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TANASPRAGUE

MEMBER
2007 CHRYSLER 300
140,000 MILES

Hi there. Brought my car to get new tires installed, on completion they told me that my tie rods were loose. With an estimate of 480$.I didnt like the price so I got a qoute elsewhere of 414$. Which was better so I went with the lower price at a new garage. Dropped my car off came back to get it and they said they didnt do any work cause I needed new ball joints, new control arm, rear hub bearing, which would cost me a total of 2900.I just want to know what you would think of those claims are they legit. And from what I know my car is making alot of knocking noises up front mostl on the right side.I mean im not doubting the fact that theres something wrong with the front end cause I know there is. But when I got my tires installed at the first shop they only said I need tie rods wouldnt they have noticed the ball joints annd control arm etc?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

Tie rods are real easy to notice when installing tires and they would not be doing their job if they didn't say anything. Ball joints and control arm bushings require a specific setup to do an inspection. The problem with the first shop is they should have specified that they didn't look any further than the obvious. With new tie rod ends the car has to be aligned. It can not be properly aligned with other loose parts that they overlooked. If you agreed to the work, someone was going to have to tell you more work was needed once they found that out. Mechanics and service advisers hate having to do that.

All three of those estimates seem too high to me, but I left the dealership in '99. I'd have the car inspected at another shop, but do not tell them what other people found. That can limit their inspection to just verifying what someone else found, or they could work extra hard to find more wrong to make the other guys look incompetent, or they could try to find fewer things wrong to make their competitors look like crooks. Just explain the noises you're hearing and any other observations or hints, and let them do their own inspection. The dealer is a good choice, or another tire and alignment shop.