idea if it really was out of alingment or not....... GRRR!!!!

So then about an hour later I get looking at the tires while my wife is in the grocery store and I realize that the tires look like they are low on air, despite the fact that I am crazy about keeping them right at 35psi as the sticker on the drivers door and owners manual state. So I take out my presure gauge and check all four tires.... all four now read at 20 psi... WTF x2!!!!!

Why would they take air out of my tires and not replace it!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Do they think that nobody cares enough or has the knowledge to pay attention to detail when it comes to thier personal vehicles?!?!?!?!?!

 

Before you saying that they did all this stuff to your rig, you might want to figure out if they did take air out of your tires, because more likely than not they didnt, they have no reason to while doing an alignment.

And the alignment itself, these trucks are pretty well known for having a hard time staying in alignment, thats why I bought a caster camber kit, now my truck is aligned better than it ever was as long as I have owned it. The shop I took it too suggested that I put one in. So more likely than not your truck may still not be aligned correctly.

Another thing to note, what year is your truck, how many miles, and what tires do you have on it? Were you checking the air in the tires because you were paying attention and maybe the air was low prior to taking it in? Just a few questions to think about, not every shop does a poor job or doesnt take care of you.

 

The truck is a 2007 1500 with 18835 miles. Completely stock including the tires. I have no doubt that the alingment was out of whack prior to me taking it to them, that was the whole reason I took it to them in the first place! What angered me about the print out is that I would have liked to have known just how bad, and more importantly, where it was out of alignment.

As far as the tires, I check them regularly, for no other reason then paying attention to my vehicles. I have done this with all my vehicles. Especially since I just bought it, I like to keep an eye on things. I checked them the day I bought it, and I just checked them yesterday, perfect 35 PSI! I am not a moron first off, and I have never heard of a situation where all four tires on a vehicle all lose exactly 15 psi per tire over a 1.5 day time period. Unless someone let the air out intenionally.

 

The very first thing an alignment shop will do to check or adjust the alignment is to check the tire pressure to make sure they are all the same and at correct pressure. If they don't tell them thanks and drive out. The adjusters IMO are a great investment. They make it easy for a shop to work caster /camber angles. Can it be done without the adjusters? Yes, but without them it seems like it is just too much for the average shop to over come to get a proper job. After a few false starts and coming close to a couple fights I have found a number of shops who recognise what quality service performance is all about. Unfortunately for you they are all in Central Virginia. I went to a recommended body shop in Norfolk a couple weeks ago and came away very disappointed. The truck goes to a local body shop run by some young Fast and Furious types. Talking to these guys I really get the feeling that this is not only their jobs but a life style. Not cheap, but they are seriously into getting it right. Man, this was how it was when I was a kid in Northern California running around the local speed shops.

 

Any suggestions for shops in northern va?

 

[QUOTE=mptoad;2152675] I am not a moron first offQUOTE]

I wasnt calling you a moron dude, but I was trying to help, just giving options, I have been to my fair share of bad shops, and good shops, but sometimes when I hear someone call a shop poor quality I find that its just that persons view on things, and sometimes that can be inaccurate. So I gave you a few more options as to what could have happened. Especially at a place like goodyear, because they have to keep up a certain standard.

 

The only standard they were trying to keep up was thier bottom line.... Looking back on it, the guy was trying to sell me tires for it the minute I walked in the door. (hadn't even seen the truck yet) Despite the fact that it is not even close to needing them and I told him all it needed was an alingment and possibly a rotation. ( Guess thats my fault for taking it to a GOODYEAR shop.... lol) Guess he figured that running on low psi for a while would hasten my need for new ones. What a guy!

 

I have come to realize that all the "Big name" chain shops only care about $$$.That's why I always bring my rig to the "hole in the wall" places that look like there building is about to fall apart at anytime.They want your business,And want you to come back!!!

 

Years ago i went to a Goodyear shop in Chesapeake to replace a cut tire. First they told me the tire that I had bought six months before was nolonger available and I needed to buy buy one slightly different. Finally I agreed and as they pulled my truck into the bay he clipped the lift and cut the side out of another tire. The manager told me I needed to buy two new tires. I don't know how that works on the general public, but didn't go well with me. I ended up buying one tire and he provided the other. These guys are criminal and their stores are just franchises that to promote a sales pitch and brand.