Sue happy public. I have been in the auto service industry my whole life. We spend a TON of time doing CYA....cover your ass. Customers LOVE to come back at you saying.."I just paid a 1000 dollars for you to fix my car"....... even though the issue now is something completely different from what you fixed. It's not fun out there in the auto repair business!

Totally, totally agree. In some ways the General Tire "Replace...........Tire" message is good for the tire dealer and repair shops as it spells out what the consumer should do and not an ignored suggestion from a repair or tire shop. Someone comes in for service and the repair place sees a tire issue and suggests the tire(s) should be replaced and doesn't have the "Replace......Tire" message, well you can be sure the owner/consumer is going to post on the internet, social media how the repair shop tried to scam them for a set of tires. Me if I were the repair shop and saw that message I would take a photo of it and attach it to the in house shop record receipt for that customer. I'm beginning to like that General Tire TWI more and more.

Notice the articles popping up about
rubber tire dust + blacktop dust
being a “terrible pollutant” ?

I've heard the anti-car bicycle folks using brake dust pollution as yet another reason that cars should be outlawed.

On the tire shop topic, a few years back I gave my neighbor some snow tires I had no use for. The tires were 215/55R16 and the OEM tire size for his car was 205/55R16, but when you measured the circumference of both tires they were almost exactly the same. Width was very close as well.

The first tire shop he went to refused to mount the tires for him because the size on the sidewall was different than the OEM size for the car. Next shop he went to mounted and balanced them without an issue. Go figure. They fit and worked perfectly on the car, and he got a few winters out of them.

Man, I miss the days when people weren't so crazy. Sure was a better time to live in.

Amen

That had to have been just after the Firestone and Ford Explorer rollover issues. Tire Rack wouldn't sell you different size tires, or one tire if it wasn't the same size as OEM. You had to jump through a bunch of hoops and have proof of the vehicle tires were going on, etc., Don't think it is as bad as it was back then but big issues and hoop jumping as Firestone and Ford were pointing the finger at each other. And so came the Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) for every new vehicle as low tire pressures were deemed part of the reason for the rollovers.

Out of curiosity, I priced tires and Discount and Tire Rack online.
Both places REQUIRED you enter a car, got around it by picking a Corvette.
So what happens when I show up in a different car?

They won't mount 275/40/18 tires because a 70 Challenger only came with 15" rims?

Most chain stores will mount and balance but not give warranty since wring size for car and only do it on loose rims.
Not remove the wheels tires so they are not responsible, since they did not install on car.
YMMV

I have heard that one as well. I laughed and asked him what car came with those crazy expensive 22" wheels and rubber band tires that he proudly displays in his showroom and what truck came with those 3 foot tall tires he has for sale.... Crickets.

He wanted to know what car my 275-60-15 drag radials were going on. Absolutely no car ever came with those. So he asked what the OEM size was. I told him F60-15 fiberglass belted polyester bias ply tires. Deer in the headlights. His father probably isn't old enough to have seen anything but radials.

I have never had problems with Discount and non stock or race tires. They always ask me what my 275 pro drag radials are going on and I tell them my 68 Barracuda. They have my Barracuda on file for tire warranty on the front but the car has never been there I always carry them in. I did drive it up there to drop of my drag radials for balance a few weeks ago. They always ask about it when I do so I finally let them see it after a few years.

My Jeep also has much larger than stock tires and they rotate and balance with no questions.

I think some of it actually comes down to the tire jockey "Im in charge here" line of thinking. Or they simply have enough business they just dont want to.

Nah, it was only 6 or 7 years ago. Could be fallout from the Exploder days that just became part of the shop culture, I don't know. My neighbor never told me if they gave him a reason or not.

The car was a Honda Civic, so not much chance of a rollover if a tire blew because the tread width number on the sidewall indicated that it may be 10mm wider than the OEM...

This was the point of my thread, "Business is good"
It was obvious after watching them up sell the 2 people in front of me in line on new tires.
Both cases, "Its better to replace them in sets"
The 1 lady only had a puncture flat, "We might not be able to fix, but we have these on sale......"

I know they have legal concerns, so it was easiest to send me on my way, unless I bought new tires, because they had a line of people waiting, and I only wanted a couple of tires balanced.

We had the 80_90% tread life left taken off my car my wife drives and new ones put on as they aged out.
Sam's Club did free Mount Balance. 80 bucks back sinve bought 4. And were on sale. Oh and free fkat fix and road hazard. I am sure whoever recycles the tires will resell them or end up.in a 3rd world country like tge many auction cars do.

Yes biz was good, when the tires we ordered came in was a week wait to get installed (appointments only)

I think it goes shop by shop even with the chain stores.

When the discount tire opened near me I could go in buy four tires and leave in less than an hour. I needed one lug net the guy gave me a whole set for free. When my son had a flat in CO and I am in TN I bought the tires here and had them installed there. Super helpful. Now it's a 2 hour or more wait if you just drop in and an hour or more with an appointment, if they are available. They still mount and guarantee anything I bring in or drive in but they do register the warranty to the car. That free tire replacement has been super helpful on my Stealth with thin sidewall non factory tires. Most get busted long before they wear out and I get a free tire.

The busier they got the less helpful they become so I guess business being good has an effect.

My sister went to Walmart for a set of tires. Not factory size they said no. Went to Tire Discounter and got what she wanted. (By the way their free tire alignment was over priced. They left her lower control arms loose. Twice.)

My worst tire store experience was NTB. I went in asking for 2 new tires up front and the best two old tires to be put on the back. He gave me the crap about best tires on the rear. I was okay with swapping them when I get home but then he started with I have to buy 4, and I need this, and that. I told him I won't buy anything from him and went to Firestone and got exactly what I wanted. That NTB went out of business or moved so apparently nobody wanted their B.S. I have similar stories about the Goodyear that went out of business near me too.