Good alignment shop, North Phoenix, AZ

Any good alignment shops up in north phoenix area, thinking the lifetime warranty at firestone?

 

It's a bit of a drive, but Jim's Alignment in Prescott is awesome. Clay will do your alignment. He understands lifted Tacomas. They actually do all kinds of auto work.

 

I got a Firestone alignment on the Rav4 - They are the type where if its too difficult to do the adjustment, they will just blame the condition of your fastener hardware or modifications then not perform that portion of the alignment. They will only align the toe, and let you go! Not worth the $90 IMO.

 

The guy at firestone is doing that alignment on a lifted truck for 10 bucks, can you blame him for not going through the pain in the ass?

 

I don't like lifetime warranties on things like alignments. Alignments need to be done now and then, and paying for the work is fair. Even under the best situations, mechanics are forced to work to a tight timeline or it comes out of their pocket. I would rather pay for the time it takes. This is especially true if my truck is way off of stock. I always buy the guy lunch too, because I know how frustrating the work can be.

 

So much this!!!! People don’t understand how shitty the mechanic gets paid. Almost criminal. Throwing a tech some beer money or something like that can make all the difference. And don’t stand around and watch, super annoying to mechanics.

 

Agreed. They get paid for a job that goes without a hitch. How often does that happen?? It rarely does for me. Any extra time to do the job right is out of their pocket generally. It boils down to mutual trust. I don't stand around and watch, but my techs always come and get me if there is anything I need to see. I trust them, and they trust me not to be an unreasonable ass. We work together. I realize that shit happens, and when it does I cover the time to fix it. Shit happens when I work on cars too. Last time, my guy couldn't remember the torque on the SPC balljoint nut, so I told him. I saved him time looking it up. These relationships are golden. I do 90% of my own work, but when I need work that I can't do, it's great to have a good mechanic who is happy to see you. If I feel I can't trust them, I just never go back.

 

Dude you are spot on!!! Rarely does a job go smooth and by the books. Even a tire rotation can be a pain in the balls because the customer lost their wheel lock key ( happens 9 out of 10 times)