Dealer slapped my wrist today

My last rotation at the dealer was an odd mix. He must not have checked the pressure and I checked when I got home and had miss-matched all around. Out comes the gauge and air compressor.

Probably go to rotating my self. I do it on my other vehicle after had a couple of studs stripped off and then have the trailing axle bearing go out because I'm sure they beat the old stud out. Happened a few thousand miles latter.

 

I forgot until I saw a post here on PC, that reminded me, that I also used to check my lug nuts with a torque wrench when I changed my own tires. Most tire bays use compressed air wrenches. They mpst likely are set to some optimal torque. I doubt that they change them from car to car. Overtightening the lugs can warp your disk. I've had them overtightened and undertightened. Sam's Warehouse, a few years back forgot to tighten them all together. I got about a miile before the rear started to wobble. Anyway torque wrench is around $35 if you don't have one.

 

jps000 - I'm genuinely curious - which dealer are you refering to? If you don't want to mention a specific dealership out in the open here, please PM me. I'm in CT too, and early on I would go to one of the primary Hartford area dealerships. I stopped doing that because I felt I was being way overcharged for basic service. Also they couldn't seem to get their head around the oil overfilling thing, no matter how many times I would request that they only fill 3.5 quarts.


With regard to the tire pressure discussion - I'm a firm believer in running the tires higher than the recommended pressure. I started doing it to increase fuel economy and got noticeable improvements. I gradually increased until I now keep them near the max rating (except for on hot summer days where I'll take it down a bit). You can actually feel the difference in the rolling resistance when you drive - especially during "glides" and steering at low speeds. Another benefit is that it considerably improves tire wear. I'm at 66k miles now - still on the originally tires, with a decent amount of tread left. The only downside that might bother some people is that you do experience a noticeably "harder" ride - to the point where you might get buzzes in the dash that might not be there with the soft, squishy, high-friction recommended tire pressure.

 

i would not p

i would not spend another dime there if i were you. i have always had my oil changed at the dealer i bought both my Pri's from and the first time i went there, got oil changed, tire pressure was changed to 36/34. 2nd time i went there, i told them not to touch the tire pressure, guy responded "no problem" asked me what pressure i preferred and another word on the subject has never been mentioned in 4+ years.

once, 2 years ago, one tire had a slow leak (later found to be a nail, but it took nearly 3 months for the leak to develop) pressure was 38. he pumped it up to 40 psi to match the other rear tire and noted it on the inspection report.

if your dealer cant do the same for you, get one who will

 

Sounds as though your dealer deserves a mention. Who is it?

 

I'm with Dave on this. As long as you aren't going over sidewall pressure rating the dealer should have no issues with it. I've never had a dealer give me any grief over pressures on tires in other vehicles, and I usually tell them exactly what pressures I wanted front and rear--typically a few pounds over the door placard to firm up the ride in corners.

A dealer would get the opportunity to pull this sort of crap exactly once, then I would explain why I wouldn't be using them for any further service. (Did this with a Toyota dealer in Georgia after poor service/poor communication on my Tundra.)

Upon delivery of a new vehicle I typically find that the tire inflation is random... My Accord was delivered with pressure well above sidewall rating--the only way to get the sidewall squat out of those Michelins on the front I suppose. On the drive home I was trying to figure out why the ride was so much harsher than expected...then I checked the pressure. Let about 10 psi out of the tires (still well over the door placard) and things were fine. With the Prius delivery the pressures were pretty good except one rear was higher than the front by two psi.

 

Toyota of Olympia

 

You might be surprised. I've read some of Jayman's analyses of bulk oil. I use only the stuff in fresh containers, and I change it myself. And after seeing the monkeys at the dealership washing cars with a long-handled bristle brush and a single dirty pail, I'm very specific about them NOT washing the car.

 

Have had my 2007 tires at 42-40 since I got it. 11,000 miles later still does not need rotating. All wearing perfect. Integrities still suck though.

 

My Integrities are about at the end of their life. I run them at 50/48 (44/42 for first half of their life) and the sides, especially the outside, are still worn more than the center.

I also understand that a dealer can only pass on what is recommended.

PA P

 

Good post!

 

Here's my 2c. Any free program isn't free. In order to get the "free" tires do you have to pay for all of the oil changes and "scheduled" maintenance at the dealer? Are they using bottled or bulk oil? If oil changes cost $20 everywhere else and $40 at the dealer then figure the extra $160 goes toward the price of the tires. Add in the ripoff prices of the "scheduled maintenance" packages. If they use bulk oil and a problem develops after 3 years/36000 miles guess who is stuck for the bill. Not the dealer.

Under what conditions are the free tires delivered? Every 40000 miles? Does the tread have to wear down to the point where the tires look like racing slicks? Do you have to pay for mounting and balancing? Who pays for the tire if you hit a road hazard?

Dealer underinflates the tire so it wears faster. Tire needs to be replaced outside of the program. Dealer has a better than 50/50 chance of selling the replacement tire as I suspect most people won't leave the bad tire on the car & go elsewhere. Maybe the customer is told after the tire is removed from the rim.

I suspect you'll be better off going elsewhere for service. If you want to discuss tp print out the threads documenting life with high pressures. You'll soon discover if they are acting out of greed or ignorance.

As I recall Firestone's problem with Ford (or Ford's problem with Firestone) started with trying to achieve a rollover safety rating. When the tires had higher pressure the SUV rolled too easily. The pressure was reduced to the point where an acceptable rating was earned and Ford & Firestone agreed that this would be the recommended pressure.

Everything is "fine" until the vehicle performs an evasive maneuver and blows a tire causing the rollover. The tires blew due to the underinflation. I believe the number was 28psi--for a truck.

From personal experience I can tell you that driving at 32psi after driving at 45psi (or so) is like driving through glue. TP, oil level, tires, etc. are personal choices. It's your car and you are free to do what you want. Just ensure that you are making informed choices.

 

From what I recall the Firestone rubber was also bad and the production practices were crap. I've gotten some bad Bridgestone rubber myself that blew out at 28+ psig, brand new, on the lightly loaded rear end of a car! The full sized truck tires I bought from Bridgestone performed well, but the Potenza's were defective and dangerous so I'll never buy one again.

It is wrong to try and gloss over the faults in the tires. I had a relative who is very picky with his tires (a performance car nut as well) that had new Firestone's fail one after another on him during a trip during the Firestone fiasco. If your tire can't hold up at 28 psig at highway speed, it shouldn't be on the highway to begin with, end of story.

If you ever have the misfortune of having a brand new tire (that you've checked in the past 24 hours) disintegrate on a curve on the interstate you will develop less sympathy for the BS the tire manufacturers are pushing.

 

I've had the dealer inflate my tires to 42/40 3 times now (I'm at 20k now and need to go in again). Only once was the guy said "whoa, that's kinda high. You sure?" I said "yep." and he said "ok, cool".

never had a problem.

 

Yikes. Well, let's not 'conflate' several things. I inflate my own tires to 42/40. As far as the free oil change at the dealer, that is fine by me as are the free tires as are the free car washes (okay so some schmuck accidentally touches my fender with his brush instead of the wheel well). It's just my car, not my wife getting a pedicure here. Obviously it's to get me to go to the dealer for more expensive service. I've always gone non-dealer for cars, but I choose not to for the Hybrid. Bulk oil, bottle oil, I honestly don't care. That sounds like Evian trying to get me to drink their water instead of my well water. And unless I change oil myself, there are not many places to trust...The dealership I go to is rated number one in the country for customer satisfaction. They have to pull the wool over our eyes gently if they wish to hold onto the title... I might add this only applies to vehicles purchased at the dealer. They won't do this for you otherwise.