My coupe was in the dealership today getting an oil change when my service rep informed me that my rear tires were worn and I needed an alignment. I knew I had a steering drift problem and suspected it was the problem associated with a tsb, so I mentioned that to him.

He said he wanted to do a $40 alignment first, and if that didn't solve it he would perform the tsb. My response was to ask if they would then refund or not charge me for the alignment since that didn't solve my problem. He said they would not.

It sounds like they are trying to double charge to fix the same problem. They would in essence be charging me and Infiniti for fixing the problem.
Can anybody verify one way or another that what they told me is normal procedure?

Should a car that is this new need an alignment? The car has 13000 miles on it.
The tsb I'm refering to recommends replacing the right compression rod. The tsb can be seen <a href="http://www.infinitihelp.com/Ownership/Bulletins/Infiniti/2003/ITB03-028.htm">here</a>
Can they really not tell whether the problem is alignment or the compression rod issue without doing an alignment first?

I feel nickel and dimed every time I go to this dealership so I want to understand as much of this problem I can before deciding what to do about it.

http://www.floridag35.com

 

Don't confuse putting a car on an alignment machine to read the parameters [for diagnosis] with changing the parameters.

As the rubber isolation bushings wear the slop increases and the static alignments may change.

Alignments should be checked every 6 months [depending on road roughness and driving style [stress].

 

Are you saying they are charging $40 for the diagnosis? He didn't lead me to believe that was the case. He said he was going to DO an alignment.



http://www.floridag35.com

 

Platg the problem you have is that it is past the 12,000 mile warranty mark. You are basically getting screwed because you waited to long to have the tires/alignment checked. Free alignments within the first 12,000 miles or 12 months. I currently have feathered front tires (10,600 on the car and less than a year old) and they told me too bad and I need to pay for 2 new front tires. I'm not letting this rest, I called corporate, who said the tire can not be rotated, but the infiniti dealer said they should have been dismounted and swapped rims. My original dealer (who's tech are on strike) did not do this at 7,500 miles. So now I'm getting in touch with a Infiniti rep to see what they/I can do about this problem. My brother is also an attorney, but I'm trying to work this out without cause a big stink. It should not have to be this way!!! The car has been service by only infiniti dealers and basically the tires should not feather at 10,600 miles unless the alignment is off. Which is basically the same problem you have with uneven wear.

Hopefully I will hear something in the next day or two and let you know what happens.

------------------------------------------------------
2004 Infiniti G35C IP/5AT/aero/now with chin spoiler/premium/nav/performance/clear corners/K&N filter

 

Platg the problem you have is that it is past the 12,000 mile warranty mark. You are basically getting screwed because you waited to long to have the tires/alignment checked. Free alignments within the first 12,000 miles or 12 months. I currently have feathered front tires (10,600 on the car and less than a year old) and they told me too bad and I need to pay for 2 new front tires. I'm not letting this rest, I called corporate, who said the tire can not be rotated, but the infiniti dealer said they should have been dismounted and swapped rims. My original dealer (who's tech are on strike) did not do this at 7,500 miles. So now I'm getting in touch with a Infiniti rep to see what they/I can do about this problem. My brother is also an attorney, but I'm trying to work this out without cause a big stink. It should not have to be this way!!! The car has been service by only infiniti dealers and basically the tires should not feather at 10,600 miles unless the alignment is off. Which is basically the same problem you have with uneven wear.

Hopefully I will hear something in the next day or two and let you know what happens.

------------------------------------------------------
2004 Infiniti G35C IP/5AT/aero/now with chin spoiler/premium/nav/performance/clear corners/K&N filter

 

Thanks for the reply Grant. Do you have the steering drift problem as well? I don't think the 12,000 mile limitation is relevent if the problem is the one mentioned in the tsb, which I think mine is.
You may be in the same boat as me by only having one Infiniti dealership in town, but if not, you may have a better response from another dealership.

http://www.floridag35.com

 

As I said you must know what the alignment is before you decide to change it. [readjust the settings].
Takes 20-30 minutes to set up the car on the laser alignment machine, do the measurements, look at the numbers and decide to change something or just leave things alone.

The leave it alone range is way to wide for precision! The factory standard vs. perfection is the key. The factory only pays for outside the range.

I always slip the operator $20 before the process and I get perfection or as close to humanly possible in the extra 30 minutes he sweats away trying to please me.

A decent 4 wheel alignment cost $50-$90 plus advance tip depending on local labor rates!

Guess you have never paticipated in the alignment process before.

STUDY your FSM and look at acceptable camber:
minimum+0.67; nominal -0.08; or maximum - 0.83 that's a total of anywere in 1.5 degrees................at least 3 times the precision acceptable range of within 0.5 degrees.

Left to right differences of 0.75 degrees are acceptable to factory yet 0.3 degrees will cause a noticeable to an expert dift!

Always demand a before and after computer printout showing what it was and what after any adjustments were made.

THRUST ANGLE is a critical parameter that is not specified.......it should the the minimum humanly possible 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000degre es but the alignment machine may show -0.01 or zero or + 0.01.

 

Q45, do you know if the steering drift TSB I'm referencing would cause the inside rear tire wear that I have?


http://www.floridag35.com

 

Inside wear is almost always from excessive negative camber and a combination of inflation inapproriate for tire model in use on vehicle.

Radial tires designed for the street are designed for ~~ negative -0.5 degree STATIC camber..........anymore than that will show the wear, yet G35 likes -1.0 as nominal on rear.
Lots of performance cars use more than -1,0 degrees, some
-1.5 degrees

Examples of pushing the limits to enhance performance.
The high caster [7.75 degrees] setting adds camber gain at initial turn in, this increases the NEGATIVE STATIC camber as the car turns.
But I use -1.7 front and -1.5 rear camber [with 6.5 degrees of caster] on my car since lowering 7 years ago. Understand the ramifications and costs, and your time to deal with the problems camber/caster/toe can cause.


High caster creates stability in high speeds, reduces wander!