Can a Wheel Alignment Be Done in 5 Minutes?

DOGGYWOWWOW on 30/01/2025 - 14:24
Last edited 30/01/2025 - 15:25

I got a wheel alignment done recently due to my last set of Continental Premium Contact 7 wearing out in 25000km (front tyres only and were never rotated so might be normal), but when I took the car to get a wheel alignment they were done in 5 min of pulling the car into the garage.

After reviewing the dashcam video I noticed it looked like they just pumped up the tyres. I didn't see any equipment that looked like an alignment being used.

At 1:50 one of the staff can be heard saying "someone told him to get a wheel alignment". I got the feeling that I was upsold even though I didn't need an alignment from my interactions with the staff.

As long as they checked the alignment and decided it didn't need adjustment I am happy but if they just pumped up the air and sent the car off I feel like I should get a refund.

Do you think a wheel alignment was done?

EDIT: I didn't get a print out listing the alignment either

EDIT 2: Showed the MyCar staff the video and they said they know I'm right that they did nothing because their machine is broken.

Poll Options

  • 7
    Yes
  • 279
    No
Automotive Wheel Alignment

Comments

      • geekcohen on 31/01/2025 - 06:01

        Even better. My tyre wasn't exactly flat, it had a huge ass nail/screw in it. I drove 60kms with it, but the head of the nail/screw was big so you could hear tick tick tick as you were driving.

        I only went to MyCar because it was closer. They even told me if the screw is that big, I might need a new tyre! So I might've dodged a bullet there as well.

    • SlickMick on 31/01/2025 - 09:48
      +1

      Some are okay. I've never had a problem with multiple MyCars for puncture repairs or general servicing. TIL they might not have the expertise for doing alignments.

  • GordonD on 30/01/2025 - 16:14
    +4

    So the next moral dilemma is … if they've accepted they didn't do it, and now done it, do you report them and punish them for not doing it, or reward them for admitting they screwed up and let it go. And if you reward them will they do it to someone else tomorrow.

    • DOGGYWOWWOW on 30/01/2025 - 16:32
      +6

      Their compensation was an extra parking ticket for unlimited parking next time I come to the shopping centre.

  • 87percent on 30/01/2025 - 16:55
    +2

    Recently had this happen with a dealership who claimed they did a wheel alignment when they didn’t. Even took it back to them and they actually made it worse. Took it to an actual tyre place, and they printed out the before and after stats and it was clear that had done jack shit

  • JIMB0 on 30/01/2025 - 17:50
    +1

    Unless the tyres are worn unevenly or the car pulls to one side I wouldn't waste money on an alignment.

  • Pelicannn on 30/01/2025 - 19:10
    +4

    That’s kinda (profanity). I’d be going full Karen, not for your sake maybe, but the next sucker they try and pull the wool over.

    Not to mention the implications if a car did actually need a wheel alignment and nothing was done.

    Pretty disgusting. Where was this btw?

    • DOGGYWOWWOW on 30/01/2025 - 20:12

      MyCar, Ozbargain's favourite Black Friday Pirelli dealer but surprisingly owned by Continental?

  • MS Paint on 30/01/2025 - 19:13
    +4

    I’d be going full Karen

    Perfect, try this

  • Drakesy on 30/01/2025 - 19:31
    -1

    A Current Affair about to get a phone call.

  • life is suffering on 30/01/2025 - 19:47
    +2

    No more dash cams turned on from now on

    • DOGGYWOWWOW on 30/01/2025 - 20:15

      The alignment was so fast my dashcam hadn't even run out of battery yet.

      • life is suffering on 30/01/2025 - 20:16

        Lmao glad you had it. I hope you get refund OP.

  • BewareOfThe Dog on 30/01/2025 - 23:16

    My experience from kmart auto 15 years ago reminds me of this

  • McFly on 31/01/2025 - 01:10
    +5

    Did those MyCar guys also go to Chatswood Upstairs Tyre College?

    • Gunnar on 31/01/2025 - 06:09
      -1

      The Ombudsman? I’m so sick of that guy

    • mingofmongo on 31/01/2025 - 07:51
      +4

      The wishbone's connected to the red thing. The red thing's connected to my wristwatch… Uh oh.

  • paloverde88 on 31/01/2025 - 01:18
    -1

    just did my rotate and balance and includes align all for $90 at T mart no readings printout just invoice that says align rotate balance.about 40 mins

  • cruel1337angel on 31/01/2025 - 01:52
    +1

    Paid for alignment to be done at myCar Hurstville. Steering wheel still wasn't straight and exactly as it was before I brought my car to them. Confronted them about getting them to do the alignment again and they just straight up refunded me. Must be common practice for them to steal money from customers this way. I'll be making sure to only ever buy tyres from them at Black Friday sales and nothing else. DIgusting behaviour to be stealing people's money like this and trying to get away with it.

  • sillyhead on 31/01/2025 - 08:11

    MyCar…

    Mystory

    Bought two tyres on the pirelli black friday deal and chose a date on a Saturday in January. Rep from mycar kept calling to get me to bring appointment forward over december and Xmas period. Hard to return call but eventually got back to them and told them I was happy with my booked date. Added an alignment to the booking.

    Brought it in on the Saturday and they kept it for a few hours and then called back saying they can't find the tyres. Had to pick up the car. Then Monday they called and said they found the tyres. Booked in a dropped it off a wednesday. Got call after 1 hour and they can't find the tyres again. They did substitute to continental tyre which was a redeeming thing.

    Then the alignment. When I did drop it off I noted that I had replaced the lower control arms recently and the steering wheel is off centre, and could they please centre it as part of the alignment. They did not do that and only adjusted side tie rod. This is the kind of place it is. Had to make the adjustment myself to give 1/2 turn of tie rod either side to straighten the wheel.

    For the OP car:- I think they would have put on the gear and it would be within tolerance (or there rough tolerance) and they quickly turned it around. This place does the job….. just.

    I feel that a least they did not do the "replace all this steering parts grift that alot of shops do". I did inform them its that the cars last tour of duty though. And they did fit tyres eventually and there was evidence of them making an adjustment to the tie rod on one side. So thats something.

    • MS Paint on 31/01/2025 - 09:38
      +1

      For the OP car:- I think they would have put on the gear and it would be within tolerance

      You can see the alignment machine in the video and all the sensors remain attached to it. Nothing was done at all to OP's car.

      • sillyhead on 31/01/2025 - 17:47

        Sorry was more looking at the comments than the post. The one about the steering wheel off centre.

        Yeah they tried to rip him off and I'm not surprised.

  • DontNeedThis on 31/01/2025 - 09:02
    +3

    Great channel. Subscribed.

  • iknowtj on 31/01/2025 - 12:27
    +2

    I'd hope you're getting a full refund along with a couple of free alignments - that is pathetic.

    • brad1-8tsi on 31/01/2025 - 13:49
      +6

      Why would you trust them to work on your car in the future?

      • iknowtj on 01/02/2025 - 12:49
        +1

        Fair point.

  • THICKnSLOW on 31/01/2025 - 12:46

    Say no to any services at MyCar

    /thread

  • belongsinforums on 31/01/2025 - 12:53

    Was about to book at mycar. Thank you for this post

  • Phattattak on 31/01/2025 - 13:00
    +6

    Just seeing the edit that they didn't do it because the machine was broken yet charged you…..

    Sh*t happens, people overlook things, honest mistakes are made that can be righted.

    This however…..charging for a service they knowingly couldn't and didn't perform is outright deception. They're only sorry because they got caught, and is a situation beyond them remediating by doing the service you payed for. I'd suggest this gets escalated to My car, I'm sure they don't want their name against such practices.

    • evocable on 02/02/2025 - 13:35

      Took my BYD into my car for a service (novated lease). They asked if I wanted a wheel alignment, I said no but saw the monthly report from lease company has charges for a wheel alignment anyway…

    • Leeroy Jenkins on 03/02/2025 - 11:47

      I doubt the employees were brave enough to be doing this without the management level knowing. And I doubt "escalating" it to MyCar would do anything.

  • brad1-8tsi on 31/01/2025 - 13:44
    +6

    I've done 1000+ alignments. The bludgers didn't even put the heads on the tyres.

    I could do an old Ford laser in 5 minutes but that was because almost nothing was adjustable and I'd measure the toe with a tape measure before attaching the heads. If adjustment was needed it was a 15 minute job.

    In an 8 hour day my boss would book in 16-20 alignments. I was on commission so if I could have knocked them out in 5 minutes I would have been making gravy.

    That looks like Eastlakes? I can highly recommend Jax at Marrickville if you want a standard alignment and if you have a problem car go to Heasemans at Tempe (be prepared for a big bill)

    edit: I took a job at KTAS (now MyCar) once. I lasted 4 weeks before I quit. The other mechanics were numpties and my ethics and morals were constantly challenged

    • mini2 on 31/01/2025 - 14:49

      Jax at Marrickville

      Spinning Wheels became Jax Alexandria and is now Marrickville - I guess Peter Gallagher is no longer running the show?

      Heasemans at Tempe

      They are pricey, yes. They wanted $550 for my car, and then Road and Race in Rydalmere wanted $750 for the same job.

      East Coast in Taren Point closed down, running out of options for performance-oriented alignments.

      • Gunnar on 31/01/2025 - 15:55

        Wholesale Suspension in Penrith. My car was initially set up by Heasmans and I used to go there for work but wholesale is really good. I had a very aggressive set up for track work and they dialed it back because I’d chew through tyres (and stopped tracking). Shame I LOVED the heasmans work but couldn’t justify replacing tyres on what is now a road driven car every 5k

        • snuke on 01/02/2025 - 16:04

          Wholesale Suspension in Penrith

          Looks like they moved to Arndell Park, but have Permanently closed down.

          • Gunnar on 01/02/2025 - 17:15

            @snuke: Oh yeah crap. They rebranded. Sorry. It’s now Sydney Suspension, same staff there (same spot in Penrith)

            • snuke on 01/02/2025 - 19:37

              @Gunnar: Thanks, good to know, I will keep them in mind.

            • ATTS on 01/02/2025 - 19:48

              @Gunnar: Just curious how much they roughly charge for factory spec alignment btw?

              • brad1-8tsi on 03/02/2025 - 06:55
                +2

                @ATTS:

                factory spec alignment btw?

                you don't necessarily want that.

                You want a tech that can read tyre wear and adjust accordingly. Many factory specs are not suited to AUS or are just rubbish.
                eg: My Pajero sport says 0+-0.5. What numpty would run +ve on one side and -ve on the other?

                BMW X5. Far too much negative camber on the rear for Australian roads. Great for 200kph on autobahn curves.
                MkV & VI Golfs (and Skoda/Audi with similar chassis). Too much -ve camber on the rear compensated with too much toe-in causing saw-toothing on the inner edges of the tyre.

                • ATTS on 03/02/2025 - 08:22

                  @brad1-8tsi: Oh didnt know that thanks man

                  • Gunnar on 03/02/2025 - 12:19

                    @ATTS: Another example of what @brad1-8tsi told you (that I know of) is on the VT commodore which needs different camber and toe adjustments from factory spec to prevent wear on the inner rear tyres. I think anyway, it’s been a long time since I’ve looked into that issue.

                    Last time I went to Sydney Suspension it was about $200 for an alignment (which needed quite a bit of work) and then maybe $130 to have it done again? I honestly can’t remember the exact price as it was a while ago and don’t have access to my paperwork right now

                    • ATTS on 03/02/2025 - 15:40

                      @Gunnar: Thanks i incorrectly thought factory spec was the gold standard for even wear. That along with maintaining correct psi and rotation intervals

                      No dramas, yeah its normal to forget prices sometimes
                      So like about 60$ extra compared to tyre shop in my case.

                      Btw what are benefits to wheel alignment besides more even wear and tracking straight? My wifes car she always mounts the kerb so dont think wheel aligment worth it.

                      Also whats your opinion on nitrogen filling?

                      • Gunnar on 03/02/2025 - 21:37

                        @ATTS: All good! Most people do. As brad18tsi said it depends on your driving conditions (based on his posts he's far more knowledgable on this topic than I am so I'd take his advice before mine). Factory is optimum all things being equal but most new cars don't have suspension setups specific for Australian roads which is where a good wheel alignment can really come into its own.

                        Wheel alignments are about how your tyres make contact with the road (or more technically the surface beneath the tyre). It means your alignment impacts how your car handles, accelerates and brakes; this has knock-on effects to the car's safety in an incident, as well as fuel consumption.

                        That being said, in all but a very tiny minority of drivers, they won't know the difference on what a good wheel alignment can do for your car except for tyre wear and how the car tracks. If you want a very, very nerdy read up on car set-ups, have a read of Beckman's The Physics of Racing (just don't start conversations about it because it is an incredibly dull topic ;-)

                        I see your point. Does she do big kms? Mounting kerbs and potholes are generally killers on alignments because you're putting undue stress on your suspension which will pull the alignment out of line. If it's just around the city you could just leave it and resign to having to replace your tyres quicker. I'm also assuming your rims will have gutter rash? Another thing which will knock an alignment out of line.

                        Nitrogen, personally I don't use it - I live in a city but do a lot of regional driving through the year. I prefer having the ability to put normal air into my tyres in case something goes wrong. For most people the benefit of nitrogen is not needing to check the tyres regularly (you can outweigh this benefit for free by just checking them). Nitrogen has its benefits in racing because it makes tyre pressure most stable at heat but you will never get your tyres that hot with road driving, even spirited road driving (and if you get them that hot, for the love of god please get on a track). Given the choice I'd say do the alignment before nitrogen.

      • brad1-8tsi on 01/02/2025 - 09:36

        Spinning Wheels became Jax Alexandria and is now Marrickville - I guess Peter Gallagher is no longer running the show?

        I don't know who is in charge. They did a good wheel alignment to my specifications at a fair price on The Pajero Sport a couple of years back and I was there recently to get all the wheels balanced. Again, a fair price and the car felt better afterwards

        Yes, Spinning Wheel were very good. They did the Skoda once when I lived around the corner. The aligner there lived in Wollongong so I can imagine the daily commute would get a bit tedious.

    • snuke on 01/02/2025 - 15:59
      +1

      That looks like Eastlakes?

      It's Top Ryde, you can see the Devlin St exit signs a couple of times in the car park.

  • jasonlah on 31/01/2025 - 20:17
    +4

    Damn, this is Top Ryde, the mycar that I usually go to for tyres… guess I wont be going there anymore. Very disappointing. Hope you left a google review and got a refund.

    • Purp on 02/02/2025 - 17:46
      -1

      If you stopped shopping at businesses just because of 1 negative review you would never shop anywhere again.

      If you've had no problems with them why wouldn't you go back….

  • DazMon on 31/01/2025 - 20:20

    MyCar, the KMart one?????

  • IpGem on 01/02/2025 - 07:59
    +1

    Showed the MyCar staff the video and they said they know I'm right that they did nothing because their machine is broken.

    And yet they charged you $89 initially?

  • All Blacks NZ on 01/02/2025 - 09:42
    +7

    I used to own a tyre store and had the exact same Eagle SMF machine. If you know what you are doing, we could get a front end only wheel alignment done on a Corolla in about 10 mins, if 2 guys are setting up the heads/sensors on the car.

    In this case, you need to go back and ask for your money back.

    To do a wheel alignment with this machine, they needed to set up the sensors sitting next to the monitor you can see infront of you. They go on the wheels/tyres using clamps. Then the person would have set up specs for your car in the computer. Then they would have taken the hoist up in the air to check the specs on the car vs factory specs. Depending on the machine they might have done a few extra steps in the middle before locking your steering wheel.

    This is a serious breach of trust and charging for something they didn't intent to do.

    Inshort: They only pumped up your tyres. You need to write an email to the head office and include the local area manager (if you tell me which store, I can try to get the email addresses for you). Since you have video footage of the whole incident, not only you will get your $89 back, there will and should be serious consequences for the store and the staff.

  • UFO on 01/02/2025 - 13:08
    +5

    OP, you really need to escalate this further. You have the video evidence of them breaking consumer law!

    MyCar head office need to be made aware of this franchise doing the wrong thing.
    The fact they gave you parking voucher as 'compensation' for charging you for work that wasn't completed is disgusting.

    You're one of how many customers that day, that week, or that month, that they've charged like this?
    They got caught out with you, but the hundreds of other customers who are getting charged for no work done is criminal.

    • bohn on 01/02/2025 - 14:55
      +1

      They got caught out with you, but the hundreds of other customers who are getting charged for no work done is criminal.

      Yeah it wasn't a one off, and someone even said in the video someone told him to get an alignment.. So they knew.

  • CVonC on 01/02/2025 - 14:58

    Mate, which mycar was this?

  • Muppet Detector on 01/02/2025 - 15:02
    +3

    Really should report this to ACCC even though the business has remedied the situation.

    Charging for a service that you don't provide is most likely captured by section 29 of the ACL which prohibits "false or misleading representations about goods or services" and can encompass situations where a business accepts payment for a service they know they cannot provide or have no intention of doing so.

    Section 21 may also apply => deals with "unconscionable conduct" which could apply if a business engages in particularly unfair practises related to charging for services not supplied.

    NOTE situations may arise where a business can't supply a service that a consumer has paid for on time, or within a reasonable time and may not have broken the law although the business must supply a solution.

    Information given here though suggests the business charged for a service they knew they couldn't provide which is dodgy AF. even though they did provide a solution as soon as they were challenged about the conduct.

    Report to ACCC

    => they accept reports where people consider a business is doing something they shouldn't do. They use these reports to inform their education, compliance and enforcement work.

    => if a business breaks the rules about a business accepting payment without intending to supply, they (ACCC) can investigate and may take some form of compliance or enforcement action.

    => They don't however resolve individual disputes about failure to supply or delayed supply.

  • mreddie on 01/02/2025 - 16:07

    A Current Affair

    • bohn on 01/02/2025 - 16:36
      +4

      yeah, he goes in around Australia day, feeling good about his country.. and then…

      Tonight, on ACA:

      AUSSIE AXLES OF EVIL: The Australia Day Alignment That'll Leave You Feeling Deflated!

  • Dollar Dreamer on 01/02/2025 - 18:15
    +1

    An old highschool friend of mine has worked as a car mechanic for 20 years. In the past many garages were closed off to customers so you couldn't see your car when it went in, at least 25% of the time, tyres were just pumped up and slapped on with tyre shine. Then they would wait 10 - 15mins and take your car out. It was mostly just a visual inspection and if by 'eye' the mechanic would see that the wheel alignment is really bad then they would get off their bum and do the alignment. Now with open garages where customers can see, they have to do the actual alignments but even then 20% are still not done, especially when it's a biologically female customer.

    Very rarely a switched on female customer would come back and say that the tyres were not rotated during 'alignment' (which in itself was never done lol) and a carefully crafted and well rehearsed answer by the 'garage manager' would be told to the customer, 'Madam, we truly apologise and will check again if the procedure was done, upon discussing with the car mechanic and reviewing the video footage, the mechanic did check the suspension and tyres and the 'wheel alignment was completed' and the tyre rotation was not required. We will redo that for you right now'. If the female customer chuck a fit then she would be given a free oil change voucher for the next service to retain their business. But forget about the bogus wheel alignment and tyre rotation, a lot of the oil changes were also never done if the oil looked 'new', oil would just be topped up and the oil filter cleaned so it looked new. Same for the 'coolant flush' upsell, if the coolant looked clean then they would just do a '20 second' visual leak check and a top up of coolant without draining the old coolant out. And no, it was not just the 1 garage he worked at, nearly all of them did that and even now do that according to him. It's just the industry man. My father taught me to mark the tyres and also the oil and air filter with a white marker to see if the work was done and I still do it out of habit lol even though my car mechanic is great.

  • ttt888 on 01/02/2025 - 20:07

    Wow I had exactly the same issue 2 years at Bridgestone..

    Crooks, the wheel alignment machine been use to park a car. Lol

    I asked the guy if it was done the guy just said we manually measured it if not issue no need to do
    Lol

    Next day I wasn't happy y and demanded the refund and the mgr jsut refunded.. Lol probably they know they scam people.

  • Save Medicare on 02/02/2025 - 10:37
    +1

    There should be something punitive for this kind of unethical behaviour, not merely a refund.

    Surely it is illegal to charge for a service not rendered. Why not escalate to the Department of Fair Trading?

  • mezje on 02/02/2025 - 17:02
    +1

    Always ask for the printout.

    • sillyhead on 03/02/2025 - 09:14

      This.

    • MrFrugalSpend on 03/02/2025 - 20:54

      and what, they can't just print out the report for the previous car that was actually done?

  • hippieyippie on 03/02/2025 - 06:20

    Every time I had my wheels alignment done, I have a printout of the before and after figures. At no point in time in the video was your car put on a wheel alignment machine.

  • Leeroy Jenkins on 03/02/2025 - 11:59

    "someone told him to get a wheel alignment", so they are banking on you know nothing about alignment. I doubt they do this without management's (implicit or explicit) approval.

    For future wheel alignments, before they do the work, I'd ask for a detailed report showing stats and each adjustment values even if you don't know what they mean. They'd probably do the actual thing. I think it'd be worse for them to forge a fake alignment report (doubt they'd risk leaving a lot of evidence doing shady stuff like this and be caught and sued).

  • DazMon on 04/02/2025 - 12:59

    7 votes state YES!

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