Choosing a garage for your tire changeover and alignment

With the changing seasons come the inevitable appointments at the garage for the changeover and alignment of your tires. It isn’t always easy to find the right garage for your vehicle maintenance and repairs. Sure, a whole host of mechanic garages offer tire installation and alignment services. However, it’s important to do a little investigation before making an appointment.

Finding a garage for your tire changeover: ask the right questions

To make sure you find that rare gem of a garage where you’ll get the kind of service you deserve, don’t be embarrassed to ask questions when making your appointment. Here are some of the most important questions to ask a potential mechanic:

• Are your mechanics and your garage licensed and certified?
• How many years of experience do you have?
• Do you frequently perform tire alignments and changeovers?
• Do you specialize in any particular makes of automobiles?
• How much do you charge for your services?
• Does your tire installation service include alignment?
• What warranties do you offer on your services?

Getting your tires changed and aligned in one appointment

While many garages combine tire changeover and wheel alignment services, alignment isn’t always automatically included. Sometimes you have to ask for it.

However, experts agree that you should have your wheels aligned at least once a year or every 20,000 kilometers.

Wheel alignment is essential in order for your vehicle to drive in a straight line. Improperly aligned wheels will continuously try to throw you off course. As a consequence, your tires will wear down prematurely from the increased friction with the pavement (with the added disadvantage of decreasing your vehicle’s fuel efficiency).

That’s why you need to make sure that alignment is included in the appointment when you have your tires installed. Better to kill two birds with one stone and avoid having to pay more to fix the problem down the road…

When’s the best time to make an appointment?

The approach of summer or winter signals that it will soon be time to swap out your tires! Since 2019, the laws of Quebec have stipulated that winter tires must be installed by December 1 at the latest (from 2008 to 2018, the deadline was December 15). It’s recommended not to wait until the last minute, as Mother Nature can be unpredictable at times.

As for summer tires, they can be installed as of March 15. It’s no big disaster if you go a little bit past that date, but if you’re still driving on your winter tires in June when the pavement is broiling hot, you’ll risk ruining them, as they’ll lose their traction (the thermal rubber disintegrates more quickly under the effect of heat).

How much should you plan on spending?

It’s much more economical to have your tires installed and aligned at the same time. Why? Because you’ll only pay a small surcharge to have your tires aligned when they’re installed. Alignment might even be included at no extra charge. So it’s advantageous—both for you and for your vehicle—to get everything done in a single appointment!

Opt for a CAA-approved garage

Are you looking for a garage to install and align your tires in the West Island area of Montreal? Trans-Mico Automotive is a general mechanic garage offering high-quality services, performed by a team of mechanics that are dedicated, qualified and skilled.

Contact us to learn more about the services offered at our CAA-approved garage in Pierrefonds!