Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[gio]

So I ordered 4 new tires from Tirerack (225/40/18 and 255/35/18 Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec) and had them delivered to one of their recommended installers. The website quoted me $19.50 each for mounting and balancing and when I called them they told me the same thing. Now I'm being told that there is an additional $15 charge per tire because 18" tires are a "difficult tire". That makes the total come out to $144! Is this normal or are they ripping me off? I'm sort of stuck since my car has already been towed there and I can't drive it because it has a flat.

[randomquickness]

I would pull the :bs:to that shop...18's haven't been considered difficult since the early 90's.

[coco_m3]

:bs:

[gio]

I was stupid and I already signed the estimate form. But I just called the regional manager (this is chain) and left a message.

[ptack]

Tell them you're going to complain to the Better Business Bureau and your state's department of consumer affairs. They gave you an estimate and should honor it. If they know some wheels are more expensive, they have an obligation to reveal that to you up front. They're supposed to be the experts. I would also complain to the Tire Rack. It's not directly their fault, but they shouldn't recommend such people.

[coco_m3]

+1 to ptack.

[tiintegra]

What shop did you bring it to? Since we both live in MA....

[gio]

Originally Posted by tiintegra

What shop did you bring it to? Since we both live in MA....

NTB in Allston.

[david @ eas]

That's ridiculous. I would file a claim or something... At least try to get that additional money they charged you Back!

[RoninWheels]

Call tire rack customer service.... if they new that you had 18's and quoted you a price that the recommended installer has previously agreed upon.. there is a problem if they are changing their tone no that the car is there.

[lamini]

You signed the estimate BBB can't really help you since you agreed to the charges. Pay up and learn from it.

They had no choice but to honor the agreed price form TR unless the fine print says otherwise.

btw most places charge more for anything over 17"

[04Enthusiast]

Tirerack is the best and I've had no problems with them. But, I have never been impressed with their recommended installer list.

I took my tirerack tires to a recommended installer and they installed my directional tires to rotate the wrong way. I showed them the arrow on the tire and they said they had never seen a tire like that before and that I should have told them. They wanted me to pay for the remount. Unbelievable but true.

Tirerack told me their recommended installers list comes from their customers and Tirerack doesn't do any checking on the business.

[EspressoBoy]

I would also talk to tirerack. After all they offer the list, they at least should take this one off their list. As for paying, I do agree, if you sign, it's hard to get out of it. Have you already mounted the tires? If not, why not get the tires and go eslewhere!

EspressoBoy

[roldan]

Bummer! I had terrible experiences at a tire shop (Hogan Tire) in waltham when I was getting a flat fixed also.

On the recommended installer list, and incredibly excellent, is Little Foreign Car Garage in Waltham. It was expensive ($40/tire, although I guess that's not much more than the "revised" NTB price) but they were really awesome people that all seemed like they cared. They even let me hang out in the shop and shoot the shit with the mechanics while they were working and gave me autox tips. They also did the little things like torquing on all the lug nuts to spec -every time I went to a NTB/Sears/Midas/whatever with my E30 they'd always air wrench everything on to like 240 ft-lbs.

After I noticed a bit of vibration above 90mph, I came back in and they re-balanced the tires (turns out that about 60 degrees of the tire relative to the rim fixed it) and showed me how the Hunter road force balancing machine works and everything, and didn't charge me a dime for it.

I'd rather spend $40/wheel there than go somewhere like NTB where they really don't give a crap about your car or your wallet.

I'd just tell them (after the work is done and you're paying for it, maybe) that the Tire Rack website quoted a lower price, that you're disappointed they wouldn't honor it, and that you'll take your business elsewhere in the future. Then maybe contact gill@tirerack to let them know they're not honoring their stated prices?

[Gary@TireRack]

Gio,

Get me the information and I'll pass it on the the Installer program administrator here.

Gill

[gio]

Good news, NTB in Allston just called up me and said they got a call from their corporate office and they said they would refund my money. The service manager called me on the phone and remembered talking to me and quoting me the $19.50 per tire price. So I'll get the 60 bucks back and all is good.

[Gary@TireRack]

Glad to hear it, Gio.:wink:

[EspressoBoy]

All I have to say it's;

The Power of 1.

[gio]

Just when you thought it was over there is more to this story...

Well I did get my $65 back so I was happy about that. I've noticed that the ride has been rather harsh, especially on the highway. There was also some very noticeable vibration when taking my foot off the throttle at high speeds (60+ mph). I figured that maybe the front rim that had the flat actually was flat so I took it to another tire place today to check it out.

I had all 4 tires balanced and I opted for their premium balancing service. It cost me $100. Well, sure enough, not only was the rim slightly bent as I suspected but ALL FOUR tires were pretty badly out of balance. One of the rear tires was out of balance by 3 ounces! Keep in mind it hasn't even been a month since I had these tires mounted. I explained to them what had happened and asked them how it could have ended up that way and they said that either they never balanced the tires at all, their machine was way off in calibration or they just didn't know what they were doing. I'm pretty angry about it now again and I just left them a nasty review on tirerack's installer review page.

[roldan]

Did you have to pay the $100 on top of the original installation fee? At the same place?

[gio]

Originally Posted by roldan

Did you have to pay the $100 on top of the original installation fee? At the same place?

Oh, sorry I wasn't clear. I went somewhere else so yes it was an additional $100. There is no way I'm letting the original place anywhere near my car again. Honestly, if I had thought that all the tires were out of balance I would have gone back to them and demanded they rebalance them. Since I took them somewhere else I have no evidence that they did such a bad job.

[gio]

Originally Posted by roldan

Did you have to pay the $100 on top of the original installation fee? At the same place?

btw, didn't you say you had one of your rims straightened before you got your new wheels? Where did you have it done?