Business must be good, tire balance

I took 2 rims to Discount Tire, line of people waiting for the 2 counter guys.
When it comes my turn and I tell him I have 2 rims I need balanced, carry in, don’t even need to remove or replace on car.
He says he needs to look at them, sure no problem.
After a quick look he tells me he can’t balance them because they have “sidewall wear” and are 6 yrs old.
Then proceeds to try and sell me new tires.
I say no thanks, and he quips, “Well I saved you $20”

I drive over to Tires Plus, this guy didn’t even ask a question, they weren’t busy and I was in and out of there with the 2 rims balanced for $28 in 20min.

So I guess I'm risking my life with these worn out tires.

Yes, there are some chains here that unless your tires look nearly new they will refuse to service them.

They won't let you buy anything less than 4 new tires otherwise your car could handle 'dangerously'.

If you buy 4 new tires they will tell you they can't warranty them unless you also get a front end alignment to go with it

Then we get to the employees that work there that use impact guns on everything and think they are NASCAR pit crew guys. Cross threaded lug nuts or broken wheel studs are your fault not theirs.

You might ask yourself why those tires are wearing oddly,

bought my own tire machine and wheel balancer off Craigslist for $550,they paid for themselves over 10 years ago!

Wearing oddly? Hardly, they are perfect.
I circled those spots he noted, seriously, that's normal wear.

I took for tires, that I got fro free, to Les Schwab and I had removed the wheels and tire from the vehicle for swap out and balance. The counter guy comes out and looks at them and says $28 a tire and $4 disposal fee. I smile and say thanks but no thanks. Go to local tire shop, Star Tire and Wheel and get quoted $60, sweet. I leave and go back a couple hours later to pick them up, they tell me I got the deal of the day? I say why? the owner say it should have been double that.

I think I should start a mobile tire business.

in his defense, those tires do look like crap and are old.

They do look a bit questionable IMO and it may be the camera angle but the wear appears uneven IE: worn more on the side with the circled areas. Another thing to be aware of is a companies liability. 2 weeks from now you have a blow out that takes out a bus full of kids. The root cause is blamed on the tire. Suddenly the tire shop has lawyers knocking on their door saying they should have informed the customer pf the tires condition.
Now maybe the guy hit something that caused the issue. But all the lawyers see is as Joe's tires is at fault and a 100.00 tire balance turns into MEGA dollar s for defense etc.
I have turned many jobs away for that very reason.
Customer says just replace the wheel cylinder/ caliper that's leaking. I say get it out of my shop. Not wanting to be offensive to the OP just looking at things from the other side of the issue.

Discount just covers their rear, the tire didn't look good to them so they didn't do the work. In their mind that is better than doing the work, then you have an issue with the tire and blame them. I am sure they have been down this road several thousand times and have arrived at the procedure they use for a reason.

I really like discount tire, I have connections and can get tires at cost and install for free. But the service, speed, and warranty from discount is worth it. They rotated and balanced the tires on my wifes old durango in 12 minutes one time. I have been able to watch the grass grow at too many other tire shops to go anywhere else.

Every business is concerned with liability. After being indoctrinated with legal propaganda on the tube that starts "were you a victim of something that wasn't your fault" a large percentage of the population thinks there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow any time something goes wrong. I don't blame business' one bit. First rule of any organism is self-preservation.

Agree with you and Bad340fish, not worth the liability for a few bucks labor for most big companies nowadays. If you look closer at the tire there's a considerable difference in wear of the outer edge TWI's on that side compared to the other too. General Tire (Made in USA) has it somewhat figured out with this at least with the center wear indicator. The tire alignment indicators are also pretty smart tech.

initial tire alignment indicator

Man if I had the room I would definitely love to have one.

EV’s are much heavier so the road pavement will get worse quicker.
Worse pavement will stress the EV tires more.

Like a snake swallowing its tail, etc.

But we have nothing to worry about since all 50 States keep their road surfaces in identical shape,
and all 50 will seamlessly increase road maintenance.

I had a slow leak in one of the reproduction bias plies on my Belvedere. I took the wheel off and called Wheel Works because we have had decent service there in the past with my truck and my wife's Honda. I ask the guy if the can fix a slow leak in a bias ply and he immediately goes on the offensive, putting on his lawyer hat. He asks, "How old is the tire?", probably thinking it was from the 60s or 70s. I told him it's a reproduction bias ply from 2017. He says he can't do anything with it and that nobody will touch an old tire. I told him it's only 6 years old. He did end up referring me to a tire place that was not too far away. I called them, they said "Sure, come on down. No appointment needed." I get there and a guy greets me before I even get out of the truck. He takes the tire and puts it in their tub of water. The valve stem was the culprit. He swaps the valve stem, charges $25 and I'm down the road.

It's just going to keep getting worse. Paranoia levels have been increasing by the year for many years.

Wonder why?................................"were you a victim of something that wasn't your fault"

Great news for tire sellers.

Also lets law enforcement know its time to talk to you.

Just a sign people are getting more ignorant and lazy as to not to know when there tires are getting thin.

It could also be a double edge sword if for instance it reads "Replace .........Tire" and you don't have many miles on the car? Most people don't know what TWI even means or how to check or use them. Even if the cords were showing most people would not pay attention so this way the manufacture wins or loses with REPLACE.......TIRE as you can't say they didn't warn you that you're driving in the danger zone. Honda used to and maybe still does emboss KICKSTARTER right on the kickstarter and people that knew what it was would laugh and think what does Honda think people are stupid? Come to find out passengers that would climb on board would be told to "fold down the (passenger) foot-peg" and make the mistake of folding the kickstarter out thinking that's what the driver meant. Sure it's not noticeable by the passenger but now it's not Honda's liability and it IS LABELED as to what it is. I can name a few other examples like why a motorcycle has a locking gas cap and why do they have open and close throttle cables. LAWYERS on both sides of the fence. Many a case has been lost when a judge rules that a manufacture had a "duty to warn" for the most stupid things. Remember the HOT COFFEE, so now you're going to see things like this REPLACE........TIRE and HOT COFFEE and KICKSTARTER on the obvious kickstarter, Beware of Dog, and on and on.

True.

A lot of different views just in this topic here.

My tire store which is pretty big and three locations will mount anything Ive taken them within reason and always beats Discount Tire by min. 20% for the same tire.

They do loads of AG related tires and repairs most simply come down to will they hold air and stay together. They dont seem too worried about any liability issues in that area and many travel the roads on a semi regular basis but under 30mph of course.

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.