​​​​​​​I think I have a big problem, and in an area that I don't have a lot of expertise. Little history. "02 C2, with 169,000 miles (original motor, not that it's relevant to this issue). I've owned this car for 6 years and put 70,000 miles on it. It was aligned shortly before I bought it, and although I've been through several sets of tires, they have all worn as expected. A few months ago I had new shocks and springs installed but wanted to wait a few months until I got new tires before I got it aligned.

A couple of weeks ago I had the car in to a Porsche Indy that I have used several times, to get some things taken care of (new water pump, among others). While there I asked if they had anybody they recommended for alignments. They used a local tire place, that I believe has a good reputation, and at my request they said they would arrange to get it over there and back to the shop while they had my car. (Both shops are about 30 miles from me, so not super convenient.) They didn't charge me anything for this.

Got the car back and it seemed different, but OK. However my steering wheel, which was always a little off center, was now cocked at least a 1/4 turn to the right. Annoying, but figured if the alignment was good I'd just pop the wheel off and re-center it.

Took at trip of about 250 miles. On the way it seemed OK, but on the way back, whole other story. I posted in another thread about when I came upon about 15 miles of new concrete interstate, much of it etched, the car was very hard to control at 80 mph, and I had to slow down to 65 until the pavement went back to tar. Immediately checked my tire pressures and all were OK, so I drove home, but carefully.

Called the Indy and he suggested I call the tire place, which I did. Guy said he would be glad to check everything over. I asked for an appointment, since it was a drive for me, and I was definitely going to wait. "Not necessary" was his reply. Bring it in anytime and they'd take care of me. I said I'd be in the next day or two. Took it next morning, arriving at 8:45 AM. Mgr I spoke to was off that day! Told my whole story again and the guy said they'd try to work me in right away. 90 minutes later I asked for my keys and told him I wasn't waiting any longer. He asked me if I wanted to make an appointment, which really ticked me off since that's what I wanted the first time. I reminded him I'd already driven 30 miles that morning, and wouldn't make the trip again. At that point I'd lost any confidence in them and decided to go elsewhere. Turns out that was a good decision.

On the recommendation of a Porsche driving friend, I went to another place earlier this week. I didn't tell them where I'd been, but told them someone else had tried to align it and clearly something was wrong. He offered to print out the alignment specs, before and after, so I could compare. However he barely had it on the lift when he called me into the bay. Just checking things over visually he immediately found one of the front tie rod "jam nuts" (that's what I've always called them) hanging loose, about 1/2" backed off where it should have been. Not a good sign. (And I have a picture.)

But when he really got into it he discovered a bigger problem. (And this is where my tech knowledge is very thin.) The Centrix adjustments on both rear wheels have been damaged, and it looks recent. He thinks someone tried to adjust them without taking the engine weight off. He was able to manipulate them a little, but not much. It appears the centrix assembly is part of the rear subframe, necessitating replacement of this part(s).

I called the Indy shop to discuss this, but they're closed this week, so I'm waiting until Monday. To be clear, I do not hold them responsible in any way for this. The tire dealer is where the problem is, but I want to talk to my Indy first, to see if he might have enough sway with the tire shop to help. I'm not optimistic though.

The fact that the jam nut was left loose and the steering wheel was so badly misaligned (fixed with my alignment earlier this week!) add credence to my side of things, but I'm guessing they'll admit to nothing and simply refund my money. That's likely a pittance for what it's going to cost me. Any suggestions welcome, or if you can help me better understand the mechanics of the centrix system that would be great too.