[Noah930]

Very irritated at the semi-local America's Tire.

Wife has a screw in a tire on her minivan. So she went to the America's Tire by her work to get it patched. For the second time in a row, she's been told that the lug nut has seized, and they can't get the wheel off. This happened last time, too. The lug nut was on so tight, that the lug bolt was twisted and the threads buggered. I had to break off the lug nut, and then swap out the lug bolt.

Now, as the only guy who does any maintenance on that van, I know that the lug nuts are on properly. I just changed the oil and rotated the tires two weeks ago. Obviously, being a shadetree home mechanic, I do everything by hand as I don't have any power tools. In the last 20 years where I've been doing my own oil changes and tire rotations on all my vehicles, I have never had this happen...until this tire shop. Three times now.

Fortunately, I have an extra lug bolt at home, purchased just for this eventuality. I'll just pull the wheel myself, take it to some Mexican tire shop, and get it patched. And replace the lug bolt while I'm at it.

This is why I try to do as much work myself as possible. More often than not, when I leave it to "professionals," they fix one thing yet break another.