Is This an Acceptable Solution?
 

The Nail

Saturday I'm washing the Mustang. I notice a nail in the thread right at the edge of the sidewall. I take the tire off an rush to the tire shop. They advise me that the tire will have to be replaced. This sucks. The car only has 2,400 miles on it since new. I leave the tire/rim at the shop and they'll order me a replacement on Monday.

I call the shop at 3:00 today and ask if my tire is done. They tell me yes. I swing by to pick it up and throw it in the back of the truck. I get home and get to work mounting the tire. I decide to examine the tire to see where they put the wheel weights............there are no wheel weights.............but there are eight or so scratches on the inside of the rim. They are about 1/16 of an inch deep. Not only have they scraped up the powder coating, they have displaced some of the aluminum to the point that the scrapes each have a sharp lip on each side.

I am understandably pissed off. I march back to the tire store to demand satisfaction. They put the tire on the balancer and confirm that it has not been balanced. They offer to have the inside of the rim powder coated at their expense.

I'm not sure this is good enough. The scratches were deep enough to displace some aluminum. The car wasn't even old enough for a tire rotation yet. Yeah, the nail wasn't the shop's fault, but they manage to royally **** up everything else. Should I be concerned about a failure down the road? Should I demand a new replacement rim?

I'd want a new rim. Period.
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Dunno what your car is but my Fiat Abarth never came with a spare...just a jack and a bottle of goop.
Searched and found a mint OEM rim in a salvage yard in Michigan...$135, shipped. Bought a new tire for it and mounted it behind the passenger seat where I removed the rear seats.
Bingo!
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Most rim clamps grip the inside of the rim with sharp little points . Got any pics ??

Inside of the rim? If it takes a balance I would be honestly blow it off. Outside of the rim would obviously be different story.

How do you think it's gonna look compared to the others after a few years?

New wheel. End of story.

rjp

Inside of rim...I forgot. Be a toss up for me. But I'd be pissed.
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Coin landed on heads...I'd want a new rim.

Any rim wheel services where you live? Maybe consult with one? On a virtually new car? Yeah, odds are I'd want a new wheel.

Exactly what I'm thinking. No way around it...

Tire monkey put it on the balancer, did not clamp it right, tore it up, and set it aside without any indication he had worked on it all. They figured it must have been balanced, loose wheel here all day with new tire on it.

It would depend on how bad it was. They dinged the clearcoat on some alloy wheels mounting tires for me, and they refinished the wheel. Came back looking fine. Gouged up, even on the back, I just don't know.

I have a habit of handing a $10 bill to tire mounting monkeys at bike shops and saying, "This is for not scratching my rims."
Have had great luck.
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I know...not on topic.

Don't you just love when someone not only does not complete the job you've paid for - but then introduces a whole new set of issues that will cost you additional time and money?

If I only had a dollar for each time something like that has happened..................

had a shop fess up to taking the finish off the lip of a brand new wheel for my range rover. I was sorely pissed. They offered to have it refinished and if I did not like it, would replace the rim. Refinish was great and has held up. They were stand up about it and I was firm, but tried to be reasonable. Was a glitch in their mounting machine.

It's Not About the Nail :cool:

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-4EDhdAHrOg" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

^^^ Nice!

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Lol at Paul's post, that's a classic.

I've seen our local Alloy Wheel Repair place take a wheel that looked like hell and make it like new. If they spring for a full professional refinish I wouldn't be concerned, especially on the inside of the wheel.

It would be interesting to see some pictures, but unless you can see it from the other side, it doesn't sound like a problem. It's aluminum, so the scratches won't rust. I'm sure the balancing will adjust for any thousandths of an ounce of weight that was scratched away.

Ask them for half off or a free tire and move on.

^^^^^ what he said.

If you keep your wheels perfect and take the time to wash the inside I would not accept powder coating scratches that deep. On my Suburban I would not care. I’d be annoyed but it is a truck to me. On my daily driver which has nice alloys I would be getting a new wheel.
Either way you need a new tire place. I have been using the same shop for years and no way they would let that go out the door.

I would be really upset. You deserve satisfaction on this.

I can understand being upset.

If a car has sentimental value, you take care of it top and bottom equally so. Of course, nobody else cares and this dichotomy is near the top of problems with cars (or anything really) of sentimental value. Sucks.

Where are the pics?

I got the rim back Friday, it is better than factory new. I am sated.

Glad to hear you are happy. For me, it would have been a toss up to do anything. I tend keep my powder dry for bigger things in life, like dealing with real estate agents, claims adjusters and prodigal family members. Just don't need/want the stress in my life. (Maybe because heart attacks run in my family?) Plus my expectations of anyone doing work at typical tire shop are very low. Occasionally I am pleasantly surprised....Very occasionally.

Back in 2005, I took my 1995 Volvo 850 to Discount Tire for new tires. The car had factory turbo twist wheels in very good condition. I didn't notice until I got home that all four wheels were slightly scuffed around the center where the wheel balancer mounts. I returned to Discount and the manager didn't bat an eye and said "That's clearly our fault we'll replace your wheels. It'll take about a week to get them here and I will call you when they're ready."

I have never had any significant customer care issues at tire stores, ever. So, I was curious to see how this was going to go. As I mentioned, the wheels were not perfect, and they had tiny dings here and there, ortherwise excellent condition. , I didn't think that I would be getting brand new wheels.

That's my go to tire store.

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I need to be going to your Discount Tire place in Mesa, Don.
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Took my newly purchased Toy MR2 in to the Scottsdale DT at 101 and Indian Bend to replace the 15 yr. old Yokohamas...purchased two sets there previously for other rigs...no issue.
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Noticed the ride home was more rigid than previously. Front press: 55 lbs...Optimal: 26. Rear press: 42 psi...Optimal 28.
Bled them down. Fine.
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A couple weeks later I take in my RAV4 for balance & rotation...about 1,000 mile after new at DT.
Driving down the freeway my steering wheel and seat are nervous.
Making a U-turn, I go back and find out that they only rotated...they finally balanced all.
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DT owner recently passed. I hope that means that the service quality has not passed also.

I have seen the type of damage described on alloy rims from the tire machine w the sharp claws, WTF? Is it from another era when all rims put on it were presumed to be steel or (?) :confused:

Anyhow, I now have a fantastic tire shop here in LA where I buy all my tires and send everyone I know. The tire and alignment prices are very competitive and they are true professionals who take pride in their work and the way they handle customer vehicles. Exotic and high-end luxury cars are a common site and the employee turnover seems very low.

It’s these guys:


https://www.google.com/search?q=american+tire+depot+5206+hollywood+blvd&i e=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

Glad you got it fixed. You are not whole because of the time and effort to get the situation resolved.

Most if not all modern tire machines have rubber "boots"? that slip over the teeth that grab the inside of the wheel or edge of the wheel. These boots get lost, fall off or worn out or they just don't bother to use them.

Add this thread to the list of how tire shops screw up.

Discount in Scottsdale was the one that addressed my issue. They were stand up about it letting me know immediately, being very frank about the process and if I was not happy to replace the wheel

Which store in Scottsdale, please? What location?