Dumb tire shops

[Jhemiway23]

Last week, I had a new tire put on. The guy who installed them definitely just used his impact and called it a day. The lug nuts were not only installed backwards, but 2 studs broke off of course. So today I called the shop, and had it towed to said shop. They are going to fix, but said the tow is on me because I could have driven it with 2 studs broke off. What a load of crap. My lesson here is ALWAYS check before leaving the shop, and in emergency situations , it is perfectly fine to drive with 2 studs missing

 

[CarDoc66]

Wow. They should have stood behind that better. Someone could get hurt with loose wheels, lugs or studs missing.
Don’t ever go there again.

 

[walterjay]

Was this a Firestone shop?

 

[Jhemiway23]

Was this a Firestone shop?

Nope, a local Indy actually just a mile down the road from me. But in the past I have gone to Mr tire and they were crap too. All my caps for my tires are completely different (they were all OE not a huge deal but is to me) and they also used impact and had a hell of a time loosening them. This makes me appreciate my mechanic even more because he actually cares about his customers and the quality of his work.

 

[JoelB]

So 2 lug nuts were missing? Or how did you identify broken studs?

 

[dubber09]

I had a shop cross thread a stud with lug nut in only half way (they used impact), never went to tire shops after that. Didn't bother going back with complaint either as it was waist of my time. Left the severed stud in place (nut came off with a few threads twisted broken off stud), nut was a throw away, fixed remaining threads, new nut has about 8 turns left on the stud, good enough.

 

[Volvohead]

I had a buddy in the very early 90s who had a Taurus SHO. A really nice one, black leather interior, manual tranny and all.

Took it to the Ford dealer for a routine tire rotation and the usual oil/filter thing.

Was driving it home down the highway, and one of the front wheels just dropped off the car. During rush hour.

As he sat in the median ditch, he watched it bounce down Route 202 at 65 miles an hour, until it disappeared around the next curve.

Someone just forgot to torque them down.

He was very lucky no one got killed. The car had a lot of front end damage. The dealer did everything short of handing him a new car to try and make it right. I heard a few folks in the service department got fired over it, including the assistant service manager on duty.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Last week, I had a new tire put on. The guy who installed them definitely just used his impact and called it a day. The lug nuts were not only installed backwards, but 2 studs broke off of course. So today I called the shop, and had it towed to said shop. They are going to fix, but said the tow is on me because I could have driven it with 2 studs broke off. What a load of crap. My lesson here is ALWAYS check before leaving the shop, and in emergency situations , it is perfectly fine to drive with 2 studs missing

When I had my DWS mounted at Discount Tire the technician was jawboning with his coworkers and in the process forgot to balance the front tires. Thankfully it only took me about 100 ft of driving to realized this serious problem. I had never experience this before. The car felt like a large piece of metal was attached to it and going "thump thump thump" down the road.

 

[IndyIan]

Last week, I had a new tire put on. The guy who installed them definitely just used his impact and called it a day. The lug nuts were not only installed backwards, but 2 studs broke off of course. So today I called the shop, and had it towed to said shop. They are going to fix, but said the tow is on me because I could have driven it with 2 studs broke off. What a load of crap. My lesson here is ALWAYS check before leaving the shop, and in emergency situations , it is perfectly fine to drive with 2 studs missing

I don't think I'd want those guys to "fix" anything on your car... Lugs on backwards? I had to think for a moment what that even could be? Surely no one would install them flipped would they.... But these guys did that.
They will probably smash out the the broken studs and replace them with some hardware store bolts and call it good...

 

[Jhemiway23]

So 2 lug nuts were missing? Or how did you identify broken studs?

Sorry thought I posted pics not sure what happened will post again

 

[CarDoc66]

When I had my DWS mounted at Discount Tire the technician was jawboning with his coworkers and in the process forgot to balance the front tires. Thankfully it only took me about 100 ft of driving to realized this serious problem. I had never experience this before. The car felt like a large piece of metal was attached to it and going "thump thump thump" down the road.

Sound like they left a wheel loose and blamed it on the balance.

 

[Jhemiway23]

 

[eljefino]

So here's what you do.

Pull up in front of one of the bays. Lock it. Go inside and get paid for your tow. Then hand the keys over for them to fix it. If they won't do that, hang out by your car and shoo potential customers away.

 

[Audiman]

No way that’s safe to drive with two snapped studs next to each other like that. Wheels effectively only being held on one side so the remaining nuts would work loose.

I would also never advise a customer to drive with missing wheel nuts or bolts.

They should be paying for that tow.

 

[Dave Hess]

Unfortunately most tire techs don’t give a crap.

Finish one vehicle and move onto to the next vehicle.

 

[Fitter30]

Last week, I had a new tire put on. The guy who installed them definitely just used his impact and called it a day. The lug nuts were not only installed backwards, but 2 studs broke off of course. So today I called the shop, and had it towed to said shop. They are going to fix, but said the tow is on me because I could have driven it with 2 studs broke off. What a load of crap. My lesson here is ALWAYS check before leaving the shop, and in emergency situations , it is perfectly fine to drive with 2 studs missing

 

[RyanY]

No way that’s safe to drive with two snapped studs next to each other like that. Wheels effectively only being held on one side so the remaining nuts would work loose.

I would also never advise a customer to drive with missing wheel nuts or bolts.

They should be paying for that tow.

My neighbor drove his truck for years with three lugs missing. It would have been fine, but the shop should still pay for the tow.

Gotta leave a review on Yelp and other places to warn potential victims...and be sure to let them know you plan to post a review. They might change their mind and cover the tow cost. After all, a negative review will cost them much more than a tow!

 

[RaymondP]

"Check EVERYTHING". Drove home, about four miles after new tires installed. Ride seemed a bit off. Next day, as always, I checked the cold air pressure. Three tires good. Fourth tire reads 85lbs! Yes. I think they pressurize to make sure the rim seal is good as well looking for leaks. Then they deflate to the correct pressure.

Note to self....be sure to bring a tire pressure gauge for next time anyone touches your wheels/tires. Is it just me, but sadly it seems that as I get older the level of competence is falling off a cliff. Trying to educate my kids for their own safety. Makes you wonder what is driving around on the roads these days.

 

[zzyzzx]

I'd call them lazy, not dumb.

 

[totegoat]

Always do a check before leaving any shop that touched your vehicle.