04 sse will not accept a front end alignment

[MrPOPE]

My buddy took his bonne for an alignment at Tires Plus and was told they cannot align it becaue something is bent?

now i read all over to take your care to an alignment specialist not a chain ...

He has the classic Bonnie out of alignment severe tire wear going on... but it rides pretty ok

So does tires plus stink and he should take to the experts who just handle alignments... or something is really bent?

[haro1225]

I'd get a second opinion. Also I'd imagine it's an SLE, SSE stopped in 1999.

[CMNTMXR57]

An alignment is an alignment. It's not a matter that the car won't "accept" it. It's hardware. Hardware can be adjusted! It shouldn't matter whether it's a dedicated shop (although one would think that they'd be more proficient in it), or a chain shop. Most use the same Hunter machines utilizing the same alignment spec databases. From there it's just using a wrench to adjust certain parameters while monitoring the readings on the machine...

If something IS bent/broken, then the shop should tell you to get it fixed first before making any attempts at aligning it. I would. That's pretty standard procedure. Of course an unscrupulous shop will offer that they can fix it for you THEN align it. But yea, if you think something isn't right, take it to another shop and see what they say.

[MKMike]

It sounds like they are being upfront about the vehicle, rather than charging for an alignment that can't be done to specs.

[desertpierat]

It's surprisingly easy to bend some suspension parts. Hitting a pothole the wrong way will do it, and it only takes a slight bend to make it impossible to align until the part is replaced. Did they print out a spec sheet for him? I typically have good luck with Tires Plus.

[95naSTA]

Higher end alignment machines will tell you if the struts are bent during calibration. If I were a tech and my machine was telling me something is bent, I wouldn't want to do the alignment either.

[penske_412]

What kind of tire wear is it? Inside only, outside only, feathering to the outside, feathering to the inside?

[MrPOPE]

outside wear only grinding down to the steel belt really quickly