THE COST OF HAVING MY TRACKING DONE !!

[NATHAN]

I went down to the WRC rally last week and managed to bend my front alloy driving to a stage. Audi replaced the rim free of charge due to the lifetime warranty on RS4 alloys - great !!

However I have also knocked my traking off which I was quoted by Audi Leicester anywhere from £ 150.00 to £ 200.00 to put right.

This seems very expensive, does anyone know anywhere that offers the same kind of service without the Audi prices ?

According to Audi the likes of Walkers/Kwik Fit etc are a waste of time, which is a shame as they quoted me £ 25.00 + VAT.

Anyone else been through this ?


Regards

Nathan

[SimonS4MTM]

I have been quoted similar prices by my Audi dealer.

I got my local garage to do it in the end, i think they charged abot £50. They checked the tracking and camber.

[bjacks]

The Audi dealer should use a bit of kit that can allign all 4 wheels, whereas your local Kwik Fit usually has a 2 wheel jobbie. The cost is usually labour intensive as it can take a bit of setting up IIRC.
AmD have the same thing as Audi use and don't charge as much - I'm sure a few members here will have used this service.

All the best,

Ben

[PhilT]

I had a four wheel alingment done recently for £30, did the trick. Audi wanted about £200. If you really want it done properly, AmD are pretty good at getting it right.

[NATHAN]

Thanks for the advise, who are AMD ? do they have locations across the country ? do they have a website or can you advise a contact number ?

Phil - did you get yours done at AmD ?

Regards

Nathan

[wazza]

AmD are in Bicester
AmD website

[PhilT]

Phil - did you get yours done at AmD ?

I wasn't very clear, sorry. I had mine done at a tyre shop, not AmD. AmD just have a good reputation for this, but it's not going to be £30....

[Dippy]

IIRC AmD's standard charge is £70+VAT. However one advantage is that they use their own settings which IMO are a major improvement over Audi's standard settings.

[Golich]

NATHAN,

You haven't filled in your approx location but Star performance in Glenrothes Scotland have the 4 wheel alignment kit. I had mine done last year. £70 all in. It took his son about an hour to do.

Most garages Kwik Fit etc only carry the standard front wheel tracking kit. That is inadequate for checking camber etc. Personally speaking it is useless if you have changed your suspension where the mounting arrangement is such that you can grossly effect camber castor alignment. This was the problem we discovered after my girlfriend’s Golf GTI had four new shocks fitted by Kwik Fit. They were cheap to supply and fit, But I didn't realise that they don't have the alignment kit to reset all the VW recommended camber etc. - I only discovered that when after the fourth attempt at getting the alignment right they finally owned up that they don't have the kit for this (Aye nation wide!)and I'd have to take it to my local dealer - Tossers!

I made a post last week about the adjustment avail on the S4. Not sure about the RS4. But there are eccentric washers on the rear only which allow the camber and tracking to be adjusted. The front has only the usual track rod ends.

[viffer]

Nathan / anyone else with experience of wheel replacement,

Audi replaced the rim free of charge due to the lifetime warranty on RS4 alloys - great !!

A couple of (probably very dumb) questions:

1) How did you know it was bent? Visual inspection, vibration?

2) Did Audi give you any hassle over the swap? I've got a paranoid feeling that if (when) I need a new wheel they'll get all wriggly. Eg wheel has a small kerb mark and they use this to claim that I've caused the (unrelated) big bend myself through carelessness. Or am I being overly suspicious?

Cheers, Richard.

[Steve_Mc]

Hi Richard, how's the car going?

I have a second-hand experience of the wheel warranty in action. The previous owner of mine manged to bend a rim at <10mph on a petrol station kerb [img]images/graemlins/062802beat_prv.gif[/img] He said it was very obvious immediately and he got large vibrations up through the steering column straight away. Basically "you know when you've been tangoed".

I'm sure someone with first-hand knowledge will perhaps flesh this out a bit.

Regards,

Steve

[Golich]

That's exactly what SBroom experienced with his one.

I planned to check mine but never did. I was going to make a home made calipers. Two strips of 5mm thick 30m wide flat bar 300mm long (bought from B&Q) with a hole at either end and a bolt.

[NATHAN]

Richard,

I hit a large stone and immediately I got the vibrations through steering wheel over 40 mph.

I had it taken looked at in Wales and there was no mistake, it was seriously bent inside the rim. The impact passed through the tyre and bent the rim without any damage to the tyre which shows you how weak the rims are.

Apparantly they are specal lightweight rims unlike the TT's.

If you do bend your rims, go to your Audi dealer and ask them to call the Audi customer services centre, they will then tell your dealer to order a new one against the lifetime warranty.

The Audi dealer in Wales and my local one in Leicester did not know of the lifetime warranty until they called the customer services !! The service manger at Leicester told me he had been doing the job for over 5 years and never knew about the warranty !! Wonder how many people have paid the £ 350.00 pus VAT for a new wheel when they didn't need to !!

Golich,

Thanks for the info, have since found 2 places that can do it for £ 70.00, they both have 4 wheel laser alignment equipment - apparantly thats the kiddie !!

Nathan