Have dealership install or shop install F-Sport Equipment?
#1
Have dealership install or shop install F-Sport Equipment?
Hi all,
I am considering modify my car to have F-Sport springs, sway bars and possibly the shocks and wanted to know who should I let install this?
Would there be pros and cons going either route?
One of my concerns is that if I go with the dealership installation, they are most likely going to re-align the vehicle to the factory spec which wears out tires fast. I wonder if I could have the dealership not perform the alignment the car such that I can drive the car short distance away to the dedicated alignment shop which performed my alignment which they set for general street use using my weight.
For the other shop, they can do all of this for me (it is the same shop that does the alignment). Would there be any problems with warranty by having the other shop installing this instead of having the dealership do this?
Any advice would help.
Thanks
I am considering modify my car to have F-Sport springs, sway bars and possibly the shocks and wanted to know who should I let install this?
Would there be pros and cons going either route?
One of my concerns is that if I go with the dealership installation, they are most likely going to re-align the vehicle to the factory spec which wears out tires fast. I wonder if I could have the dealership not perform the alignment the car such that I can drive the car short distance away to the dedicated alignment shop which performed my alignment which they set for general street use using my weight.
For the other shop, they can do all of this for me (it is the same shop that does the alignment). Would there be any problems with warranty by having the other shop installing this instead of having the dealership do this?
Any advice would help.
Thanks
Last edited by Sango; 01-31-11 at 10:41 AM.
#2
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (1)
If you have the dealer do it then your warranty is "whatever is left on your factory 4yr/50k vehicle warranty or 1 year, whichever is longer"
If you have anyone other than the dealer, including just you, install it, then the warranty is 1 year.
Assuming "someone else" is a shop that stands behind its work I'd save the hundreds extra the dealer will overcharge.
(if you were JUST doing the sways I'd say do it yourself, it's very very easy even if you don't normally do much car work... springs and shocks though is probably worth paying someone if you don't typically do anything on your own car).
If you have anyone other than the dealer, including just you, install it, then the warranty is 1 year.
Assuming "someone else" is a shop that stands behind its work I'd save the hundreds extra the dealer will overcharge.
(if you were JUST doing the sways I'd say do it yourself, it's very very easy even if you don't normally do much car work... springs and shocks though is probably worth paying someone if you don't typically do anything on your own car).
#3
Thanks Kurtz,
Most likely I will have the shop do all this then.
http://www.trulineseattle.com/index.html - It's actually this shop, recommended as one of tirerack's preferred tire installers. I had my tires installed and alignment done by him. I went to the Bellevue location and saw Byron - he really knows his stuff.
Most likely I will have the shop do all this then.
http://www.trulineseattle.com/index.html - It's actually this shop, recommended as one of tirerack's preferred tire installers. I had my tires installed and alignment done by him. I went to the Bellevue location and saw Byron - he really knows his stuff.
#4
Honestly most shops can install any of those for you. Sango you can order all those parts for cheap from Sewell and they include instructions for you (you can also download them as a PDF from the website also). You can look through it and determine if they're easy enough for you to do yourself. I've never done a spring installation in my life until I got my IS and with two buddies I got them in and out no problem (except for one which I needed a shop to cut a seized bolt but that was a rare scenario).
#5
Driver
iTrader: (1)
i mean if your concern is the warrantee id go to the dealer cuz lets say something breaks .. they would have to cover it because its their parts and they installed it. meanwhile if you have an outside shop do it and something happens they might not be so inclined to warrantee it because they didnt install. i mean if its cost your talking about a decent auto shop should be able to install those no problem.
#7
The flip side is you pay the extra for piece of mind. If you have an 2011 that means u could have 4 years worth of warranty if the dealer installs the part. My oppinion is that a spring is pretty straightforward, not a whole lot could happen if installed correctly. I ultimately got a local shop to install mine and was ok with only a years worth of warranty instead of the 4
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#8
Since my car is CPO, then I would have probably about close to over 2 years left on my car if I went with the dealership.
I do believe it is unlikely something would go going with the shop as they are reputable.
I am going to get a price quote between the two just to see what the difference would be in price to justify which way I want to go.
Thanks for the replies so far.
I do believe it is unlikely something would go going with the shop as they are reputable.
I am going to get a price quote between the two just to see what the difference would be in price to justify which way I want to go.
Thanks for the replies so far.
Last edited by Sango; 01-31-11 at 03:17 PM.
#12
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As Kurtz mentioned, the warranty difference is material but putting that aside, I think it just comes down to somebody who is a competent mechanic that knows how to work on suspensions.
shouldn't be complicated but you don't want knuckleheads doing it. The guys that did mine were idiots and I wound up having to have it fixed. Basically, if you go with a good shop, I would think you'd be fine. Take the $$$ savings from not going to the dealer and throw it in your savings account as an insurance premium.
shouldn't be complicated but you don't want knuckleheads doing it. The guys that did mine were idiots and I wound up having to have it fixed. Basically, if you go with a good shop, I would think you'd be fine. Take the $$$ savings from not going to the dealer and throw it in your savings account as an insurance premium.
#13
Advanced
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dont go to the dealership. id say its a rip off and any qualified mechanic can/will do the work for you for hundreds less than the dealer. if you have the time to work on the car yourself, then it's worth doing the mods yourself. you learn a ton as you're tinkering with the car. but if time is not abundant, then pay someone for the springs and shocks as they take quite a long time (should cost anywhere from $150 up). sway bars you can definitely install yourself as kurtz said.
#14
Instructor
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ive installed springs a shocks tons of times, but for laziness and argument sake i asked my dealer how much to throw on a set of f-sport springs....over $1000!!!!! minus the springs, just labor. are you out of your f'n mind lexus!?!?!? negative, ill wrench my own baggage thank you.