[My Other Car Is DeLorean]

Hey Guys

Would love to get your opinions on my situation. This weekend my $7 repair job at Discount Tires turned into $800 job. I took my 2014 Mazda 3 in because I had a busted valve that was slowing leaking air out. Shop charged me $7 to repair. A few minutes after inspection, guy comes back out and tells me that the inside of the tire wall is badly worn out and the valve is not replaceable. So he says to me that because of legal/liability circumstances that he cannot put the bad tire back on and let me drive off with it. I either buy a new tire or he put the spare on. Said F it and said give me all 4 new tires since I was pretty much due for replacement considering I had the tires from day 1 and was approaching 50,000 on my mileage.

So we go inside and shop tires and prices. Guy gives me the "cheaper" option and then the "best choice" option. The cheap tires were about $97/each but of course... 4 were not in stock. Decided to go with the more expensive option because I do commute pretty far from home and work and don't want to be commuting on crappy tires. So I went with Michelin PILOT SPORT A/S 3 PLUS (225 /40 R18"), which they charged me $167/each and after fees came out to $800.

Just wondering if you guys think I was charged reasonably for the tires, and also is them claiming their liability hold against you something they can really do or is that just a sales tactic?

 

[lilbenz230]

If you were on the stock Dunlops still at 50,000, that's impressive. My 3 has 30,000 and I hate these tires, and there is no way they'd have 20000 miles of life left.

$800 is a fair price for the Pilot Sports. I was quoted $680 from Kauffman for DWS06s. The thing is do not let them charge you for that BS charge "TPMS rebuild kit" thing, the 3 uses a passive system and there is nothing to rebuild. If that is on your receipt, go back and demand your money back for that.

 

[My Other Car Is DeLorean]

If you were on the stock Dunlops still at 50,000, that's impressive. My 3 has 30,000 and I hate these tires, and there is no way they'd have 20000 miles of life left.

$800 is a fair price for the Pilot Sports. I was quoted $680 from Kauffman for DWS06s. The thing is do not let them charge you for that BS charge "TPMS rebuild kit" thing, the 3 uses a passive system and there is nothing to rebuild. If that is on your receipt, go back and demand your money back for that.

Thanks, luckily I do not see that on my receipt. I forgot to mention that the previous tires were not the factory stock, I had aftermarkets put on when I bought it. I think they were Nitto's but I cannot remember.

 

[Road Trip]

I have had a tire shop do similarly for me once, but when they showed me the inside of the tire, was very glad that they pointed it out. And when that infrequently happens, we have three choices, i.e., buying a used, mismatched-tread tire that we hate and are going to get rid of within a week or so; buying one new tire (knowing the limitations of that system); or buying a set.

Sorry you faced an $800 unexpected repair, but that could have saved your crashing into something and someone and at least wrecking your car, or worse.

 

[GerryB]

If, in fact the tire was damaged, the dealer did the right thing. For myself, I would have asked to see the tire and proceeded from there. 50k on stock Dunlops is a pretty hefty feat, so well done. The Michelins, while pretty spendy should be leagues better than the OE rubber.

Sent from a Samsung that doesn't explode.

 

[Studum]

The thread title is a little misleading. They didn't force you to buy new tires - they refused to put an unsafe one back into service.

Sounds like they did the right thing - saying only for sure that the one tire was bad, probably because that's the only one they opened up, and giving you an alternative (putting the spare on) if you wanted second opinions or time to search other places.

The choice to do all 4 tires was yours, and by the sounds of it was the right call.

No sense second guessing the cost now - what's done is done. Enjoy the new rubber.

 

[My Other Car Is DeLorean]

The thread title is a little misleading. They didn't force you to buy new tires - they refused to put an unsafe one back into service

You're right, my bad.

 

[My Other Car Is DeLorean]

If, in fact the tire was damaged, the dealer did the right thing. For myself, I would have asked to see the tire and proceeded from there. 50k on stock Dunlops is a pretty hefty feat, so well done. The Michelins, while pretty spendy should be leagues better than the OE rubber.

Sent from a Samsung that doesn't explode.

He did show me the tire and it was pretty bad.... rubber was chipping off from inside :/

 

[GerryB]

Yikes. Yeah, time for new hoops.

Sent from a Samsung that doesn't explode.

 

[mumixam]

really sounds like you needed new tires but this might be worth a watch if you are worried about that kind of behavior from a tire shop or any mechanic / dealer

 

[dradernh]

...they charged me $167/each and after fees came out to $800.

What cost you 20% of the cost of the tires in "fees"?

 

[My Other Car Is DeLorean]

What cost you 20% of the cost of the tires in "fees"?

State taxes, disposable fees, labor and re-balance wheel fee.... but I'll have to double check the receipt.

 

[dradernh]

State taxes, disposable fees, labor and re-balance wheel fee.... but I'll have to double check the receipt.

That makes sense then...I wasn't thinking about taxes.

 

[ElNino77]

Sounds reasonable to me also. I had a similar situation where I had a puncture and did the repair myself. It was still leaking very slowly so i decided to go ahead and replace the tire at the local shop. Thye only had a Pirelli Pzero All season plus, i did the same thing - OK eff it throw it on there - think it was right around $170 total...have since added a second Pzero and moved both to the front...road holding is improved!

 

[evilspoons]

Those are fantastic tires, sounds reasonable to me.

 

[ansaro360]

i would change my tires at 50 k