apologies, its a duplicate post. The original is in the wrong section.
So I'm possibly at "that point" with my wife's car. Its a 2012 Flex with 160k miles and has been problem free minus a $300 part that went haywire years ago. Just been routine maintenance otherwise. Just put new tires on it (~$1100) and went for the 4 wheel alignment like a good soldier adhering to the warranty requirements on said tires.
The garage had it for ~4 hours for the alignment and couldn't get it back in spec. Left camber is out -2 and right is out +1.3. I have no idea what that means other than eventually I'll have uneven wear on the tires. But it drives straight, so partial win? I was told I needed new struts. Ok. Quoted me for $684 out the door and I told them I'll think on it and get a second opinion.
Went to the other garage I use (that replaced these very struts in 2021 at 131k miles) and was given the list... New struts, new control arms, new sway bar linker, and rear shocks and a rotation... all for ~$2400. They said this would be "doing the job right." Do a KBB or edmunds guess and this is half the value of that car.
Its been a solid car thats been paid off for years and my wife still loves it. I don't mind putting money into, but at the same time I don't want to be sold some BS from a garage. Is this something that should be taken care of? Or just let it eat tires until the car quits?
So I'm possibly at "that point" with my wife's car. Its a 2012 Flex with 160k miles and has been problem free minus a $300 part that went haywire years ago. Just been routine maintenance otherwise. Just put new tires on it (~$1100) and went for the 4 wheel alignment like a good soldier adhering to the warranty requirements on said tires.
The garage had it for ~4 hours for the alignment and couldn't get it back in spec. Left camber is out -2 and right is out +1.3. I have no idea what that means other than eventually I'll have uneven wear on the tires. But it drives straight, so partial win? I was told I needed new struts. Ok. Quoted me for $684 out the door and I told them I'll think on it and get a second opinion.
Went to the other garage I use (that replaced these very struts in 2021 at 131k miles) and was given the list... New struts, new control arms, new sway bar linker, and rear shocks and a rotation... all for ~$2400. They said this would be "doing the job right." Do a KBB or edmunds guess and this is half the value of that car.
Its been a solid car thats been paid off for years and my wife still loves it. I don't mind putting money into, but at the same time I don't want to be sold some BS from a garage. Is this something that should be taken care of? Or just let it eat tires until the car quits?