Four wheel alignment (Hunter system) - anyone had it done?

whitelabel

how odd..possible spam ?

on the OP thread however check HiQ
many of these now have hunter systems if you need it doing at a reasonable price

kaziku

I went to National Tyre in Farnborough to get my freelander realligned as my steering wheel was not centred and the car was pulling to one side. it was £30 but i printed off 50% off voucher from their website so only paid £15. When I got the car back it was as if they didn't touch it. The steering wheel was still way off centred and car still pulling in high speed. So i decided to complain through their website and an area manager called me the next day. He was apologetic and had asked me to bring the car back to the same branch at the time convenient to me. I arranged it with him there in then and he said he'll call the branch to let them know.

When i got to the branch. The guy I spoke to said, he just replaced the old manager and he noticed immediately that their tracking machine is broken. I was annoyed and left. He could have called me to save me time in driving there.

I wrote another email. Again the area manager called and said that I should take it to another branch where they have a better and latest equipment. I was referred to the byfleet branch.
Again he arranged for the manager of national tyre byfleet branch to call me to arrange an appointment. Unfortunately I was only available on his day off but was told his assistant manager will be in.

I came in. I spoke to the assistant manager who doesnt have a clue why i was there. I calmly explained my situation and he took my car immediately.

he came back with a print out. he said he can fix the front wheel allignment but showed me the back wheels need to be alligned too.
He said I would have to pay additional £50.

I told him no, as I was only there because i paid for a service that didn't get properly done from their other branch.

he explained that the £50 charge is for the back wheel allignment.
and he will not be charging me for the front.
tired of arguing and explaining i gave in.
to be honest I was so fed up with the whole thing i just wanted it to be fixed. I also thought there is no point of fixing the front if the back wheels arent alligned with the front.

When I got the car back it felt different. It was much better to drive. the steering wheel is now centred and the pulling and vibration on the wheel in high speed is gone.

I paid a total of £65 for the geometry reallign. But it took a total of 3 weeks for it to get done.

i guess if I had gone to byfleet instead of farnborough I would have saved time as it will get done straight away. But national tyre website dont say which branches have this latest equipments.

I also dont know if i got a good price for it. £65 for 4 wheel geometry realign.

Crabman

Welcome to MSE, kaziku :hello:

£65 seems alright for a 4 wheel (I've paid £30 for front wheel alignment in the past with a Hunter system) but I wouldn't be happy to have paid that given how much running around you've had to do. If they feel you should pay their costs then they should also have to pay your costs. Surprised they didn't offer a discount on the £50 fee given how much trouble you've had.

kaziku

Thanks Crabman for the welcome.

I can still call the area manager and ask him to give me some kind of compensation but to be honest I don't really want anything to do with them anymore.

Im done with them!

I really dont understand why on their website they have 9 to 10 stars reviews in their Farnborough branch. Actually I noticed they have no negative reviews in any branches. They probably dont post them.

iainscomputer

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Not sure which system it was that they used, but I had mine laser aligned on all 4 wheels and it made a huge difference.



Cost was around £90. Well worth it.

I had my 2005 Subaru Legacy aligned on the Hunter system at this very same garage, the difference was amazing, the car really rode very well & could feel the car rolling better!

Ultrasonic

Kaziku - was your wheel alignment carried out using the Hunter system (the subject of this thread)?

kaziku

yes and i have the same print out as the one above.

Ultrasonic

As this thread has been resurrected I should probably add that I had my my cars alignment sorted using the Hunter system (and a mechanic with a blow torch to free up some seized joints) and it made a surprising difference. I was feeling a bit cynical when I drove the car home as the steering felt much lighter, and I suspect they'd increased the tyre pressures, but I check and they hadn't. When I've had wheel alignment adjusted in the past (using much more basic equipment) I've never noticed the slightest difference to how a car drove.

Here's the exciting report:

MZR

Hi,

I have a just purchased a 2007 honda Civic Hybrid and it needs 2 tyres replacing and alignment resetting as the car is going towards the left after i got the wheels balanced and tyres rotated (not sure why did it happened as these 2 activities should have not resulted in the alignment going bad)

Anyways - I have today received a promotional letter from my Honda showroom saying that they are doing a 4 wheel alignment promotion for £85 where for:

A) vehicles with adjustable rear suspension, they will

- Angle readings are measured at all four wheels
- The Steering is centered
- Front wheels are referenced to the rear thrust line and set to specifications.

RESULT: All four wheels are parallel and the steering is centered

for vehicles with non adjustable rear suspension:

- Angle readings are measured at all four wheels
- The Steering is centered
- Rear wheels are set to specification
- Front wheel are referenced to the rear thrust line and set to specification.

RESULT: All four wheels are positioned ahead and parallel and the steering wheel is centered.

Not sure which of the above category my car falls but can somebody make an idea from the above description if Honda is doing a hunter alignment? if yes than the price seems good but if not than i dont want to be ripped off fro just the brand name

Any suggestion??

GolfBravo

MZR wrote: »

it needs 2 tyres replacing and alignment resetting as the car is going towards the left after i got the wheels balanced and tyres rotated (not sure why did it happened as these 2 activities should have not resulted in the alignment going bad)

Probably just the tyre runout, nothing to do with alignment.