Walmart Tire Alignment Cost: How much is it?
Walmart is a well-known one-stop-shop for all of your car necessities which include tires, tire services, batteries, windshields, oil checks, and many other associated goods and services. Walmart operates more than 2,500 Auto Centers across the US which means that finding one is rather easy.
If you ever wondered how much does a Walmart tire alignment cost, you’ve come to the right place as that is exactly the topic of today’s article, so stick around and find out!
Walmart Tire Alignment Cost
Walmart offered tire alignment services up until 2022, but the company recently came out and said that they will not be offering tire alignment services anymore. The price Walmart used to charge for wheel alignment was between $50 and $100 depending on if you only wanted your front wheels aligned, or all four of your wheels.
Even though Walmart does not offer wheel alignment services anymore, we are going to list a few alternatives and tell you all you need to know about each. If you need other tire services besides alignment, Walmart is still one of the best places to go.
Where Else Can I Get Tire Alignment?
- Pep Boys
- Firestone Complete Auto Care
- Sears
- Goodyear
- Les Schwab
- Jiffy Lube
Can I Do My Tire Alignment At Pep Boys?
Pep Boys is one of the most popular places to take your car for wheel alignment services as they currently operate more than 7,000 facilities nationwide. Pep Boys typically charges around $85 for a full four-wheel alignment which is mostly on point with other similar facilities, but Pep Boys’ wheel alignment does come with either a three-month or a lifetime warranty which is indeed useful.
The pros of taking your car to Pep Boys to do alignment is convenience as there are so many Pep Boys stores all around the country and they always offer discount coupons. They are also experienced at doing wheel alignment and they use industry-leading equipment. The cons are that some places offer wheel alignment services for a lower price while also not being as busy as Pep Boys.
Can I Do My Tire Alignment At Firestone?
You sure can. Expect to pay around $80 for a four-wheel alignment service at Firestone Complete Auto Care, but Firestone also offers a lifetime warranty which is one of the best ones you will find at any similar car service center. Firestone tends to use Hunter HawkEye Machines for all of their tire alignment services which are some of the best alignment machines on the market.
The pros of taking your car for an alignment service at Firestone are the warranty, the price, and the equipment while the cons of taking your car to Firestone for an alignment are that they are often crowded and that they don’t offer discount coupons as often as other companies on this list.
Can I Do My Tire Alignment At Sears?
Sears is also a really popular place for doing tire alignment. The price you typically need to pay is $85 for all four of your tires with a warranty that lasts between one to three years. Sears made headlines a few years back by offering free alignment checks that only last 90 seconds or so. This is because they have revolutionized the alignment check technology and are the only ones using it.
As such, the pros of taking your car to Sears for a wheel alignment are how quick and efficient they are, and how experienced they are. On the other hand, their prices are a bit higher than most while their warranty coverages are considerably worse because they don’t offer lifetime coverage.
Can I Do My Tire Alignment At Goodyear?
Goodyear is the only US-founded and US-owned tire company these days while also being at the very top of the tire industry as one of the leading global tire brands. They also offer more than 2,000 Goodyear Tire & Service Networks all around the country. The price of a regular four-wheel alignment at Goodyear is $100 with a 6-month/6,000-mile warranty.
Obviously, Goodyear is not the best place to go both price-wise and warranty-wise, but Goodyear has some of the most skilled technicians in the entire car industry and they tend to combine these services with some of their tires which can lower your total price quite a bit.
Can I Do My Tire Alignment At Les Schwab?
Les Schwab is in the business of car service for about 70 years now which means that they know a thing or two about how to do a wheel alignment properly. A four-wheel alignment at Les Schwab costs between $80 and $100 depending on factors such as where the facility is located and how busy they are on a daily basis.
With just a 30-day warranty, Les Schwab is not nearly the best place on this list, but the good thing about Schwab is that you get a free inspection whenever you want it and you don’t need to schedule an appointment beforehand with most Les Schwab facilities.
Can I Do My Tire Alignment At Jiffy Lube?
With more than 2,000 facilities nationwide, Jiffy Lube also offers wheel alignment services. However, the price you have to pay at Jiffy Lube is almost always above $100, but they do offer discounts coupons really often which is indeed a good thing. As far as the warranty is concerned, you can expect to get a 6-month/6,000-mile warranty.
Jiffy Lube takes great pride in being one of the quickest places to do tire alignment which is beneficial for many people. However, the high costs and the not so long-lasting warranty are what could use some improvement.
Can I Do Wheel Alignment At My Local Mechanic?
Wheel alignment equipment tends to cost between $10,000 to $50,000 per single machine which does not seem too bad for commercial purposes. However, prices can get fairly feisty when you consider that all of these need proper maintenance and highly skilled mechanics to operate. If these aren’t maintained properly, they can do a lot more harm than good.
As such, if your local mechanic has the proper equipment and you know that the services he/she provides are up to scratch, then you can take your car to your local mechanic to get your wheel alignment done. It must be said that most local mechanics do not offer any warranty coverage at all, but are often willing to haggle about the price.
All in all, wheel alignment is highly dependent on precision which means that this is not something to take lightly. As such, most people are keener on taking their cars to larger auto care centers as these offer warranties and are operating at much highest standards than most local mechanics.
Why Do Cars Need Wheel Alignment?
A wheel alignment is necessary in order to maintain the proper angle at which your car meets the road. This is essential for on-road safety, handling, traction, and tire wear. If your wheels are out of whack, you will put additional strain on your suspension components which can end up in costly repairs or even serious accidents.
A wheel alignment is not something to take lightly as it can bear many unwanted consequences. The reasons why wheels can become misaligned are due to impacts to your drivetrain, potholes, hitting the curb, minor vehicle collisions, bad quality or worn-out suspension components, or road debris.
How Do I Know If My Wheels Are Misaligned?
- Vehicle Pulls To One Side – Remove your hands off your steering wheel while going on a smooth and straight piece of road. If the car starts swerving to one side or the other, chances are that your car needs a wheel alignment.
- Uneven Steering Wheel – If your steering wheel is off-center while driving straight, your car needs wheel alignment immediately as any discrepancies that are as obvious as this one can be detrimental to your on-road safety.
- Loose Steering – If your steering inputs feel loose or sloppy, something with your steering/suspension components needs mending. More often than not, these symptoms tend to point toward needing a wheel alignment.
- Steering Wheel Vibrations – There are quite a few causes of a vibrating steering wheel, but the two most common ones are either unbalanced or misaligned wheels. As such, be sure to take your car in for an inspection to determine the best course of action.
- Uneven Tire Wear – Excessive outer tire wear, excessive inner tire wear, and tire scalloping are all symptoms of uneven tire wear which is usually caused by suspension issues, unbalanced wheels, lack of frequent tire rotations, or even due to misaligned wheels. As such, be sure to take your car in for a service and find out.
- Squealing Tires – Squealing tires can often lead to issues such as a broken tire rod, a broken tire belt, or misaligned wheels, all of which require immediate attention as they can cause loads of issues down the line.
Conclusion
As of 2022, there is no such thing as a Walmart tire alignment cost as Walmart does not offer wheel alignment services anymore. This can be due to several reasons such as the fact that alignment machines are expensive to buy, and expensive to maintain. They also require trained professionals which need to be educated and it seems like the profit margins behind doing wheel alignment aren’t there, at least not for Walmart.
Be that as it may, there are still plenty of places that do offer wheel alignment services, so be sure to check them out as ignoring wheel misalignment can be a really dangerous thing to do.