Car Repair-- How could I have handled this differently

In My Humble Opinion
1

Story will be long (most of mine are)

For the past week possibly two or three my car was sounding different. It was like the engine was revving higher but the RPM indicator wasn’t out of the normal area for my speed.

On Monday I was driving down to Baltimore from NJ and just over the Delaware Memorial Bridge I stopped at a rest stop. Getting out of my car I happened to glance at the left front tire and notice a bulge in the sidewall. I asked my friend who was with me if we should look for a Sears Auto or other tire place to have the tire checked or continue driving to Baltimore. She suggested we continue but not go very fast (over 80)

I laughed at her because I drive slow (usually no more than 10 over the speed limit on an interstate) and we made it to Baltimore and back.

Tuesday I checked my owners manual and I saw that under the bumper to bumper warranty my tires were covered to 36K mikes or for 36 months. My car was bought in May of last year so it is well under 36 months and I had a little over 31K in miles so I knew my warranty was still good so I took it to the local Pontiac dealer (not where I bought it)

I told the Service Advisor that I saw a bulge in the tire. He went out with an auto tech and came back asking me when I was hit. I told him I wasn’t hit and had no idea what he was taking about. He told me the tire was damaged and they would have to order a new one and it should be in around noon tomorrow also the rim had some damage and it was out of alignment. He told me if I didn’t replace the tire it would blow out.

At NO ****point he did not mention any prices and when I started speaking to him I mentioned it was still under warranty and I felt the tire was defective.
I told him I would be back that night to leave the car so they could take care of it. He asked me to just put my # on any paperwork.

So I left the car last night and borrowed one to go to work today.

I got a call this morning from him saying the tire was in and they needed my approval the total would be $311.79 I was floored and told him I would have to call him back. He said something implying I had to accept because they ordered the tire.

I called a Goodyear tire store and the price they wanted for the tire was about $20.00 less than the price the dealer wanted so I called the dealer back and agreed. This is how my bill breaks down

Job 1 WHEEL/TIRE CONMCERN HOURS : TECH(S) 215

Labor $45.00
Replace front left tire. Tire has bulge from Impact. Belt Broken
NEC to Mount and Balance new left front tire
tire special ordered

Tire PO 58910 215/45/18/GYD/EAGLE UNIT PRICE 145

Tire Tax 1.50

labor 45
Parts 145
Misc 1.50

Job 1 total 191.50

Job 2 charges

WEELAIG HAWK EYE 2 WHEEL ALI HOURS TECH(S) 215 99.99
HUNTER HAWK EYE 2 WHEEL COMPUTERIZED ALIGN
PERFORM HUNTER HAWK EYE COMPUTERIZED 2 WEEL ALIGN
COMPLETED HUNTER HAWK EYE COMPUTERIZED 2 WEEL ALIGH

LABOR 99.00

TOTAL LABOR 144.99
TOTAL PARTS 145.00
TOTAL SUBLET 0
TOTAL G.O.G. 0
TOTAL MISC 1.50
TOTAL MISC DISC 0
TOTAL TAX 20.30

TOTAL INVOICE 311.79

I still don’t believe there was any damage to the tire caused by me and of course I didn’t think to ask for the old tire when they did the work. I did ask the cashier to have the service guy not to dispose of the tire if they didn’t already.

There is a note printed saying I may receive a customer satisfaction survey yaada yada and if I can’t answer completely satisfied on all questions to please call the serviced department as soon as possible. Your satisfaction is our #1 concern.

Needless to say I am not completely satisfied right now.

2

In order to get a bulge on the sidewall of a tire, assuming it was not defective to start with, either you hit something like a curb, or hit a road hazard like a rock, or somebody hit you.

Tires just don’t fail on the sidewall often. And that is why you were politely asked ‘who hit you’ , rather than ‘what did you hit’.

Did you maybe pinch a curb while parking? That is a common cause of sidewall failure. Let someone else drive your car?

3

I agree if iot had been the right tire then I may have I had hit a curb and it would be one thing but I didn’t have my tires rotated yet and the tire in question is on the left side.

4

You hit the nail on the head yourself

Now assuming (and this is my professional opinion as a new car dealer service manager) the bend in the rim and the bubble are in close proximity there is no doubt that you hit something. Physical damage is an unwarrantable condition. Period and end of discussion.
Rims do not bend for no particular reason.
Tires usually do not bubble for no particular reason.
Car do not go out of alignment for no particular reason.
the combo of the three points at an impact.
A very common cause of this is hitting a pothole. New low profile tires are way more prone to bubbling and transmitting the shock to the rim than the older high profile tires.

5

Rick the rim looked fine to me. I was never shown any damage on it. I also was not shown a report of the alignment. My bill shows a 2 wheel alignment but the Service Writer whop called me said it would be a 4 wheel alignment.

I do believe the Vibe (Toyota Matrix) is low profile tires and have hit pot-holes in the car (Rt 9 in Lakewood was bad during the spring)

I’m wondering if the rim was damaged shouldn’t it have been replaced as well?

6

In CA you would have had to sign an estimate.

Why did you pay? I’d have simply said that I expected it to be covered by warranty, and nothing was said otherwise. If it wasn’t to be covered by warranty, I would have gone elsewhere. In many case, installation is free if you buy the tire.

But since you paid, I think you’re stuck.

7

I’d want to see that rim that was damaged.

My fathers truck had all four of his tires do this, and he had to raise a BIG stink to get them replaced under warranty.

8

The “damaged rim” is still on the car with the new tire on it

9

Think you got boned.

10

Then I would bitch.

11

The damage to the rim can be cosmetic and the rim could still be safe and be balanced.

Seeing the rim, the bubble in the tire and the misalignment = something inflicted damage to this tire.

If you want, they can order a replacement rim for 300 to 500 dollars.

It’s possible both front and rear were out of alignment if they encountered the same road hazards.

The dealer might have assumed you understood that this was not covered under warranty because it is very, very easy to take it for granted that damage is not covered. Kind of like showing up with a cracked windshield and him saying, “Did you see the stone hit the windshield?” At this point, most people are on the same page and realize there is no warranty involved.

So, to answer your question: You didn’t ask enough questions, and you sought input after after the servicing and payment.

12

Rick thank you for your input. I understand that he and I were both assuming things, He was assuming that I understood that I would have to pay for the tire and I did not care the cost. I assumed that after he asked me what had hit me and I said nothing that I knew of and that I still thought the tire was defective I was assuming they would treat it as a warranty repair.