Discount Tire scratched my rim, fix or replace?

What a flippin' nightmare. What started a few weeks ago with the excitement of getting a sweet deal on a new set of tires from the $100 off $400 promotion that Discount Tire Direct ran on Ebay, ended in frustration and anger this evening.

Long story short, I sat in the store for 7 hours and 15 minutes today waiting for my tires to get mounted. Apparently when the manager says, "It will be a little wait," he really means it could take his entire shift to get it done. When they handed my keys back to me this evening, I inspected the situation with my flashlight and discovered one rim has circular scratches/gouges around the lug nut holes. I immediately showed the manager and his reply was, "Yeah, that looks like something we did. I'll call a tire re-finishing place tomorrow and they'll fix it for you."

So, can they be fixed? They're the shiney aluminum 17" alloy rims that come on a TRD Sport. Do I give them a shot at it or demand a new Toyota rim? What would a "re-finishing" place do to scratched rims?

 

Meh, buff it out with some scotchbrite. I have the same wheels, they won't be worth much when you upgrade anyways.

 

My issue is that I don't think it'll buff out. The gouges are kind of deep. And I don't plan on buying new rims later on. This is my drive to work and take me camping and hunting vehicle. I get it dirty, but clean it up when I do. Now I have 3 rims in great shape and one with circular gouges around the lug hole area.

 

I got new wheels when they scratched mine.

If you're married to your factory wheels ask them to replace the scratched one. If they won't then you'll have to either have a refinish job or have them order you new wheels of your choice with lugs and center caps and free install, like they did to me.

 

You'll be surprised how good some refinishing places can be. I once curb rashed the hell out of my rims on my 1st gear. Took it to a local shop and didnt expect much BUT when they were done, couldnt tell at all. See what they can do...if you're still not happy, have them replace the rim.

 

My dad had a similar issue with his old BMW M5 where a shop damaged one wheel (1 cost abut the same as a full set of TRD) it was refinished and you couldn't even tell which one was ever damaged.

 

Well. Guess I'll give the refinishing shop a try. I just want it back the way it was. Thanks for the input. I'll update some before and afyer shots if I can remember to take them.

 

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...^^^... About 8 years ago Discount Tire screwed up 2 rims ... they let pick out a new set of 4 rims in their store ... also gave me 1 Michelin tire free ... had previously purchased 4.

Also .. they let me keep the old 4 OEM wheels.

This was cheaper for them to do this than to buy 2 OEM wheels from the Toyota dealer. The free tire I got was a bonus I guess.

We have good "wheel refinish shops" here ... but I had 2 rims damaged and had to have a vehicle to drive.

EDIT ... It took D/T about 2 hours total to install the tires and damage the OEM wheels ... then I drove off and noticed the damage when i got home about 30 minutes later ... my saving grace was I took some pics of the wheels and told the D/C rep the wheels had no damage before they started. I do the same when i go to any dealership for service or valet parking ... pics and vehicle condition discussion.

 

Tire Kingdom scratched all four of my wheels. Didn't notice it until I got home. Called the shop and the regional manager sent me a check for the price of a brand new set a few weeks later.

 

That sucks man .. i have brand new wheels sitting here in my garage waiting to take and get mounted. I paid over $800 for them and they are the dark satin alloy Toyota wheels .. i'm still trying to decide where to take them to as we have NTB, Discount Tire as well as a few other small tire shops in town .. i think where ever i go i will stress nicely that they please be careful not to scratch the new wheels all up

 

Oh and ..... over 7hrs ??? you have way more patience than me and i'm a pretty patient person

 

Yeah. Their next appointment was over a week out. They said they could do it but I'd have to wait. I didn't have any other options than maybe an Uber ride home. I started at 10 am and got my keys at 5:20 pm. I walked to lunch. Walked to a few nearby shops. Even walked to Walmart and got some oil for my next change this weekend.

 

have pictures of the scratched rim?

 

I knew someone would eventually ask

 

I'll try to snap one tomorrow. Was deer hunting today. And going out again tomorrow.

 

They should replace them in my opinion and it should not have taken that long at all.

 

same thing happened to me a few years ago in my previous tacoma build. They bought me a whole new set of wheels.

 

As common as this is and as costly as it is, I can't believe they still hire dipshits to perform services. I pretty much expect my wheels to get fucked up when I take them in to get worked on. I found an old guy ~60 miles away that I'm willing to travel to and pay extra(tip) for. How sad is that?

 

It's pretty inexpensive to give a set of wheels away at wholesale for a large company.

Accidents happen.

You're not going to be hiring precision skilled laborers to change tires all day, especially not for $10/hr in a place where $550k buys an average starter home.

 

Im sure it's not going to put them out of business having to buy a set of wheels here and there, but it would be nice if they would hire a more skilled group of people to do this work even if it means at a higher rate and they would save that money on buying new wheels every so often. Look how many people were skimming by this thread and commented about having damaged wheels(twice for myself).

I fail to see what housing costs have to do with the situation.