I'm not so sure about the pros. I have two tire shops I frequent here locally. One has the incredibly complex rack, big enough to mount a large RV, that probably did cost 200k. I gave up on them. They have done alignment for me three times in ten years--never correctly. On one occasion they did my wife's V70 and told me it was perfect. When she later complained I took it elsewhere. We know the car was hit once, we didn't know it had a bend in it that requires a camber kit to fix. They charge eighty for "alignment", cuz the rack wasn't cheap, and the operator is highly trained--chuckle.

On the other side of town is a shop with a couple of the old school racks with pivot plates on the rails where the car sits. They center the steering wheel with a gizmo similar to the "Club" being used in this thread's photos. Then one of the techs saunters down into the pit with his tape measure and wrenches and sets the toe. Before they do this they put a gauge on the rims and set the camber, and never tell me "You can't set camber on a Volvo". Once in awhile the steering wheel isn't perfectly centered. They road test the car. If it isn't, they put it back on the rack and do it again until it is. Thirty five bucks. Oh yes, they charge me forty if the car is lowered.

Setting alignment is one of those few tasks that it just doesn't even seem worth my while to mess with and get wrong. I'd bet every town has a place like my "good" shop, that does a measurement alignment, on proper gimbals, that will keep your tires from wearing. On a couple of occasions my guys have found something I've missed. The response to that is always "go fix this and come back", no charge of course.

I'm always amazed when people will seek help on a forum because they have become discouraged with the shop, then will argue on the forum that what the shop told them is right. Yes, by all means present your evidence. But please leave the contempt for the court off-line. I'm always amused when Counselor Benstein puts such a person in their place, eloquently.