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So I brought my 2010 MR into the dealership today for its 10,000 mile service. This includes an oil change and basic inspection on various systems and components. I’ve noticed lately that while driving on the highway I’ve been getting a slight vibration through the steering wheel and a strong pull to the left, so I decided to have them do a full alignment while I was there. After doing the service and alignment they come back and tell me something is way off in my front suspension and that I must’ve damaged it somehow.
Here is a little backstory:
03/05/2011, Alignment # 1 at 413 miles: I picked up this car from a dealer in NJ brand new in Feb of 2011. After driving it home from the dealership I noticed the alignment was off. I called them up and they were happy to offer me an alignment free of charge. Apparently it is common for these cars to be slightly off from the factory. All was well for a few months.
09/02/2011, Alignment # 2 at 4,976 miles: Some time goes by and I start noticing the car pulling to one side again on the highway. About 6 months after the 1st alignment I decide to bring it in again, this time to a specialty alignment shop whom I’ve been using for years. I knew I’d have to cough up the cash for this one but they do quality work and I wanted the job done right. They align the car for me and it felt great for a few weeks.
10/31/2011, Installed winter wheels/tires at 6950 miles: A freak snowstorm in the northeast on Halloween pushed me to install my winter tires ahead of schedule (OEM GSR wheels w/ Continental DWS tires). I bought the tires through a local tire shop who mounted/balanced them on the GSR wheels. After picking up the car everything seemed great, but after about 1500 miles I noticed a strong wobble coming through the steering wheel, again at highway speeds only. I figured after breaking them in the tires must’ve come unbalanced somehow, so I planned on bringing them in to get redone.
02/16/2011, Alignment #3 at 9,982 miles: By now I still had the wobbling issue and I noticed the car pulling strongly to the left at highway speeds. Because I was going on for my 10k service anyway, I asked the dealership to rebalance the tires and do another alignment. I explained that this would be the 3rd time getting the car aligned in under a year and something seemed off. They assured me they would do their best to get the car tracking straight again.
I was informed during the service that the tires were in fact out of balance. I requested they rebalance the tires. They put it up on the alignment rack and they claim that as soon as they put it on there something was off. Spec sheet to follow in next post. You will see the front camber is off like CRAZY. +1.5 on the left and -4.1 on the right.
Obviously something is bent. I am suspecting control arms, most likely uppers. The problem is I have not done anything to cause this type of damage. The car is a daily driver to commute to work and I baby it every day. Obviously I take it out for some “spirited” drives once in a while, but nothing I would consider out of the ordinary for this type of vehicle. I have not hit anything…no curbs, potholes, etc, that would cause this type of damage. The car is literally in mint condition by visually looking at the exterior. At this point the wobble in the steering wheel is 95% gone, only notice a little bit at about 80 mph. The car tracks straight after they adjusted the toe, but obviously the camber is still way off.
The dealership is already claiming they will not cover this repair under warranty. They want to charge me labor to bring it back in to even determine what is wrong with it. This is after they charged me $180 thismorning to do a service which is supposed to include, and I quote per the receipt, “Inspect suspension system for looseness and damage.”
So, with all that being said:
What do you guys think my chances are of getting this covered under warranty?
What do you think is causing the major problem with the camber?
Would you recommend bringing the car back to the dealership I bought it from? (Currently using a different dealer for service because they’re closer to where I live).
Basically, I need some advice on what to do about this situation.
Please help!!!
Here is a little backstory:
03/05/2011, Alignment # 1 at 413 miles: I picked up this car from a dealer in NJ brand new in Feb of 2011. After driving it home from the dealership I noticed the alignment was off. I called them up and they were happy to offer me an alignment free of charge. Apparently it is common for these cars to be slightly off from the factory. All was well for a few months.
09/02/2011, Alignment # 2 at 4,976 miles: Some time goes by and I start noticing the car pulling to one side again on the highway. About 6 months after the 1st alignment I decide to bring it in again, this time to a specialty alignment shop whom I’ve been using for years. I knew I’d have to cough up the cash for this one but they do quality work and I wanted the job done right. They align the car for me and it felt great for a few weeks.
10/31/2011, Installed winter wheels/tires at 6950 miles: A freak snowstorm in the northeast on Halloween pushed me to install my winter tires ahead of schedule (OEM GSR wheels w/ Continental DWS tires). I bought the tires through a local tire shop who mounted/balanced them on the GSR wheels. After picking up the car everything seemed great, but after about 1500 miles I noticed a strong wobble coming through the steering wheel, again at highway speeds only. I figured after breaking them in the tires must’ve come unbalanced somehow, so I planned on bringing them in to get redone.
02/16/2011, Alignment #3 at 9,982 miles: By now I still had the wobbling issue and I noticed the car pulling strongly to the left at highway speeds. Because I was going on for my 10k service anyway, I asked the dealership to rebalance the tires and do another alignment. I explained that this would be the 3rd time getting the car aligned in under a year and something seemed off. They assured me they would do their best to get the car tracking straight again.
I was informed during the service that the tires were in fact out of balance. I requested they rebalance the tires. They put it up on the alignment rack and they claim that as soon as they put it on there something was off. Spec sheet to follow in next post. You will see the front camber is off like CRAZY. +1.5 on the left and -4.1 on the right.
Obviously something is bent. I am suspecting control arms, most likely uppers. The problem is I have not done anything to cause this type of damage. The car is a daily driver to commute to work and I baby it every day. Obviously I take it out for some “spirited” drives once in a while, but nothing I would consider out of the ordinary for this type of vehicle. I have not hit anything…no curbs, potholes, etc, that would cause this type of damage. The car is literally in mint condition by visually looking at the exterior. At this point the wobble in the steering wheel is 95% gone, only notice a little bit at about 80 mph. The car tracks straight after they adjusted the toe, but obviously the camber is still way off.
The dealership is already claiming they will not cover this repair under warranty. They want to charge me labor to bring it back in to even determine what is wrong with it. This is after they charged me $180 thismorning to do a service which is supposed to include, and I quote per the receipt, “Inspect suspension system for looseness and damage.”
So, with all that being said:
What do you guys think my chances are of getting this covered under warranty?
What do you think is causing the major problem with the camber?
Would you recommend bringing the car back to the dealership I bought it from? (Currently using a different dealer for service because they’re closer to where I live).
Basically, I need some advice on what to do about this situation.
Please help!!!