Les Swab tells me that it is not possible to do an alignment on an Accura Legend – is this true? My 1988 always drove as straight as an arrow and after I purchased two new rear tires. After several visits and tire rotations, Les Swab folks guessed that the reason my car was drifting right was likely a “tire issue” – so they sold me 4 new and matching tires. It did not resolve the problem – the car is still drifting right, and they tell me that they cannot align this car. What should I do next?
Call an Acura dealer and ask. Also, take a look in your owner’s manual and see what it says about tires and alignment. I tend to believe the alignment can be done with proper adjustment kits installed, but I have never owned or worked on an Acura.
Selling you four new tires would not solve any complaint that you provided to them, as far as I can tell without actually examining the tires.
Of course you can align an Acura Legend. How do I know? Because my parents still own a 1st generation Acura Legend and they had it aligned earlier this year by Acura. I actually have the print out. It would be fair to say though that they aren’t too sensitive to things being off slightly. They run tall aspect tires with narrow treads. Great car by the way-theirs is 19 years old and has not required any major repairs. The dealer is always dissapointed to tell them everything looks good when it gets serviced haha.
Thank you for good, practical advice!
To add to the good advice that has already been given, I want to give you something to contemplate:
Since Les Schwab is mainly in the business of selling tires, and since they make much more profit from the sale of 4 tires than from wheel alignment, I am not surprised to hear that they gave you this misinformation.
My suggestion is to inquire with friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives for the name of an independent shop that specializes in front end work and alignment work. Your car can certainly be aligned, and if it is aligned properly, you might not have to buy the next set of tires from Les Schwab–or any other retailer–quite as soon.
It is rarely a good idea to go to a chain operation for any type of mechanical work (including things like alignment), and while we usually tell people to avoid Midas, Meineke, Monro, Sears, Aamco, Lee Myles, and Cottman, it appears that we should add Les Schwab to that list.