rcchang

My sister took her car to stealer for recall service. Advisor tells her that her alignment is severely off and she needs to change her tire right away. She was quoted 580 for a pair of run flats and 180 for alignment. He scared her enough that she okays. But she looks online and realized that dealer put hefty premium on the tire. She cancels the tire install but service guy strongly recommends alignment because her suspension is whacked. He continues to insist on getting tires because unevenly worn tires will mess up her alignment. She calls me finally and I told her to cancel both. She ended up just getting the recall service and regular maintenance service. Same day I look at all tires and couldn't find any unevenly worn tires. I am just amazed how dealers try to screw people every chance they get. Are there any dealers that are truly honest and trustworthy? Just take a look at the photos and let me know if you would recommend alignment and replacing both tires for 800.

Mr. Toad

If you've inspected the tires and there are no signs of uneven and/or excessive wear, then it sounds like the dealer simply assumed that your sister would be car-ignorant and therefore a source of fast revenue. However, their advice to replace worn tires prior to performing an alignment is valid and their price ($180) isn't bad; my dealer just charged me $250 for an alignment. If you have a Discount Tire in your area, I suggest that you bring the car in and ask them to asses the condition of her tires (they will not charge you for this). I've bought all of my tires from them for almost 20 years now, specifically because they have always been very honest and trustworthy, and their prices are usually better than the dealer's.

PatrixUSA

no pictures posted... but if truly as obvious as you make it sound that no tire was needed, i'd make it a point to notify dealer management and or service management that this service advisor is recommending unneeded services / parts to customers, and if that practice continues, an email to the ca ag will follow, as that's fraud. Good luck.