CLOSED-Sears Auto Center’s New HawkEye Elite 3D Alignment! & $100 #GIVEAWAY! #HOLIDAYGIFTGUIDE2011 #GIFTS

By: Vanessa Diaz | 167 comments

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Hey All!

I don’t know about all of you, but I grew up shopping at Sears! All my major appliances and televisions have all come from Sears, and I frankly don’t trust getting them from anywhere else. I now go to Sears for all my automotive needs too! Did you know Sears Auto Center’s has a new ultra time-saving HawkEye Elite™ 3D wheel alignment technology? If you’re driving around a lot for the Holidays you need to make sure your car is working properly right?

This alignment technology reduces the time to check a vehicle’s alignment specifications to 90 seconds or less. Previously, an alignment check took an average of 20 minutes.

Sears Auto Center is making it even easier for American drivers to prepare their rides for the holiday travel season. Sears Auto Center today announced its new ultra time-saving secret weapon in the fight against premature tire wear caused by car and light truck wheels that are out of alignment. In more than half of its approximately 850 U.S. locations, Sears Auto Center has installed a new version of Hunter Engineering’s HawkEye Elite™ 3D wheel alignment technology. This alignment technology reduces the time to check a vehicle’s alignment specifications to 90 seconds or less. Previously, an alignment check took an average of 20 minutes. More information on the new alignment technology available at Sears Auto Center can be found at sears.com/RapidAlignment.

Sears Auto Centers are the only repair facilities in the nation that can expedite the process thanks to its proprietary acquisition of Quick Check HawkEye Elite™ technology from Hunter Engineering Company.

This state of the art technology is offered to all Sears Auto Center customers, whether they bring their vehicles in for tires, a new battery, an oil change, shock absorbers or struts, or other automotive services. Now all customers’ vehicles will automatically and seamlessly receive a free wheel alignment checkup.

“With the old alignment technology, customers typically declined the offer of a wheel alignment check because of the time it would take and the $15 charge for the service,” said Joe Finney, president of Automotive for Sears Holdings. “Now we offer the complimentary alignment service and the ability to check all four wheels in less time than it takes one of our Sears Auto Center specialists to record a customer’s vehicle and contact information. And since our records show that nearly two out of every three vehicles that come into our Sears Auto Center facilities for wheel alignment checks do not fall within the manufacturers’ wheel alignment specifications, we’re in a much better position today to help our customers save money by reversing the tire-damaging effects of misaligned wheels.”

Here is How It Works!

A customer’s vehicle is driven into a special Sears Auto Center service bay equipped with the proprietary HawkEye Elite 3D alignment equipment. A Sears Auto Center technician installs High Resolution 3D alignment heads – also known as targets – that are mounted on spring-loaded clamping arms to each of the vehicle’s four wheels. Each target and clamping device is designed to adjust easily to various wheel sizes. A thumb lever locks each clamp in place. The 3D Target clamping arms are major enhancements to alignment technology and service. These targets grip the tire tread, not the wheel, thereby preventing any possible damage to customers expensive alloy wheels and rims. The entire target and clamping assembly weighs just six pounds, facilitating quick handling and easy installation.

Digital imaging sensors using high-resolution cameras provide instant on-screen alignment readings and provide 3D modeling of wheel position and orientation. As the digital imaging continues, a technician rolls the vehicle forward one to two feet to capture and record a complete alignment assessment of the vehicle. Since this particular HawkEye Elite technology eliminates the need for a hydraulic lift, the diagnostic time requirement is slashed, as the vehicle remains on the garage floor exactly where it was parked upon arrival at the Sears Auto Center.

In 90 seconds or less, a Sears Auto Center customer can be advised of their vehicle’s wheel alignment assessment and the appropriate service required if and when needed. If a wheel alignment is recommended, that process usually can be completed in 30 minutes or less, which is up to 50 percent faster than the previous method.

“New car factory wheel alignments, unfortunately, do not last forever and are adversely affected by normal wear and tear,” Finney said. “Pot holes and off-road driving also are big contributors to poor wheel alignments. Given the cost of tire replacement, which generally includes added charges for balancing, new valve stems and disposal of old tires, motorists end up making a sizeable investment that can be protected by having their vehicle’s wheel alignment checked on a regular basis.”

Treating your car to get serviced or this Alignment is a great gift to yourself or your loved ones this Holiday season since it’s always good to have your car running perfectly so it will keep you safe on the road.

I finally got some free time yesterday to take my car into my local Sears Auto in Northridge, CA for my very own Hawk Eye Elite alignment check. I desperately needed to get my car serviced so this opportunity came right in the nick of time! I gave up my car to one of the mechanics who drove it to the service bay that was equipped with the HawkEye Elite 3D alignment equipment. I don’t usually watch them when they take my car to get serviced but this time I did and they were kind enough to let me watch. My mechanic installed these targets on my wheels that are also known as the “High Resolution 3D alignment heads” which were clamped onto the wheels of my car.

They then used the digital imaging sensors and high-resolution cameras which allowed me to see the alignment readings on a screen and it also showed me a very interesting 3D model of my cars wheels. He adjusted my car and I looked blankly at the screen as I didn’t know what everything on the screen meant, but he told me I needed the alignment, which I knew I did since my car steering wheel kept pulling to the side, he also checked my oil and I got an oil change too. They had to raise my car off the ground for the oil change, but besides that my car was on the ground almost the whole time. And that was it! It took about 20-30 minutes max for the alignment and like 15 minutes more for the oil change. I wasn’t keeping exact time but I know it wasn’t more than 50 minutes at Sears Auto which is the fastest I’ve ever had an alignment or oil change anywhere.

This is fantastic in my opinion. For more information about car repair services visit www.searsauto.com.

Sears Auto Center’s would love for ONE OF YOU TO TRY THIS AMAZING SERVICE AS WELL!

GIVEAWAY!

ONE WINNER WILL WIN A $100 IN SEARS AUTO CENTER GIFT CARDS SO YOU CAN GET A New SEARS AUTO CENTER HawkEye Elite™ 3D Alignment!! How cool is that!

TO ENTER:

LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TELLING ME WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU GOT YOUR CAR ALIGNMENT AND HOW LONG DID IT TAKE?

That’s all you have to do to enter…but if you’d like additional entries:

For Additional Entries after the main entry is completed, do ANY or ALL of the following and PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELLOW FOR EACH ADDITIONAL ENTRY YOU DO!

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-Tweet this Giveaway! Feel free to make up a Tweet about this Giveaway with #HolidayGiftGuide2011 @queenofswag4u #Sears and this shortened link http://bit.ly/tO1dE8

OR USE THIS TWEET:

#HolidayGiftGuide2011 #WIN $100 Sears Auto Center GC for A HawkEye Elite 3D Alignment from @queenofswag4u http://bit.ly/tO1dE8 ENDS-12/11

(This is limited to 4 tweets per day, spaced apart not one right after the other PLEASE. I don’t want anyone to be called spammers or blocked by twitter.)

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Those are all the Bonus Entries folks!

-GIVEAWAY WILL END DEC. 11TH, 2011 at 11:59pm pacific time! Winners will be notified by email, twitter, or facebook and winners will be announced on this blog, on twitter, and on facebook.

-This GIVEAWAY is open to USA ONLY! NO PO BOX ADDRESSES SORRY.

PRIZE WILL BE FULFILLED and MAILED TO THE WINNER BY ME!

**PLEASE SEE RULES AND DISCLAIMER FOR MORE PRIZE INFO. AGAIN WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM USING RANDOM.ORG FROM ELIGIBLE ENTRIES.**

Good luck to All who enter! THANK YOU so much for following my blog!

Happy Holidays!

**Disclosure: I was not compensated or paid in any way for this post and giveaway. I received the Free alignment and gift card to do it featured above for this post. All opinions are my own.**