Got royally scammed by a tire shop, looking for input on what to have replaced.

[Texarkana]

First off, I’m not a tech but I figured if anyone had a sure-fire answer it’d be you guys.

Vehicle is a 2009 LaCrosse CX.

I’ve had a series of spats with this particular tire shop over a price match. In Jan 2013 I went in for a Tire Rotation. Upon completion the service writer tells me my alignment is out and offers me their 1, 3 and 5 year alignment packages. I decline citing Firestone has a better deal, Service writer inquires about it and asks me to sit tight. He comes back from the service managers office and offers me a price match.

In 2015 they began noticing parts were being replaced and they weren’t doing it, so they tried telling me it’s a 3 year alignment package. In March 2016 I call customer service who tells them it must be honored, after the district manager told them over the phone that “I can’t get any more free alignments”.

Same deal in Jan of this year, Customer Service tells them the same thing.

In Sept I replaced all 4 struts and outer tie rods along with a hub assembly.

I went in this past Monday for an alignment to which the new store manager had no issue with. Later they come get me and tell me that the nut on the rear trailing arm is seized, and that it needed to be replaced for to get it in spec. They agreed to do the front and driver rear anyway. I ordered one when I got home, put it on Thur and took it back this morning.

After the service is completed they decide to tell me that the front jamb nuts were seized so badly that they had to heat them up, and then tell me that they heated them up so much they were “Welded in place” and that the front “wouldn’t be able to be aligned again”.

I get it home, grab my adjustable wrench and sure as can be, the entire tie rod assembly rotates. No amount of PB Blaster or Freeze-Off will get them loose. I even used a 13mm on the hex portion of the inner rod propped against the CV axle and put all my weight behind it and it won’t move.

I called the store manager, and honestly wasn’t too kind given the past issues I’ve had here. I’m taking it in tomorrow morning first thing, and I’m pretty sure the store manager is going to claim heat will fix it, but common sense says it’ll get stuck again once the nut cools.

Given the service writers comments and the past history I’ve had with this place and the alignment deal I don’t see how anyone could see this as accidental. Only possibilities are.

1) They used a cheater pipe to tighten the jam nuts.
2) Red Loc-Tite
3) Idiot pyro with a blow torch and short attention span.

My question is as follows:
How likely is the structural integrity of the inner tie rods to be ruined by this heat? If the nuts are seized in place the only option would be to replace the inner and outer tie rods, but in the event this manager tries to give me a short term fix; should I push for replacement based on safety issues?

Topic

[Texarkana]

Sorry for the double post, seems to be an error with the edit system. Feel free to delete a thread.

[Josh]

Order a new power steering rack, have it installed by a TRUSTED shop and have the tire place comp you for the cost. Then never deal with this crappy place again.

[Texarkana]

Luckily that won’t be necessary. I took a closer look and to be assholes it appears they used red loctite. No blueing or spot on the tie rods. For $40 I can grab a mapp gas to torch and do it myself.

[Author]

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