Shop ruined my gf's alignment, need some advice
 

My girlfriend's clutch started slipping a couple weeks ago in her Jetta. So, on Joel's recommendation, I took it to La Union on Thursday and got it back Friday evening. They did a great job on the clutch, no chattering, and I got all the old parts (upon request), so I can only assume they put all the new ones on the car.

The only problem is, they really f'ed her caster. I test drove it after we got it back, but I was only paying attention to how the clutch felt. Since she knows the car better than me, she said the steering felt weird. I knew what it was right away, but had her pull over. I could see it right away, I'd guess at least 5 degrees deifference between the 2 sides.

I'm planning on taking it back tomorrow, but I need dome advice on what to do. Obviously, I'm going to ask them to fix it, but I doubt they will. If they refuse, what do I do then? Call the cops? Seems a little extreme, and I doubt they can do anything to fix it in a timely manner, and I hate cops and don't want them involved,but it might work. The threat might work well, because I doubt all of them are legal... Any other options? Any suggestions would be great, thanks!

Did they put something back together wrong? Like flip an eccentric or something?

I dunno I didn't take a look.

Caster is totally non-adjustable unless you've got high-end aftermarket racing top mounts. Plus, there's no way you could see the caster being off just by looking at it. You sure there isn't something else wrong?

From a bird's eye view of her tires: \ |

That's caster, right? I don't really know what could have caused it, that's why I'm here :)

That's camber, does the shop do alignments too?

Bird's eye view = toe
Front & Back of the car view = camber
Side of the car = caster (which you will see the tire in a circle not line).

Ah, I was thinking it was the view from the rear of the car. It's toe.

Oops, toe. I could ask if they do alignments as well. But whether they do or not, what do I do if they refuse to
fix her car?

you go ape shit on their asses!! haha actually if they don't i'd report them to BBB

Talk nicely with them and they will likely do the right thing. No need to get angry to start with.

I am assuming you mean that is how the wheels are when the steering wheel is straight/centered.

My guess is that they had to disconnect the steering wheel from the rack to get to the trans and they put it back 1 notch off. I doubt they had to actually change the length of the tie rods which would affect actual toe setting.

That's what I'm thinking, is something simple like that, Dean. And after my time working in a grocery store, I never blow up on someone right away, because it is rarely their fault, and that is not the way to get results :)

the reason I'm worried about them not fixing it is because they are a cheap, kinda shady shop. I guess I'll hope for the best, and go from there. If anyone else has any suggestions, post up. I'm heading over there after I pick up my tires from tire rack at about 4:30, and I'd love to hear everyone's opinion. Thanks

Fuck hope, I say go in swinging. Take Dean with you for backup.

what He said^

Let's fucking roll Dean! Lol

Give him a sec, he's getting his walker.

I don't see why they wouldn't fix it. I think you might be getting all excited over nothing. I think its pretty simple actually. Walk in and say "my car doesn't drive straight anymore. I need it fixed today." Set the keys on the counter and go sit down.

Being Mexican doesn't make someone a shyster. A lot of shops have tried to rip me off in the past and they have all been white guys.

If they won't fix it, take it to BCT. Not a Mexican or white dude in the place except the one Italian, but he is cool...

I didn't say they were shysters cuz they were Mexican, I said it cuz they're cheap, which means they make up the difference by taking shortcuts. If I make them take the "long cut", there goes their profit. Generally. And yes, I'm really hoping I'm getting worked up over nothing, but I'll handle the situation better if I'm prepared for the worst

So, it turns out they were shysters. They are trying to claim it was like that before, and if we can get a shop to say that they caused it then they'll fix it. I went to Nissan, but apparently bob doesn't work Mondays and Cory takes off at 4:30. Les schwab was booked, and big o said it would be $20 to check, and they couldn't prove it was the shop's fault.

Now I'm at a loss of what to do. She needs an aligment bad. She has an appt at Les schwab at 3 tomorrow, but I doubt they will be able to "prove" that it's their fault. I'm hoping bob or Cory can look at it sometime tomorrow..? She doesnt work tomorrow so she's free all day, lemme know please :)

any other suggestions?

Bob's off tomorrow, and I'm ridiculously busy... I don't usually leave for lunch tho. If she can swing by at noon-ish, I can at least duck my head under there and see what's going on. I'm pretty good at finding other people's fuck-ups.

Shoulda brought Dean with you. In my own experience most shops will charge you for alignment when they do anything that might funk it up.

Cory, could you write down what you find so we could take it to the shop and show them? When she comes in, should she just ask to talk to Cory? At big o they mentioned that they could have put the subframe back in slightly the wrong position, which would throw off the toe. If that helps

Cory's offering to take a look on his own time - anything you're going to try to run as a claim with another shop providing evidence is probably going to need to go through the front end of a shop - any shop. Otherwise you've got some shady shop, by your own admission, now burning Cory's or the dealership's time for something they never wrote up or got paid for - which a: won't hold up as a claim and b: is kind of a dick move.