At trade shows, one of the questions we are frequently asked is along the line of: "Is there really a market for wheel alignment?"
Take a look at this article on the BBC News website recently: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4n114gkgd4o
One ordinary garage in Cambridgeshire has more than quadrupled its order for tyres in the month of February as wet weather takes its toll on our deteriorating roads. According to the owner, they saw rises in suspension damage too - and repairs will need re-alignment. With the latest vehicles, just "doing the tracking" doesn't cut the mustard any more - for example many of a car's ADAS settings are controlled by the rear thrust angle, and changing the tracking without assessing how it affects the rest of the alignment can cause problems.
Traditionally, smaller workshops have outsourced full alignment but wheel alignment equipment supplier Absolute Alignment's Technical Director, Chris Dear, says this is false economy:
"Yes, many garages used to send members of staff out with customer cars to get them fully aligned but that's not a great idea for many reasons. Firstly of course, it ties up a technician when they should be doing something more productive. But most importantly a workshop loses control of price, timescale and quality - and with something as safety-critical as suspension that's not a risk most bosses should take."
The answer according to Chris lies in Absolute Alignment's range of wheel alignment equipment. "Many people think that hi-tech equipment attracts a hi-tech price but that's just not true. Our newly re-designed Bluetooth Lite wheel aligner costs the same as a couple of cups of coffee per day and yet is packed with features that put older machines to shame. It's a really popular seller, and we're even seeing previous customers trading in their old aligners to benefit from the latest tech."
Many workshop owners think they need to have a dedicated alignment bay to offer wheel alignment, and say they don't have the space. "That's just not true any more," Chris explains. "Our aligners can be adapted for use on four-post lifts, two-post lifts, scissor lifts and even ground pits. They're really flexible and pack away safely into the smallest of spaces or hang on the wall. Many operate from a hand held tablet via WiFi which makes he technician's job so much easier."
Wheel alignment doesn't just stop at repairs, however. An alert tyre dealer can see the state of tyres it changes and suggest the customer has their alignment checked to prevent excess tyre wear. In fact, Absolute Alignment has collected a wealth of statistics that workshops may like to use when up-selling from tyres to tyres and alignment. Our facts and figures can be found on our consumer-facing web site here.
So can the current pothole epidemic affect your bottom line? Only postively it appears, and in more ways than just quadrupling your tyre order!
Miss Alignment
May 2024