User981

Getting ready to replace the tires on a 2016 Cayman GTS with 30k miles. No tracking anticipated in the near future. In addition to the cost of the tires for 20" wheels, I was quoted $400 for an alignment by the dealer. No, I don't know that I'll have the work done at the dealer but I was really curious about the cost. I thought at first they accidentally added a zero. Is it so difficult to do a street alignment for these cars that it costs that much? Or is this just somewhat ambitious on the part of the dealer? If so, what could I more reasonably expect? Thx.

Oldboy52

If your car tracks staight and true hands off on a well paved, straight, and smooth road, and you have no abnormal tire wear on your old tires, you do not need an alignment. Otherwise, use a Porsche specific independent for the alignment at roughly half the cost and ask them to match both slides as close as they can.

981KMAN

My Porsche Dealer charges $269 for an alignment, and gives 15% discount off that number if you are a PCA member.....

TMc993

Quit going to dealerships for simple tasks like wheel alignment...I go to an independent shop that refers me to another independent tire/alignment shop if I need alignment...$95.00 out the door with a full alignment. Paying more to a dealership is just silliness...

ICNU

My dealer wanted $500 for an alignment more than 5 years ago which is insane. Like the others have said, dont go to dealers and find a reputable shop elsewhere. There is nothing magical or different about doing an alignment on a Porsche vs any other car. Its the usual "Porsche stupid tax" they are hoping you will fall for.

Strat_928

I have a local Porsche Indy shop do it for a little over 200. In general (without regular tracking), I agree that every couple years is probably sufficient, all things being normal, with tires and hands off tracking, no pulling or veering etc. I had one earlier this year and it was not too far off after a couple years (including a couple of track days). Uneven wear - should be kept a close eye on of course since you cannot rotate tires. A set of 4 Pilot Sport 4s are around 17-1800 bucks. Luckily the rears seems to go much quicker (especially with tracking) and so you can replace the rears sometimes then the fronts a year or so later and only spend about 900 at a time.

User981

Thx, all, for the replies. Tires have worn evenly and the car tracks straight at all speeds so it doesn't sound like an alignment is needed at this time. I do have a couple of indy shops nearby, which I will explore, and one of which is purely a tire shop with which I've had good experiences over a number of years.

yebokmj

Just because your car track straight and the tires wore evenly doesn't me the vehicle's alignment is fine. I wouldn't pay dealership prices for the alignment but I would definitely get one. It's cheap insurance to protect your investment in new tires, plus tire manufactures will not honor their tread wear warranty if an alignment is not done at time of installation. That is if the tires you purchased even have such a warranty, example, Michelins do.

User981

Good point. Thx. Hadn't thought about the warranty. I'll talk to my local tire specialty shop about it.

okie981

A track prep specialist shop will do a custom (or OEM spec) 4-wheel alignment for less than $200. When I lived in DFW I would use Texas Track Works. Always had excellent work and customer service with TTW. I would pay $149 for 4-wheel alignment. Last one there was in 2020 so consider inflation in that price.

6mmamer

Time will tell but my local tire shop did my last alignment. No real science to this but it's the first time in 4 years of ownership that my tire pressures increased uniformly as tire temp goes up. Under $100

toma nova

I use a local Firestone for alignments. Their equipment is good so it depends on the tech. They’ve done custom for me for track (max camber) with no issues. I’d prefer a track shop but none near me that do alignments / are Porsche experts.

TMc993

Exactly.

Words you don't want to hear in your alignment shop:
"First time I've ever done a Porch."
"Never done one of these, but a buddy told me how."
"Haven't done one 'til now but I did watch a YouTube video."
"Do they still put VW parts in these thangs?"

DriverDaily

Alignments are pretty universal. It isn’t as if Porsche eccentric bolts and tie rods are different.

The differences are how close to the spec the tech is willing to get, or how precise the alignment rack is.

Usually, there are shops that specialize in precision alignments for track rats. For example: Soul Speed in Austin.