LS430FL

So I am in a little situation. Brought my car in on Friday for an oil change and tire issue. For the past month or so My front passenger tire has needed air about 2-3 time a week. I couldn't visually see a nail but something was wrong. Being busy I decided to wait the 1000 miles and take care of it when I went in for oil. I arrived for my appointment they told me yes sir you are here for oil change and front passenger tire air leak. I sat down with my service advisor of 10 years told him the same thing. Get a loner and leave. Call me later that day say there is a nail in side wall need new tire $380 can't be patched I flinch but say fine. Pick up car Saturday morning and notice they put the tire on the right rear when I got home even though passenger front was issue. I mark my wheels to know if they were rotated and they were not. All tires are at 40psi( yes I know they overinflated them big time) Get in to go to dinner later that day and tire light is on. It's at 26psi. This morning I wake up tire is now at 20psi. I call dealer tells me to bring it in. Get there and tell him what's going on you were supposed to fix this yesterday and I was charged for a new tire for the wrong wheel. They spray soapy water on front passenger tire sure enough there is a small puncture in sidewall. The car is now at the dealer. Guy who writes me up today tells me that the paperwork was recorded as right REAR tire leak. However when I checked in they had it right and I told service advisor.

I am now staring to doubt there was a nail.

They either figured this Customer knows there is a leak so let's charge him $400 for a new tire or one tech diagnosed the tire issue and another mounted the new tire but switched the wrong one. I'm pissed because I had to go back again.

What would you do in this situation? I'm expecting them to replace that tire no charge now. But I am tempted to ask for a refund of the $400 for the inconveniences. Am I way out of line? This isn't the first time I have had big issues with my dealer. All comments welcome

teedub21

Make them put your old tire back on the rim. If they've disposed of it they should take care of it, being their mistake I'd assume. Next step, why would you ever agree to $380 for ONE tire? Get the oil changed, then head to a tire shop and get it done for half the price.

Doublebase

It just basically sounds like they replaced the wrong tire - as crazy as that seems. I think I'd consider myself lucky if they replaced the correct tire for free, but I doubt they'll give you both tires for free even though they screwed up and you were inconvenienced. Two tires is a $760 bill, that's a lot for them to give you for free. Maybe you can get them to throw you a free oil change on top of the free tire? But then again they'd probably fill it with maple syrup (from the way things have gone). And don't be surprised if they dont offer to give you anything for free, they might just try to discount the tire price, but I wouldn't stand for that.

Gbp

It sounds like you had a nail, but that the service department replaced the wrong tire, as Doublebase said. (I'm dealing with a nail issue in one of my tires and had the same issue with the PSI decrease, although my tires are RFT.

Bottom line, you should only have to pay for one tire, although I'd look online at tire prices and try to get the dealer to come down a bit if their tire price is high. There is sometimes more flexibility in dealer service pricing than one might think. I recommend talking with the service manager, as I think he/she would have more latitude than an advisor.

Perhaps you can also get a free oil change or something due to the screw-up.

Htony

They did wrong, they have to make it right. It is not our fault. When you signed work order, did you check it read 'replace right front tire'? IF they already chucked your good old tire, they must give another new one.

SW17LS

Time to find an independent mechanic. $380 for one tire? That's two tires anywhere else.

LS430FL

So I wanted all 4 tires to match. With the 19" rims the tires are more money. I checked the price on tire rack and it was exactly the same. They will price match anything. Tire+ mounting and balancing+ tax that was the cost. I thought it was high too until I looked around. I have thought about asking to see the tire they took off but then again how do I know that it is even my tire that they are showing me. Could be any bridgestone tire with a nail. Really sucks 30 mins each way to dealer another hour there but what can I do. I am going to have to some bargaining. It's a CPO car so I don't pay for the oil change anyway. Tire rack sells the tire for $287. 52 and my dealer sells it for $284 plus installation and tax. It's a ​​​​​​​bridgestone turanza 245/45R19. I thought it was a lot too until I looked around. Tires have less than 10,000 miles on them so I think they should match.

Gbp

How much would your local authorized Tire Rack installer charge for installing one tire? For me, I put the tires in Tire Rack's shopping cart and found installers charging $80 to $200 to mount four tires. Almost $100 for mounting one tire seems excessive. Would balancing the tire, even if it's an add-on really account for the difference?

SW17LS

You can't just buy one tire and have it match. Never replace only one tire on an axle unless the tires are really new already. 10,000 miles is way too worn to do that.

LS430FL

I guess they figured same brand? I thought I had to get two as well but they replaced only one and it was the wrong one.... They also include road hazard. I will post up the price breakdown tomorrow.

SW17LS

No they just are doing what they can make a quick buck off of you for, not what the best thing for your safety is. I wouldn't have done that to my car.

comotiger

This is a tough call when your car is in the shop, you are driving a loaner and enjoying your day, and you get a call that the car needs fixing. If the OP were to ask the SA to just fill up the bad tire for pick up, there could have been a lot of pushback, with the SA insisting it was a safety issue, even though the OP was driving on that bum tire for several days. The situation was made tougher by the fact that the tires were fairly new (less than 10K miles).

So, Steve, in this situation, would you have bought two new tires for $500? Or would you have asked for the car back with the bad tire? What if the SA had said, "I am sorry we cannot let you drive on that bad tire for safety concerns, but you can get it towed home or somewhere else"? When the OP dropped off the car, he was probably thinking this is an easy fix, and not planning to spend $$$ on tires. Sometimes, we all have to make these quick decisions without the benefit of hindsight or the collective wisdom of a forum like CL.

SW17LS

I would have had them air the tires up and picked it up and taken it somewhere else for tires.

comotiger

And if they had said, "Sorry, but you can get it towed", what then?

CRowe14

I guess that would potentially put the dealer at risk if they allowed you to drive off the premises with them fully aware of the safety concern. That is a hard call. Perhaps one could work it out with the dealer to get another tire (especially since it was their fault) at a discounted price or better, free, since it was their error. As Steve pointed out, and I agree, with the tires having nearly 10k miles of wear, they shouldn't have even recommended to replace a single tire.
The dealership has to make this right and it should be at their expense. Either that or have them pay for a tire shop to take car of the second tire.
Also, like Doublebase made reference to, at this point, can you even trust that they'll take care of you the right way this time around?
Im sorry this has happened to you, its always a pain when things don't go the right way or as they should. But once this issue is resolved, hopefully to your liking, I would recommend another dealership. The headaches just aren't worth it.