Discount Tire Left Part Loose

I figure you just can’t win.

If you go to the dealership they will add more weights to your tire instead of properly balancing it and Costco will use their generic sensors which will obviously forget the TPMS settings in about a week.

 

My Discount Tire story might just beat them all. In fact, it’s the reason I’m back driving a Tacoma again. Here’s my warning, find a better tire shop, at all costs. Someone that’s local to your town, maybe a small chain. We have Butler Tire and Wheel in ATL, they’re my new go to place.

And, if you do choose to go to DT, don’t let them check your alignment - yes, some DT stores do alignments. If you do, your vehicle could be driven off the alignment rack resulting in a smashed front end with enough damage to the frame that it results in a total loss.

Buyer beware.

 

Discount is just like many chain businesses. There are good stores, and bad stores. I've had great luck with them over the past 20 years at the three shops I've used. One of my earliest visits they busted off an air spigot on a tank I had mounted under my old chevy. They called me up immediately and let me know they'd pay for repairs and whatnot. It was a broken 5 dollar petcock, I told them not to worry about it. My latest issue with them was when they put 2 duratracs on my truck, and 3 ultra terrains. I didn't notice til the next morning when I went to take a picture of the passenger side. I called them, and within 40 minutes I had the right tires on. They had a safety stand down, as well, to go over the issue and make sure it never happens again. They had two guys working my truck, and one guy grabbed the tires off the wrong rack. They made a bigger deal out of it than I do, bringing up the (tiny) difference in tire size being a safety issue and such. Stuff happens. Luckily for me they jumped to make things right. I'll keep going until they change.

And to add, it's the Toyota dealership I've had the biggest issues with. Like not torquing my lug nuts, that was a fun one that coulda been worse. They've also stripped a few lug nuts, somehow, but were happy to replace the studs and find a new set of matching aftermarket lug nuts to make me whole. That took me an extra 2-3 hours to get my truck back from a simple oil change, but I came out with an extra 22 lug nuts and lug wrench/key.

 

“We stripped two of your studs, we don’t have any spares, your truck is not safe to drive, we have some on order and they may be in within a day or two.”

I swear, sometimes I just wanna leave the factory wheels and tires on the truck, never rotate them And hope that I never get a puncture so I never have to remove them.

 

I was actually surprised I didn't get this response from them. I was ready to have my wife come pick me up but they had someone running from store to store trying to find a set. They said they found them at their third stop. Much better than a multiple day wait!

 

This happened to me at Big Zero tires in Colorado Springs. I had to run to the Subaru dealership and buy them myself while they held my car hostage.

 

ooph... yeah, that'd suck.

 

What is it called when they keep it a secret and not own up to it?

 

I had something like that happen to me when I had a staggered set put on a 1974 Dodge Challenger in 1978. I think it was at J.C. Penny or Firestone. They gave the job to a tire girl. First red flag. I ordered two E-60-14 and two G-60-14 tires (pre metric days) I made the monumental error of assuming a tire "tech" would know where they go without being led by the nose. Bad assumption. I got the car back and started driving off and the thought popped into my mind, "I'd better check". Got out and looked and she put an E-60 on the right front and left rear and a G-60 on the left front and right rear. I pulled back in and they brought tire girl out to look. Her only comment in a disgusted voice, "now I'll have to rebalance them". At that point I was speechless.
As far as DT goes, I've been using the same store for almost 25 years. Lots of sets of tires bought there. They only made a mistake twice, no damage. Once on the way home I kept hearing pinging noises like I was driving down a gravel road. Got home and looked and all the weights had flown off. They'll stick new weights right on to a dirty rim. From then on right before going there I grab a bucket and sponge, reach behind each wheel and clean them off. Never had a problem since. Second screw up I bought tires that were clearly marked "this side out". Well after installation they were that side in. But they fixed it no problem. They did me right on the last set I bought for my Jeep Grand Cherokee though. I mentioned that the old set didn't wear very well. In Southern Arizona that's SOP. The extremely hot road surface softens up tires and wears them out quick. But without any hassle they saved me several hundred dollars by pro-rating them.