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Kia is saying they can't do an alignment because of too much rust. Car from Chicago, now in Tampa. Asking $3.5k for repair
(i.imgur.com)
Can an expert identify from these pictures if this is really true? It's a 2015 Kia Optima. I'm the original owner, used to live in Chicago but now I'm in Tampa. They say they've never seen anything like it, but that's probably cause they're from FL. They said they can't do an alignment because they can't loosen something to get the equipment in. I would need to replace the following for around $3.5k:
• Tie Rod End Replacement: left front inner and outer tie rod ends with new nut • Control Arm- Rear: both rear lower control arms and hardware • Trailing Arm: both rear arms and hardware
That looks pretty damn clean to me but I'm from MN so I'm also used to complete rust buckets. It sounds like they just don't want to work on your vehicle. I've known shops where rather than turning down a customer they just send them an absurdly high quote to get them to go elsewhere. I'd just take it to a different shop.
That's what Im going to do. I didn't think my car was that bad. They've mentioned before they never seen a car with rust, when I took it for other things in the past. It just needed an alignment and was shocked when they said it'll cost $3.5k in repairs.