M
mellow yellow y2k2 tbird
UPDATE EMAIL ADDRESS
A bad news, good news story.
Last week I came out to the car after work and found a flat tire. I put the donut on and took the flat to a tire repair shop at Walmart, but they couldn't plug it because the puncture was on the side wall. Not sure how it happened, but it may have been foul play.
So, I resigned myself to the idea of having to buy a new tire. Called several tire retailers, Discount Tire, NTB etc. and found out two things. These tires are hard to find (only one shop in Houston had some in stock) and they cost about $235 each (ouch).
At my wife's insistence, I took the car to the Quick Lane service where I bought the car with the outside hope that they would cover it under the tire warranty. I was told that the standard warranty doesn't cover "road hazards" unless you specifically purchase road hazard coverage.
But now the good news part of my story. The service manager asked me if I bought the car at that dealership. When I said yes, he agreed to replace the tire at no cost to me. I nearly fell over! He made a call and had the tire delivered later that day and I was back on the road 4 hours after I stopped in. I was very impressed that the service manager was more interested in customer loyalty than in making a buck.
Lessons learned: Take good care of your tires; they are expensive. Develop a good relationship with your dealer's service and parts managers. Even if you think something will not be covered under warranty, give it a shot.
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Last week I came out to the car after work and found a flat tire. I put the donut on and took the flat to a tire repair shop at Walmart, but they couldn't plug it because the puncture was on the side wall. Not sure how it happened, but it may have been foul play.
So, I resigned myself to the idea of having to buy a new tire. Called several tire retailers, Discount Tire, NTB etc. and found out two things. These tires are hard to find (only one shop in Houston had some in stock) and they cost about $235 each (ouch).
At my wife's insistence, I took the car to the Quick Lane service where I bought the car with the outside hope that they would cover it under the tire warranty. I was told that the standard warranty doesn't cover "road hazards" unless you specifically purchase road hazard coverage.
But now the good news part of my story. The service manager asked me if I bought the car at that dealership. When I said yes, he agreed to replace the tire at no cost to me. I nearly fell over! He made a call and had the tire delivered later that day and I was back on the road 4 hours after I stopped in. I was very impressed that the service manager was more interested in customer loyalty than in making a buck.
Lessons learned: Take good care of your tires; they are expensive. Develop a good relationship with your dealer's service and parts managers. Even if you think something will not be covered under warranty, give it a shot.
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