Discount Tire just lost my business

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Pawned

Pawned

N.R.A. Lifetime Member - And damn proud of it
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Valle del Sol, AZ
This is the 2nd time I have been aggravated by the employees at the Discount Tire near my house. I believe that both times they are refusing to service my tires, hoping they can talk me into buying new tires from them.
The other day, I went in and asked about getting my tires balanced on my 1971 Plymouth Duster. The employee claimed the tires were made in 2001 and it was past the service life of the tire. He told me he would not even put air in the tires. I told them tires have less than 5K miles and the car has been up on jack stands for the last 9 years.
I do not lie, I just stretch the hell out of the truth
I asked what they charge to balance the tires, I did not ask for free service, I was intended to pay for it
A buddy of mine said that this shop always aggravates him, he goes to the shop on 32 st and Cactus.
I just called the store on Cactus and when I explained the age and condition of the tires, all the guy did was try to sell me new tires. I guess Big O gets my business from now on.
Its a shame as I have been a customer of Discount Tire exclusively for over 30 years. I can not tell you how many sets of tires I bought for the cars in my family and all the referrals I have given out. When my wife or kids tell me they need tires I tell them to go to Discount and buy tires (of course I pay for them) without telling them to call around to price tires. I was buying the service I was given with the tires
That is a lot of history to throw away over tire balancing.
 
I used to ignore the date codes on tires until I had a new (old) one blow out when my wife was driving. Never had to worry about that years ago but just like other things today tires just aren't made with the same quality and amount of materials as they were. Used to be a 4 ply tire actually had 4 plies instead of just rated 4 plies.

12 year old tires are just that, 12 years old.
 
9 years is very old for a tire (even with less than 5k on them). dry rot and cracks may not be visible, but they are definetly brittle and almost certain to be out of round. balancing them with an off the car machine would most likely not be worth it and neither the customer or the business would leave happy. just my 2 cents. I work at an alignment shop. if you came in to our shop you would probably get the same answer. although I would be a little nicer about it
 
That's why I bought my own tire machine and balancer.
 

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depending on your area tires can dry rot really bad in 9 years ....here in southeastern Colorado its so dry that you see small cracks from dry rotting on tires a lot newer than that.
 
Despite inside storage and low miles, the treads on my five year old Valiant tires began to separate long before they wore out. Perhaps a premium tire would have lasted longer, but only one company made that size when I needed them. Sadly, they were the only manufacturer when it was replacement time again.
 
I used to buy used tires, figuring it would get me by until I could get a matched set of 4. I stopped after 2 used tires blew up while driving 65 mph, a week apart, a few years ago. I had bought them the same time from a local shop. Both blew out the sidewalls and looked like someone had made radial cuts in the sidewalls. I then started learning how to read date codes. Both times, I felt a very slight vibration just before they blew, and thought to lift up on the throttle and check for cars around me and a path to the right shoulder. The first time, it was a front tire, and left me careening over half a lane as I clutched the steering wheel. This happened in my 65 Newport. I worked one place where the guys filled their tires with N2 from the plant supply, claiming they would last longer (no oxidation on inside).
 
In my shop, I might have looked at the date code, and if so, I might have said something to help educate about old tires, but there is no question that I would have balanced them for you. The big name places get sued for every little thing and they get gun shy. Here, we take care of the customer and do what they ask. You always try to teach them if they are heading down a bad road, but refuse service? It would have to be something extremely dangerous.
 
Your tires are old, that is FACT regardless of mileage. I wouldnt of denied you a rotation or balance though because of it. He could of easily said on the invoice, "customer wanted rotate and balance on 12 yr old tires, he was informed of service life of tires before hand and understands the tires may fail at any time, performed service at customers discretion..."
 
I went into my local Discount tire store (they are called Americas tire in California) for a tire rotation on my wife's car. It was wearing the outside shoulders on one front tire faster than the rest. Told the tech I wanted a tire rotation. After he measures the tires, he tells me he does not recommend it because the rear has more tread.

Being somewhat of a old timer the kid really pissed me off, mostly because I didn't ask for his opinion. Not sure if they would of done the work or not. Because at that point I just told them it was no wonder the bays are empty. Then left for the Mexican tire shop that took care of me very quickly with no questions and for less money.

I guess the rules have changed in tires. Twenty five years ago when I was working at the gas station we always put the good tires on the front. Regardless of the rules the whole reason of a tire rotation is even wear. I'm done with Discount or Americas tire too!
 
probably don't want the liability of even touching such old *** tires. can't blame them in this law suite world we live in.
 
When I took my Dart to Tires, Tires, Tires, for an alignment, they never said a word about my 20 year old tires. I know it is dangerous driving with 20 year old tires, car is now parked for the winter and will get new tires next spring.
 
There hard to beat in my opinion, went on there web site one evening found a nice set of tires made by Yokohama for my Dakota, reserved them for install the next morning. Got there the next morning at 9 am and after 40 min and two cups of free coffie I was on my way for under $500. My buddy was on the expressway with some new looking 10yo tires when the left rear blew out tearing up his wheel well and quarter panel, replaced all that and then guess what they couldn't match the paint very well so the whole car got painted! Good luck...
 
At my shop we will tell you if there is a serious problem with your tires because of age or wear. If everything looks to be in good shape no splits in the tread side walls don't look like a road map then a balance & rotation would be fine it's not like I sold you a old *** dry rotted unsafe POS and said he you go good luck with that. Hell I wouldn't sell you a used tire much less one that I know is unsafe. I don't want you riding next to me or anyone else I know
 
zhandfull said:
I went into my local Discount tire store (they are called Americas tire in California) for a tire rotation on my wife's car. It was wearing the outside shoulders on one front tire faster than the rest. Told the tech I wanted a tire rotation. After he measures the tires, he tells me he does not recommend it because the rear has more tread.
Click to expand...
don't take it all out on the kid in the shop. (disclaimer: my son's a manager at America's tire and has told me a few things they have to do that makes me shake my head). the age of the tires, and where the "good" tires go, are company policies that limit their liability. sometimes you'll find one that will ignore it, but they risk getting fired. the llantas shop is happy to do what you want but they may not tell you something is screwed up either.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
That's why I bought my own tire machine and balancer.
Click to expand...

If you lived closer than 3K miles, we could be best friends

:glasses7:

I just got back from Big O tires, they balanced them and because of the age they gave them a good inspection at the time. They said something to the effect that they are in remarkably good condition.
Last time Discount Tire blew me off, I went to Big O to fix my tire. They did the work and the noted on the work order that I was advised against driving the tire for reasons listed.
I ended up replacing the tires a month later. At that time, I was driving maybe 2,000 a year. Now that my my body has recovered, I am driving maybe 4,500 miles a year. And that is between my 2 cars.
Thanks all for the feedback
 
I think they were in the right here.......if there's a small possibility that an old tire could blow apart while it's being spin-balanced, why would they want to take a chance on their people hurt or equipment damaged? What's in it for them? The cost of a balance job? Naw......
 
I lost it and cussed them out over the phone when I had dropped my truck off for a rotation. They called me to say they couldnt do it because I needed my best tires on the rear. I told him I paid my money for my tires and he better f***ing do it because I paid for lifetime rotation. He said he was sorry but it was store policy. Afterr a couple minutes of verbal explatives that would make a sailor blush I calmed down enough to tell him i,d be up there in an hour to pick the sob up. When I got there he had went ahead and put the rear tires up front. On the back was a brand new pair of Goodyear 275 50 20s. No charge. Well he shut my foul mouth up good.There was no charge. So I bought certs on them apologized and slithered out of there. They have a customer for life. I guess for every ying theres a yang.I am now one of their politest customers.
 
It is Simply because its a lawsuit world. local shop friend of mine runs just lost lawsuit for installing 2 new tires on an AWD. Customer came in with a flat tire was close to wear bars on 2 , 1/2 worn on other 2, 1 had nail in side wall. The service advisor recommended 4 new tires customer did not have the money for 4 tires so they replaced the one with nail in side wall and the other that was at wear bar. Also documented on work order that it was awd should have 4 tires. customer declined replacement of 4. Couple days later customer brought vehicle back complained of binding on turns they checked it told her it was awd kicking in and she should replace other 2 because the difference in tread wear was causing the problem. She was upset and told advisor they never told her it would cause problems if she did not replaced other 2 they pointed out the work order she signed stated she needed 4 and why. she got mad left. 6 months later they got sued. She took it to the dealer. The dealer replaced transfer case and all 4 tires 4800 bucks. Blamed damage on not replacing all 4 tires. They insisted was not their fault she declined the replacement of all 4 they lawyered up took it to court and lost. Judge ordered they to refund price of 2 tires + dealer repairs + attorney fees + 50,000 in punitive damages all in cost him over 72k Judge stated" they did not follow American rubber manufactures guidelines " they should have refused to replace 2 and could of insisted they only replace 4. I thought it was a total bunch of crap but that is the world we live in today. People see a business as a easy target if they don't do something perfect they are subject to lawsuit. Really made me change my ways in how I run my shop by the book if customer don't like it they can leave. hate to be that way but I cannot afford a lawsuit
 
The REAR Tires are more critical than the front. The best tread should be on the rear. The reason is the front tires turn in the direction the vehicle steers toward, the rear tires have to stabilize the vehicle & fight the centrifugal forces working to force the rear of the vehicle outward as it goes through the turn(it's called yaw). If the tread isn't good enough in the rear it may cause a spin-out while cornering on even a damp road. Take a look at road racing vehicles, Indy cars, NASCAR & others & you always see fatter tires on the rear for the very same reasons. To prevent side slip & spin-outs. It doesn't matter at all if it's front or rear wheel drive. The better tires should go on the rear. All the tire manufacturers & Automakers agree on that.

As for tire life; Tires have antioxidants in the rubber compound that surface & flash-off as time goes on. If they are too old the tires start to dry out rapidly. If there is any damage inside the tire it may go undetected unless dismounted & inspected from inside. Any damage in a tire that is decaying(which starts long before visible dry-rotting cracks appear) then it could fail rather quickly. We had a 96 Mercury Marquis in our shop that had old tires on it that looked fine & had 9/32" of tread left with no visible damage & a tire blew out just sitting parked inside the shop over a weekend! It blew the cords & belts right out of it through the tread! The car had low miles on it & is always garage kept. Surprised the "bleep" outta all of us!
The shops have a duty to advise the customer of potential dangers & have the right to refuse a job that may put them at risk for lawsuites.
Remember all the legal battles surrounding Firestone & Ford with the Explorer tire failures? It certainly changed the landscape of the industry then.
I don't think anybody was trying to be insulting, just looking out for the best interest for both parties.
 
At the salvage we had a large loader that the sidewall blew out on while it was parked down by the front gate. The gate was about a 100 feet from the highway and there was tire debris all the way across the other side of the highway. The loader was about 500 feet from the house across the street and he said it sounded like a gun shot when it blew. It someone had been near it and been hit they would have been seriously hurt or killed.
 

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Not on a vehicle, but on a trailer.......I had a "brand new" 235/16" radial spare for my trailer, and kept it stored inside of it. It was about 7-8 years old and looked fine when I finally put it to use. But within 1,000 miles, the tread peeled off like a banana! Gotta be careful.
 
Most of the people that ***** about tire shop policy haven't been near a tire when it pops off a bead or decides to let go.
Beyond that, you're not paying their insurance.

Is the bodywork on your car really nice? That alone should be incentive enough for you not to roll on tires that belong in the 4th grade. Both my Neon and my Dakota have wrinkled fenders thanks to tires letting go. Not worth it.

Would you roll on NOS '70's tires? They're new, right?
 
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