Alignment @ Sears?

[KillerXLT]

Has anyone had thier Ex alignment done at Sears? I was told that they waranty the job for 3 months. Do they really or when you take it back to get it realigned they give you the whole "song and dance" about why they can not do it because of "this or that".

Also is there an alignment "Kit" for 95 EXs? Some tech told me that there is a 10.00 kit that is necessary when have my Ex aligned.
Thanks in advance.

 

[VOATMJ1]

I have had a few bad alignments from Sears before, but none recently, only because I stand right there and watch them like a hawk!

Yes, Sears WILL stand behind their work, I have NEVER had a problem with that. I received an alignment from a Sears in Texas, (which was bad, vehicle pulling), but was moving back to Iowa, (1,300 mile trip) and when I got here, I went to the local Sears, and they cheerfully told me they would re-do the alignment, no questions asked!

They told me the alignment was bad, all front end parts checked out ok, and they not only re-aligned it, (perfectly I might add, center of steering and steering wheel straight an an arrow) but the trip from the bad alignment, ruined the front tires....they replaced the front tires for FREE, because of the faulty alignment from the Texas Sears location. Thats service.

 

[VBVA]

The service is great, but the tech is not the good

 

[Robert]

I had Sears do my alignment a couple of months ago. Due to my TT/shackle lift, they wrote right on my ticket "advised customer of no warranty on alignment" which they did do. Alignment seem fine. It feels a little more floaty in the front end now though, but my steering wheel is perfectly centered now and it tracks straight. My tires aren't cupping anymore either.

 

[PekingMan]

If anyone feels shaky about going to Sears, I recommend going to the Firestone dealers. They have lifetime alignments (at least here in AZ) for the explorer priced at $150. Its worth every penny considering I have my Ex aligned every 3 months or so. Great for the TTB setup. They do good as well.

 

[rgiles]

I had an alignment done at Sears and it was pulling to one side. When I took it back to have it fixed, they said I needed some more parts, so warantee didn't cover it. My question is why didn't they detect it couldn't be aligned and advise me of that the first time?

Also had brakes done at Sears. I have always been disappointed in the service I get there. They kept my X for 4 days on the rear brakes, and still didn't fix them. I took it to Ford, they didn't fix it either. Took it to a low end shop and fixed it the first time! I won't go to Sears for anything other than possibly batteries.

 

[espnfreak]

Sears did great work on my new michelin x terrain tires and did a great job balancing the tires with their wheel weights. I reccomend Sears and think they are a devoted company.

 

[rgiles]

Originally posted by espnfreak
Sears did great work on my new michelin x terrain tires and did a great job balancing the tires with their wheel weights. I reccomend Sears and think they are a devoted company.

It wasn't too long ago that Sears was prosecuted or sued for fraud. If you weren't following it, they were saying they were replacing parts but they really weren't. I wouldn't have expected such behavior from a name brand company, but it did, and it wasn't isolated to one shop. They may have cleaned up their act but it doesn't take away their record.

 

[espnfreak]

Well everything I've done and my dad have had sears do at their shops, and all their tools were great for us. Personally I think they're great. They always handle customer service well too.

 

[VOATMJ1]

Originally posted by PekingMan
If anyone feels shaky about going to Sears, I recommend going to the Firestone dealers. They have lifetime alignments (at least here in AZ) for the explorer They do good as well.

So does Sears! They have lifetime alignments as well.

I use to think that Firestone was good, until they nearly killed me. I had brake work done there, they had the truck ALL day long. I picked the vehicle up that night, left the lot going down a hill, hit the brakes, and the rear brake shoes, fell off and was on the ground!! The brake pedal went to the floor, and only by the grace of God, there was no one at the bottom of the hill intersection. This was on my Bronco II.

I wouldn't trust them now to wash my windshield. I'm still pissed about that, and it happened a year ago.

 

[97emerald]

I believe that with any chain repair shop, Sears, Firestone, Pep boys or whatever, that the service is only as good as the techs and managers at each individual location. I have ha good and bad experiences at all of them. But I will say that overall you can't beat Sears for standing behind their work.

 

[rscamaro73]

Sears...lol...

I used to work at a Sears in Fredericksburg, VA in the automotive dept. Selling tires, batteries, etc - running the registers and whatnots....but anyways, I endedup quitting for 2 reasons : 1) the full time guys were A-holes, treating me like a kid when I knew as much as them, and 2) all the angry customers coming back because of faulty work: loose lug nuts, missing lug nuts, loose shocks, brake parts falling off while driving. I worked my butt off there and was SO glad to leave. I used to have the Sears lifetime allignment when they had them for my 91 Isuzu Impulse, and went ther eevery 3 or 4 months (and my stuff was off, but I drove hard).

Anyhows, that was my rant. I'd go for tires if they had a deal, but not if they were busy, and not for any other time. I learned to do my OWN brakes, and have no one but myself to blame for them working without any problems