I hope you’re right. I’ve had people tell me two different things. Maybe I should shop around alignment shop asking that question.
They want $1000 to align my rear wheels only. They claim they need to replace a bunch of parts which seems possibly bogus as the car only has 100k miles on it. I am taking it to my regular mechanic to see what they say. They only work on Toyota and Hondas.
you realize that it wasn’t too long ago where cars were rusted out and used up before they had 50,000 miles on them, right? suspension parts are the second or third most stressed parts on a car, if you haven’t had to have any of them replaced in 100,000 miles you should consider yourself lucky.
Had plenty of cars hit 100,000 miles with no suspension repairs. I think my last suspension repair that I recall was around 1982.
“Only”? At 100,000 miles, you’d expect many suspension components to be worn out.
Not nowadays. I routinely see a number of cars with well over 100K miles on them with no appreciable wear in the suspension. Struts and/or shocks are getting weak on some of them, but that doesn’t affect alignment.
What is your car (make/model/2WD-4WD/engine)? What parts are they talking about?
2010 RAV4 with 4WD and 4 cylinder engine.
for the rear they want to replace upper control arms and toe arms. $1000
For front they say front struts and mounts are worn out. That’s another $1000
My information shows that besides front and rear toe-in adjustments, this vehicle has some degree of front camber adjustment. Hardly what I’d call unalignable.
There was a recall on the rear tie rods (alignment links/“toe arms”): NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER 13V383000. See if it applies to your vehicle (I’d be shocked if it doesn’t) and if it’s been done already.
Those prices are a couple hundred more than I’d expect, even from a dealer.
I suggest have a good independent shop provide a second opinion about what’s needed and their estimate to fix it.
yes they did that recall which means they locked the parts with epoxy.
Taking to another shop tomorrow
how likely is it those parts need replacing?
There are two style rear axle toe adjustments. If the rear toe adjusts with an adjusting cam it is not epoxied. These are adjustable. If on the other hand it uses an adjusting tube design it will have been epoxied as part of the recall and the suspension arm(s) will have to be replaced. Tell your shop to consult Toyota TSB 0042-14 for more information.
Dealer was either dishonest or incompetent or both. Nothing wrong with front end or upper control arms.