Avoid the shears if you don’t want to get fleeced

Dear Car Talk: I have a 2017 Toyota 4Runner with 141,000 miles.

I’ve recently been cycling through preventive maintenance. Last month, I had the struts replaced and the alignment adjusted for $2,700.

Today, when I took my car in for a transmission flush, the dealership said that my alignment needs to be adjusted again.

When I asked why, they said it was not unusual to need an alignment again in six weeks and insisted that I have to pay to have it done again.

Am I being fleeced? — John Well, you didn’t sign your letter “Baaaa,” but you could have, John.

There shouldn’t be any need for additional alignment work.

An alignment makes sense when the geometry of the car changes. So, if you replace key steering components or if you have an accident and bend the frame, you’d need an alignment.

But I can’t think of any reason why you’d need one after just having one six weeks earlier.

So, unless you hit a pothole the size of a small Mediterranean country or you’ve had a previous accident that made your car un-alignable, you’re getting fleeced.

Either they screwed it up the first time, in which case they owe you a free fix. Or, the general sales manager told everyone to push alignments hard this month since there’s a payment due on the machine — and they forgot they just sold you one six weeks ago.

I’d ask to speak to the service manager, and ask him under what conditions a car that had an alignment would need another one six weeks later.

You already paid this dealership top dollar for original equipment shocks — indeed you did. So, unless they offer to do whatever alignment work is necessary (if any is necessary) at no charge, I’d look for a repair shop that isn’t sharpening the shears for you when you drive in.

Dear Car Talk: My 2020 Nissan Versa started leaking under the car right after I had the “transmission fluid exchange” service. The dealership mechanic said it was the vent. He said it didn’t have a leak and just wiped it off.

It is still leaking. I’m going to have them check it again at my next oil change. I didn’t have a leak until the transmission fluid exchange service.

No dashboard warning lights are on, and there’s no transmission dipstick to check. Should I be worried? — Brian

The thing that should worry you, Brian, is how you’re going to get that transmission fluid stain out of your driveway. I think the dealer mechanic is right. What he failed to confess is that he overfilled your transmission.

The transmission fluid exchange machine works like this: You hook up the machine to the two transmission cooling hoses. You dump, say, 11 quarts of new transmission fluid into the machine’s reservoir, and it pushes that new fluid in one hose, while sucking the old fluid out of the other hose.

And, it keeps going until all 11 fresh quarts are sent in. That’s great, unless your transmission’s capacity is 9 quarts.

So, I think they were guilty of sloppy work. While he was filling the exchange machine, the lunch truck came by and he had an urgent hankering for a kielbasa bomb and lost track of how many quarts he put in.

If it’s overfilled by a small amount, then the excess will just leak out of the vent, and no harm will come of it. But, if it’s grossly overfilled, the fluid could get aerated, which could affect the quality of the lubrication you get inside the transmission.

So, if it’s still leaking more than a week after you had the service done, I’d go back and ask them to correct it.

They can do that by removing the plug on the side of the transmission, and releasing any excess fluid. Or, they can just run the machine again — counting more carefully this time.

Got a question about cars? Write to Ray in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email by visiting the Car Talk website at www.cartalk.com.