jaydubya

For $1,500 you could purchase the equipment NEW to DIY...

aubreym

He's right. Sometimes it's easy ($350) sometimes it's not ($950).

kurt M

10 hours and no reindex of the rear T bars? Tell them not to use your wallet and car to train the new guy next time.

KLR

I lived in NYC until last year. My general experience was that there are many exceptional local shops and prices were pretty reasonable due to the competition. My shop (SM Motorsports in New Hyde Park) used to charge $170 (flat rate) to align my 951 to my specs and provided a printout of the settings before and after. I never had them do a corner balance, but I can't imagine that it would have added $700+ to the bill. Interestingly, things seem to cost a bit more here in Chicago and the choices are far fewer.

francisb -- $282?!?!?! Yikes! In the U.S., most independent shops charge $75 to $100/hour. Dealers charge about $125/hour, give or take.

ilko

Manhattan Motorcars (NYC's Porsche Dealer) takes the cake - $180/hr. That's the most expensive price I've seen. My Audi dealer charges $110/hr. Once you leave Manhattan, prices drop down to double-digits.

mark kibort

i remember paying $90 for an alignment 6 years ago at wheel works. havent touched it since.
I think i made 1 or 2 turns on a shock purch to help out the corner balancing in the first year.
Also, i did drive around with the swaybars disconnected and then reconnected it after the adjustment, so there was no preload.

900 bucks, is the cost for all maintenance, tires, gas, brakes and tune ups for my car for all of last years racing season in ITE SCCA.

Mk

Chaos

Rape is illegal in all fifty states ! Please post the shops name !

bobt993

analogmike

I thought all work done on Porsche race cars was in units of $1K? or $10K units for cup car damage.

Russ Murphy

Ed Newman

There are a lot of variables. A simple "close enough" job should be about 4-5 hours, if you want it perfect, it can take 2 men a full day (14-16 hours) after a "take apart". I just spend $1500 for mine after I had the shocks out for a rebuild. And as for buying your own gear, yes you can, but it will still take at least that much time if you know how to do it and you have to put a value on your time.

Antonio

I'd like to pass an update on the $950 alignment thread.

After (politely) expressing my displeasure with the charge, the amount dropped to $760, plus tax. I had the chance to speak with the owner over the phone. He informed me of the difficulties that they had with my car such as a stuck rear plate adjustor. I truly have a hard time believing this since I have adjusted the rear camber myself countless times without any problems. However since I was not around when they were working on the car and I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

Some people have inquired whether I was happy with the outcome. Well, no. The car now sits way too high in the rear. As far as I can tell, the corner balancing never took place. Bottom line, I will have to take the car someplace else to finish the job.

Several people have PM’d me asking for the name of the shop. I believe that my situation was the result of poor communication and low skill from the part of the technician who worked on the car rather than dishonesty. Remember, a shop is as good as the tech who does the work. Yes, you can spend 10 hours on a plain vanilla alignment if you don’t know what you’re doing. The shop in question has been around for a long time and I’m sure they have many satisfied customers. I’m not one of them at the moment. Perhaps I will them another chance in the future but with me being around watching like a hawk.

Thank you to all who responded with suggestions and comments.

Anthony

Greg Fishman

IF it is not right, why not have them re-do it to your specification?
$760 is a lot of money to throw away on a lousy job.

Antonio

I might ask them to do that but only if I'm around watching.