Is our mechanic trying to replace what doesn't need replaced?

[reveriereptile]

We had our tires replaced a couple weeks ago since the inner areas on the front tires were getting worn. We took the car to Walmart and got 4 new tires put on and the guy had my husband sign a paper about him letting my husband know that the ball joints were getting bad and that the car needed an alignment. We figured it probably needed and alignment due to the areas that were worn on the tires.

When we pulled away the car vibrates when going down the road and is sort of noisy. The shaking got a little bit worse so we took the car in today to have it looked at for fear the tires might buckle. My SIL said that she went to the same place before and they tried telling her that she needed a bunch of stuff fixed and she told them to only fix what she took it in for and had no problem after that. She said they like to try to charge as much as they can to fix something slightly bad.

I get a call a while ago and my husband is at work and I didn't know what to do. The guy said that the car needs the ball joints, sway bar, tie rods, and something else. He said it will cost $912 for the parts and labor. That is a lot of money seeing how we only paid $3K for the car and just spent $500 for the tires.

Does it sound like they are trying to replace parts that don't need replaced? We have another car that is the same model but a year apart that we have used as a part car since I hit a deer with it. Should we just pull the sway bar and tie rods off of it and do that part ourselves or should we find another mechanic?

 

[FireTigeris]

Get a second opinion, don't mention the other mechanic

 

[BusyBlonde]

I'd get a second opinion. I used to work at Sears, in the automotive department. Overall, most of the service advisers were good, honest guys, but there was *one* who would routinely find more problems with cars than the others. Even if he couldn't find something that was even starting to go wrong with the brakes/front end/suspension, he would recommend changing the wiper blades or adjusting the headlights. The service advisers were paid on commission, so more sales meant more $ in their pocket. Some places reward those who sell more than average with even higher commission percentages.

I'd look up automotive garages in your area and check them out on the Better Business Bureau site, and if you find one with a good rating, call and ask if you can bring your car in to have the front end checked. It is often done free, or for a small fee - little money for a lot of peace of mind. If your car didn't vibrate and wasn't noisy before you had the tires replaced, I'd suspect that the tires weren't properly balanced at the very least. I would not allow them to do the work without another opinion. JMHO

 

[ChickenPeep]

I would get a second opinion.

This spring we had a hail storm. The year before we had our roof re-done. There were tons of roofers just driving around and knocking on people's doors and asking if they could check thier roofs. Since so many people were showing up, we finally decided to let them check it out. They told us it was totaled and almost convinced us to let them replace it, but we didn't. later, my sister climbed in a tree next to our house to see the roof and when she saw it, she said it was fine.

They will tell you anything to get your buisness.

 

[Fred's Hens]

We had our tires replaced a couple weeks ago since the inner areas on the front tires were getting worn. We took the car to Walmart and got 4 new tires put on and the guy had my husband sign a paper about him letting my husband know that the ball joints were getting bad and that the car needed an alignment. We figured it probably needed and alignment due to the areas that were worn on the tires.

When we pulled away the car vibrates when going down the road and is sort of noisy. The shaking got a little bit worse so we took the car in today to have it looked at for fear the tires might buckle. My SIL said that she went to the same place before and they tried telling her that she needed a bunch of stuff fixed and she told them to only fix what she took it in for and had no problem after that. She said they like to try to charge as much as they can to fix something slightly bad.

I get a call a while ago and my husband is at work and I didn't know what to do. The guy said that the car needs the ball joints, sway bar, tie rods, and something else. He said it will cost $912 for the parts and labor. That is a lot of money seeing how we only paid $3K for the car and just spent $500 for the tires.

Does it sound like they are trying to replace parts that don't need replaced? We have another car that is the same model but a year apart that we have used as a part car since I hit a deer with it. Should we just pull the sway bar and tie rods off of it and do that part ourselves or should we find another mechanic?

You mention the inner area of the tires were worn. Uneven tire wear is very often a sure sign of suspension problems and worn suspension parts. The vibration could be many things, but tires not properly balanced at WalMart is a very real possibility. It sometimes takes three tire stores to balance a set tires properly. It shouldn't, but it often does.

You don't mention how old the car is, whether you're the original owner, how miles are on it, whether previous repairs were done on the suspension, thus, we are all just shooting from the hip here. The fact is that cars do wear out suspension parts. Ball joints, tie rod ends, sway links and bushings are common things that wear out around the 90-110,000 mark, especially if you drive on some roads in some states. Atrocious.

Yup, get a second opinion and we like to find a solid, honest garage where the prices are fair and the work is backed up. It's great to have such a place. We then return for future work and future purchases and it is a pretty good feeling.

 

[Spookwriter]

As Fred said, there is a lot of important information left out.

I will assume that you have owned this car long enough to of
put the worn out tires on it new. How long ago, and how many
miles ago?

Perhaps the tires "just wore out all at once"? If so, not a good sign.

Before replacing the tires, did the car make undue tire noise, pull or
jerk in the steering wheel?

Different tread designs make different sounds from the tire when driving.

BUT...if the car did not vibrate or shake before the WalMart tires, I would
personally want those tires rechecked. Have them rebalanced. Perferably
on a spin balancer by a professional.

You mention having a parts car. Does it have tires? Put any two on your
car and see if the problem changes.

Spook

**In my experience, if it is a front tire problem you would feel the shake
in the steering wheel. If a rear tire issue, it tends to shake the whole car.

 

[reveriereptile]

We decided to take the car to another mechanic that we've used before that is down the road from us. The other guy wanted my husband to get the other parts fixed right then but when he said he just wants the ball joints at the moment the guy then said he couldn't work on it for a couple of weeks due to going on a vacation. Another relative told us that they aren't a good place to use.

The car is a 2000 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer edition. We bought it from a woman that got it brand new from her dad as a college gift. The car was originally from Texas so it didn't have any rust on it and only had 108,000 miles on it. We only paid $3K for it and was in need of another vehicle fast due to me destroying the other one with a 10 point buck. Our other one was a year newer. The year we bought it was the first year it had seen snow. She was selling it due since her and her husband were moving around due to him being in the military and they didn't need two vehicles. We've had the car for about almost 2 years now. Haven't had to many problems with it till just the past month. In the past month we had to replace the fuel pump, get new tires, and now this stuff. Before that my husband slid in the snow around a corner due to it only have 2WD in the rear. He broke the back side window but we were able to pull the window off the other car and had the mechanic we are taking it to this time replace it.

The car had the inner parts of the tires worn before we took it to Walmart. That is why we got the newer tires. It did have some vibrations before the tire change but we thought it was from the tires. After they were changed the vibrations got stronger and the guy said he noticed that when he pulled it in and looked at the ball joints. He said the ball joints in the front were starting to go bad and it needed an alignment or the tires will wear fast in the inner area.

 

[theghostandmrchicken]

Another bad story from Wal-Mart.

One way to tell if your car needs alignment is to go on a highway that is straight for about 3 or more miles and get up to 50 - 65 mph.
Once you are up to speed then gently, and safely, release your control of the wheel for a split second.
If your car immediately starts to lean to the left or to the right, then it needs to be re-aligned, but if it will stay straight then it does not need to be aligned.

If you do this make sure you have plenty of room on the highway and be safe.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

We had our tires replaced a couple weeks ago since the inner areas on the front tires were getting worn. We took the car to Walmart and got 4 new tires put on and the guy had my husband sign a paper about him letting my husband know that the ball joints were getting bad and that the car needed an alignment. We figured it probably needed and alignment due to the areas that were worn on the tires.

When we pulled away the car vibrates when going down the road and is sort of noisy. The shaking got a little bit worse so we took the car in today to have it looked at for fear the tires might buckle. My SIL said that she went to the same place before and they tried telling her that she needed a bunch of stuff fixed and she told them to only fix what she took it in for and had no problem after that. She said they like to try to charge as much as they can to fix something slightly bad.

I get a call a while ago and my husband is at work and I didn't know what to do. The guy said that the car needs the ball joints, sway bar, tie rods, and something else. He said it will cost $912 for the parts and labor. That is a lot of money seeing how we only paid $3K for the car and just spent $500 for the tires.

Does it sound like they are trying to replace parts that don't need replaced? We have another car that is the same model but a year apart that we have used as a part car since I hit a deer with it. Should we just pull the sway bar and tie rods off of it and do that part ourselves or should we find another mechanic?

Those prices sound like for hard parts that are never replaced... Never replaced a sway bar or tie rods in my life on a car that had not be wrecked.

Stay far away...

 

[Fred's Hens]

Those prices sound like for hard parts that are never replaced... Never replaced a sway bar or tie rods in my life on a car that had not be wrecked.

Stay far away...

Only tie rod ends are replaced. Not the rod. Only sway bar links and bushing wear and are replaced, not the sway bar itself. Good post