Not only expensive but also highly inconvenient

[Jfold]

A few days ago I was driving with the sunroof open and heard a tapping sound as I drove into my driveway. I got out and found a screw sticking out of the outer edge of the tread of one of my tires. The tire still had plenty of pressure so I put a little soapy water to determine if it was immediately leaking air. It was. Thinking it would be an easy repair I took it to a shop who still happened to be open at 7pm and was told I would need to replace the tire which this particular shop did not have. By now I changed the tire to the donut and then the next day drove to about 6 different shops looking for one who actually carried the tire. Nobody did.

My first stop on day two was the place I bought the car--Varsity Ford of Ann Arbor. I made an appointment online the night before. I described the problem and knowing this was not a commonly stocked tire stated I wanted to be called if there was no tire in stock. Without having received a phone call I had just enough time to leave work to make the scheduled appointment. When I arrived the mechanic immediately told me they normally have people leave their tire and have it ready the next day. This option annoyed me right off the bat--this is a tire, not some mysterious electric problem and yet they had not even looked at the tire or even if they had a replacement. Then they checked the tire and said they didn't have it in stock which was even more annoying, especially when a mechanic informed me a customer was in a few weeks ago with a Fusion Hybrid with the same problem. This was the same large dealership that sold me the car and stocks several hybrids on their lot--shouldn't they stock at least a few hybrid tires? I am not entirely surprised they did not call me to say they did not have a tire in stock, but having dropped 30k a few months ago does tend to make me feel an extra degree of entitlement to what I feel to be a basic service. Having received no service and feeling like an inconvenience to the dealership I definitely do not feel comfortable returning for service and quite likely will not return for sales. Do I live in an alternate universe here? I do not feel like a simple phone call and even better yet that a single tire change be done in a timely and convenient manner was too much to ask for. Evidently I was wrong on both accounts.

Irritated and on a mission to get what I originally thought to be simple fix I continued on to several tire stores. Each subsequent shop seemed to want me to leave the rim so the tire could be ready to be installed on my return. I was leery of leaving my rim both because I did not want it lost/damaged and I did want to get the best price. Most places also offered price matching and one was quick to tell me the quoted price from another shop was for the incorrect tire and that the real price I would pay was more like the $240 he was claiming to be the lowest price available anywhere. Most shops also included an added bonus of a several-day wait. In addition to the inconvenience of nobody carrying the tire it was also expensive, ranging from $200-280 installed. As it turned out Sears was both cheapest and most convenient with a one-day wait. The moral of the story is if you drive a Fusion Hybrid and you get a flat call around for the best deal and order the tire before arriving at the shop to save time and sanity. It seems a tire change is not as simple as one would think.

[rfruth]

Wow, leave the tire. What happened to just waiting 30 or 45 minutes - What kind of tire did you end up with ?

[Jfold]

Wow, leave the tire. What happened to just waiting 30 or 45 minutes - What kind of tire did you end up with ?

 

It was the same Michelin energy saver tire that came with the car. It appears that in a couple years if I want similar tires I will be shelling out a grand for a tire change. One shop showed me a similar model Michelin, but I didn't like the idea of having one odd tire, particularly on such a new car. The similar model was also priced at about $250.

[ChuckJ]

Do you have a Discount Tire in your area? They are very responsive and only $198.

 

ChuckJ

[Jfold]

Do you have a Discount Tire in your area? They are very responsive and only $198.

 

ChuckJ

 

I did try Discount Tire and have had good experiences with them in the past. With Installation Discount wanted something like $240. Although Discount Tire did offer price matching, they were also the shop that tried to convince me Sears quoted the wrong tire. Sears came in at $202.58 with tax and installation on an identical replacement.

[neevers1]

I did try Discount Tire and have had good experiences with them in the past. With Installation Discount wanted something like $240. Although Discount Tire did offer price matching, they were also the shop that tried to convince me Sears quoted the wrong tire. Sears came in at $202.58 with tax and installation on an identical replacement.

 

I find that discount tires vary widely between one and the other, in customer service.

[acdii]

Hybrid tires need to be LRR or GreenX as Michelin brands them, and they are not cheap. Just got quoted $1139 for a set of Primacy MXM4 for my 2010. The next set is Energy Saver A/S, waiting on a quote for those. For the record, double check the tires that are on the car against what is being sold. There are many different Energy Saver models. The OEM are MXV4, rated at 40K miles, the A/S are 60K miles, and are better tires.

 

OTOH if you dont care if they are LRR and OK with losing a couple MPG, you can always get a lower priced tire when you replace them all. I need to check the tires on my 2013, I think they are Goodyears, and if so, going to price out a set of those too.