kach22i

Cars Tires Slashed

I had parked both of my cars on the street in front of my house, each had one rear tire stabbed in the sidewall by a knife, I'm guessing sometime late Sunday night.

The Geo Tracker only gets 2,000 miles a year put on it, the 4-year old tires looked almost new. Discount tire pro-rated the tire wear and gave me half off the tire. They said had I purchased the Road Hazard Certificate they would of replaced the vandalized tire for FREE.

My 30 year old Porsche 911 originally got new rubber from Discount Tire when I purchased it 5-years ago. I replaced the two rear tires at Belle Tire 6-months/1,000 miles ago. Story is that one of the rear tires went flat at a job site, Belle Tire was right across the street, my client gets his tires there and recommended them, plus my client gave me a ride back down town afterwords. No tow truck, no driving on the rim. Now get this, Belle said I did not purchase the Road Hazard (they never offered it to me) and had I done so they still would not cover the vandalized tire. In addition Belle Tire said they would not pro-rate the almost brand new tire at all, they would not give me a discount of any kind either.

I took the tire to Discount tire, not only did they give me half off the new tire, they allowed me to purchase Road Hazard coverage for BOTH rear tires (even the one they did not sell me).

DISCOUNT TIRE America's Largest Independent Tire Dealer, rated number one for as far back as I can remember, and for a good reason - they value their customer's business.

Mike Murphy

Thanks for sharing. Good thing the vandal didn't do all 8 tires!!

Peter Zimmermann

Tire stores can be just as bad, or good, as any other type of auto-related business. I had a flat fixed at a Big "O" store here in Bakersfield. As I paid the bill I asked, sadly after the fact, if they used a torque wrench to install the lug nuts. He looked at me funny, his face changed, and he said that they put wheels on using "calibrated" impact wrenches. At home, later that day, I decided to check nut torque. The wrench clicked on them, but none even felt like they wanted to move. I ended up loosening them using a four foot length of galvanized pipe on a breaker bar; I had to stand on the pipe and bounce to break those nuts loose. Another experience was with a highly respected independent store in Santa Monica; I bought a set of Bridgestones from them for my 911. The 100-mile+ trip home was miserable, I didn't know if they sold me an out of round tire, or screwed up the balance. It was late in the day, so the next morning I took off the wheel that seemed to have the problem and took it to our local America's Tire. They discovered that the balance was way off, fixed it, did not charge me, and I took it home and put it on the car. Perfect result, so much so that I bought replacement tires for our Touareg from them. Since then I've had a flat on my F 150, and took it to them. Once again, they fixed it, and did not charge me. They'll have my business as long as we live in Bakersfield.

flatsixnut

I did not think any tire store gave road hazard for any "performance" tire?

I have had great experience with the tire place I use here in Tampa. But I have yet to let any store change tires on my 911. I bought the car with brand new tires on it, and if the wheels come off...I put them back on. I would not let any store have the keys to my 911, unless it was at a place like Dave White's.

WitchDoctor

I wonder if you'd consider copying a link to this thread in an email to the manager and any higher-ups in the Belle organization?

A client of mine is a mechanic. He says the rule of thumb is "get good service, you tell 5 friends; get bad service you tell 10."

Maybe there's a corollary for enthusiasts -- shaft a guy who's passionate about his car, he spreads the word exponentially.

-Brent

theiceman

i'd agree with that .. case in point .. ask Robert Neal.

pu911rsr

I have done business with Discount tire as long as I can remember, their customer service is second to none.
Phil

Peter Zimmermann

I might as well give credit when it's due. My wife and I spent the summer of '01 in South Bend, home of the world famous Tire Rack. While there, our C 280, which we had driven from CA, needed a full set of tires. Naturally, we used Tire Rack, and I must say that the entire experience was pretty much perfect. They have large windows in the waiting area that allow you to watch your car being worked on, and I got to watch the lug nuts get torqued with a torque wrench! In addition, the tire pressures were set to that required by Benz, instead of the generic 36 pounds that every other tire store on earth puts into every tire that they mount.

NCporsche

I tried to order my Kuhmos from the local Discount Tires. They were out of stock and took my phone # to let me know if they located any. Got a call back within the hour to say they were back ordered and unavailable.

Using the Rennlist link, I contact Tire Rack. The tires were in stock and shipped. I received them within 48 hours.

I've had nothing but good experience from both. While DT could not get my tires, the customer service was good. CS from TR was also good ensuring my preference on whether to get the tires shaved and/or heat cycled and they would fit on the car.

rubyred

I agree, sometimes they can be awesome and work with you, and other times they will be the complete opposite.

HarryD

Out here in Oregon, Les Schwab (http://www.lesschwab.com/lsdifference.asp) pretty much owns the tire business. You go to their store. The help RUNS to your car and with a smile and a wave provides the service you request. Bring in a flat, they fix it, not questions, no problem, no cash switches hands and thye usually chekc the balance as well. you want them to jack your car by hand with a funky thing you stick in the side, "No problem sir" is their response. Ask how they torque the nuts, they ask you want value you think it should be and they check their chart and, by hand, the nuts are torqued. Bring in a worn tire that failed prematurely, of course you have a warranty...

why would I go anywhere else? Like some have already said, they have a customer for life.

1986951

A mention of Belle Tire in Detroit brought a flicker of recognition...

Sure enough, the same place I bought a set of Michelins for the 14" Fuchs that I installed on my 1968 911L "back in the day" (the day being in 1969!)

IIRC, they are (were) not far off of Woodward Ave, but not in the "Best" of neighborhoods... I had a big Chrysler New Yorker for an every day driver, and it received a LOT of attention from the locals. I was glad to get the tires in the trunk and get out of there!

A rather surly group IIRC... Sounds like they haven't changed much!

mel_t_vin

Flatsixnut, you should probably look into other options...Dave White is no longer in business.

Houpty GT

I do not buy road hazard when I purchase tires. The problem that I see with it is that if you buy four tires then the cost of the road hazard adds up to nearly the price of on tire. I figured that I probally won't have trouble with any tires and was unlikely to have trouble with more than one. The last time I bought 4 tires I past up the road hazard and ended up cutting the sidewall of one of my tires when a Pontiac in front of me on the interstate threw a rod and I ran over a part of his engine. The tire shop ended up giving me a discount of about 50% on the new tire anyway. Some road hazard won't cover installation and some you can't use if you replace it when you are on the road. All in all, the company is making money on the road hazard and not carrying the road hazard has managable loss.

Edgy01

After reading Peter's tale I'm glad I do what I always do with tires for the Porsche. The wheels and tires come in and the car stays at home. I'm not about to let some idiot with an impact wrench get anywhere near my p-car. (I also have tire and wheel insurance to keep cost to zero).