I had an alignment done at a race shop today
 

For once, the guy knew what he was doing and he even had the optical Hunter machine and a straight and square rack. He set it all up really smoothly, climbed under the car and had his wrench placed faster than I could even look. No fumbling, thinking, or head scratching. Took 20 minutes and cost $135. Here's to even tread wear and longer tire life!

Wow $135 hope it turns out to be worth it.
 

Whats a regular alignment cost in your area. I pay $50 at the factory and 60-70 dollars any where else. Hey the factory is actually cheaper in this case. :P

I wanted to have it done right
 

I went to the place that came highly recommended by the local Audiworlders. My last el cheapo alignment with the Hunter machine with the wires was about $120 and cost me a few sets of prematurely worn tires. Pay once, cry once. As for cost, remember, in CA most things cost a lot more than anywhere else in the country. An hour labor cost $125 and up at most reputable places.

Other than this place only the dealerships have the proper optical alignment machine (60k bucks!) here, and the dealer charges a lot more for an alignment.

Sounds good.
 

Hope it all works out.

the average price in Denver for front & rear alignment is $160...
 

If you know where to go that'll buy you a great alignment. If not you pays your money and takes your chances.

I've gotten good alignments on tired old alignment racks and really bad alignments on the latest/greatest high-tech laser racks. The key is the man operating the equipment. In the machining industry the adage is:

"A good machinist can make a better part with an old worn out machine than a bad machinist can make with the newest/best machine."

Thats never been more true than when it comes to alignments. To this day the best alignments I've ever gotten were done by an 75-80 year old man with a homemade alignment rack, wooden yardstick and a roll of kite string as tools. The man was an artist on the rack and could induce any behavior we wanted on our race car with flawless perfection first time, every time. He was legend in these parts for over a decade in the 70's.

They told me to come back if it's not perfect
 

They would take care of it.

You guys have nifty prices too
 

Of course, any machine is only as good as its operator. Watching that guy set up the car and performing the alignment smoothly and efficiently was a joy. I didn't feel like I overpaid.

PS: I once met an ancient guy who could beat the fender for a Porsche 356 out of a plain piece of aluminum!

even better.