We are bringing our 2017 3.0 Q7 in for its 30k checkup and we are thinking it needs an alignment. This is our first Audi and I don't want to cut corners; however, an alignment is being quoted at $450 at our nearest dealer. I know that a Pep Boys by our house offers a lifetime alignment/rotation package for ~$200 or so. So economically, it's a relatively big difference over the life of the car.

I know that alignments are increasingly more complex for AWD, Driver assistance tech, etc. That said, should I not be a cheapskate and just pay for the Audi service, or should I say 'no thanks' and have my local Pep Boys handle it? More importantly, does anyone know if well known national car shops (Pep Boys, Firestone, etc) are capable of doing alignments on these cars?

Any color appreciated. Thanks

 

I have usually avoided the chain locations for tires and alignments. I have found that local businesses in town are the best. I would bet that if you asked around, you would find a local tire shop that will be your best bet for tires and alignments.

 

Personally I only use my dealer for everything. Full documentation on all work within audi system is worth it on a car like this. As far as alignment, if you have DAP, it’s has to be done at a dealer as all the radar and sensors need to be calibrated and they are the only ones with the equipment to do so. Also, will cost way more then $450 with DAP as the calibrating is a lengthy process.

 

Most chains do a "Tone n' Go" which is the quickest alignment (No caster / Camber Adjustment) you can do and is not a full alignment, most chains hire right out of school kids to do it as well. I'd never trust a chain to do my alignment on my 2006 Ford Ranger let alone my Audi. But with all of that being said my feelings are to never step foot in a dealer unless it's a warranty issue, you can find good places if you look around in most areas to do as good if not better work than the dealer does for much less money but you need to do the research first, once you find a place you'll never go to the "Stealership" again.

 

Good info... thanks all. We do have driver assistance tech, so I guess I probably need to just go with the dealer this first time and in the meantime, I'll have a good local Euro shop scoped out by then for the next alignment. Think the plan was to stick with the dealer as long as I can stand it and while under original or the CPO warranty. Fwiw too, being given a courtesy car is worth something to my wife as well since she's toting a little one around most of the time.

 

The free loaner is something that I didn't consider, the convenience of it is huge, I think for a 1 day job i'd just Uber it myself if more than that I'd Uber home and take one of my other vehicles but I totally understand when it comes to carting around the little ones something like a loaner car makes a world of difference.

 

Find a nice tech and pay him on the side to do it.

 

Here's what I don't understand about alignment as it relates to DAP. If the alignment was correct when the vehicle was brand new and the DAP sensors where calibrated for that, when you bring the alignment back to spec, why would the DAP sensors need to be recalibrated? They should still be calibrated for the correct alignment, which is where you will be when the alignment process is done. Doesn't make sense to me. What am I missing?

 

i was wondering the same thing.

 

Find out what they are proposing to do for $450. I'm guessing they want to at least charge you for aligning the DAP sensors, but insist on only doing a mechanical alignment. If the alignment is brought back to factory spec and you don't have any aftermarket suspension modifications and the sensors themselves weren't knocked out of alignment, then a normal mechanical alignment is all you need in my experience. I don't have a Q7, but I have an RS5 with DAP. Granted, I only have the side assist and front radar sensors, but still. I just had a mechanical alignment done not too long ago and it was like $140 at the dealership. I did have bad experiences outside the dealership. My wife's car was aligned at Big-O-Tires after a minor collision and it drove like crap afterwards. Had to have it redone at my indy shop. But the same indy shop struggled in the past aligning my RS5. One thing that needs to be done after an alignment is resetting the steering. My indy shop tried to do that with a laptop and vagcom, but I'm guess they didn't do it right. I have the optional Dynamic Steering. The car never drove quite right after the alignment, so I had the dealership redo it and that fixed everything. Since then, I only take my RS5 to the dealership for alignment and as I said so far no DAP sensor alignment was ever necessary. I would just do the mechanical alignment and then if you are having any issues with DAP, then you can take it back and get the sensors alignment. Chances are everything will be fine after the mechanical alignment.