[akras]

Of the national brands, my vote is for Discount Tires. I watched them (Myrtle Beach, SC shop) work on my truck wheels and really liked how they did things.

 

[SITH]

I just went to Discount Tire last week for new tires. All I told the guy was please be very careful with the wheels as Dodge has already scratched them when they mounted them to their balancer. I was outside when they pulled my car into the bay and I heard the manager round up everyone working on my car and tell them "be extremely careful with these wheels, put a scratch on them and your job is on the line". They were very careful with them and will continue to go back there.

 

[Occult Kitty]

I’ve had good luck at Discount Tire and Firestone. Clean, new shops and equipment.

 

[Slowpoke387]

I have to say Discount Tires was professional and took great care of the car and wheels. My bad, bring black wheel weights. Satin black Variants with natural finish weights. Not their fault, my oversight.

Wish they had them here in the Northeast. Around here Town Fair Tire has cornered the market and they hire any warm bodies to sling tires. My son worked at one of their stores and said it was a shitshow behind the scenes. Then worked at a different one. Same story. Worn out machines, lazy workers, damaged wheels daily, management turning a blind eye as long as the money rolled in. He was so frustrated with complaints and management that he eventually quit and moved on.

 

[ArchGE]

Look for a shop with a Hunter touch-less machine. I had the same anxiety with a new set of wheels. Went to Les Schwab and expressed my concerns. The shop manager mounted them personally for me.

 

[Rockster]

I am going to be ditching my stock Pirelli all season's that came on the car for some new summer tires (mich pilot 4's) in the next few weeks and for some reason I find myself sick over the possible risk of wheel damage on my brand new factory black satin wheels that the tire shop kid can do. I dont even have 1500 miles on them yet.

It just always seems they make some kind of mark no matter what, whether they chip one, or they get it with their tools. Do I just have bad luck on my past cars (tried probably 4 different shops) or am I not the only one who has this happen every time?

I guess I am looking for someone to inspire with me confidence and say they wont damage it, because these Pirelli's suck for grip. HaHa

I mean I don't want to be one of those guys that walks in and is a prick, but at the same time do you think its crazy to ask the manager to do it or something so it isn't some 16 year old?

My 2020 Scat Pack came with Pirelli high performance tires. About a bazillion times better than the Pirelli all season tires that came with my Hellcat.

The only place I had tires changed that didn't end up damaging the wheels was at Porsche dealers.

At 13K miles got a puncture in the driver side rear tire of my Hellcat. Long story short ended up at a nearby dealer to have 2 new rear tires installed. Car returned to me with new tires but previously unscuffed new wheels slightly scuffed.

As for tire shops... I would stay the heck away. With only one exception all have been horrible.

Yeah, the manager will tell you he'll put his "best" guy on the car but then out comes a tech with two left hands and a seeing eye dog using a cane...

 

[Booky]

I also go to Discount tire. When I make the appointment on the phone I tell them to schedule it with their best Tech. due to expensive wheels that will need to be replaced if they are damaged. After they schedule me I ask for the name of the Tech. that will be working on my wheels.

When I arrive for the appointment I make sure the correct Tech., by name, is actually doing the work, and I make sure he knows how important these wheels are to me.
So far I have had No issues and the guys working at Discount tire have been Great. They fully understand these are not everyday wheels and must be handled with care.



.

 

[Hereispappagray]

As an owner of 2 larger volume tire shops, its all about the equipment and whos doing them. Just express your concern, offer to pay more to have a more experience person do the wheels. Anytime we have anything new, or expensive come in we take special care regardless if someone offered to pay more or not, but it shows your serious about keeping them mint.

Personally, anytime anything high quality or reverse mount comes in I work along side my tech to ensure perfection. Even with our touchless machines and balancers it still extremely easy to get one little nick somewhere.

 

[Anguish]

Personally, whenever having any kind of work done, I just calmly let the people know that I care.

Most people don't really pay any attention to their cars. They're just the machine that gets them to and from work. The price tag of the car isn't a way to judge because a lot of people who have money don't take care of their stuff. While "you should always be careful" is true, realistically a tech can't be at high-alert every single action. So, for instance couriers are notorious for just tossing packages around.

The purpose of putting "fragile" on a box is to alert a courier that this particular package can't suffer abuse. Slow down. Take your time. Be gentle.

So that's what I do. I just let oil-change people or tire people or whoever know that I'm someone that a little scratch matters to. That a little ding bums out. I'm the rare guy who will notice and be saddened by accidents. It's not about "you're incompetent" or "your guys are monkeys". It's not about being insulting or condescending. It's about saying "hey, I get you're here to just do a job, but I'd appreciate it if my bananas didn't end up bruised."

Being nice works.

 

[Slidd]

And make sure your car and wheels are spotlessly clean, that goes a long way in showing you take pride in your car.


Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Frosty]

And make sure your car and wheels are spotlessly clean, that goes a long way in showing you take pride in your car.


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This times a million. Got a couple friends in the industry. One is a tint shop owner and the other used to be a service writer. They have tons of stories of people that want to ***** and complain about every little thing on their car after receiving it back on to have dropped the car off FILTHY.

Two things here:

• If you drop off your car filthy the people working on your car will assume you don't care as you obviously didn't care enough to keep the car clean.
• If the car isn't clean when you drop it off, it wont be clean when you pick it up. This makes seeing damage and proving the shop did it much harder.

 

[audocat]

I'm reading a lot of praise for Discount Tires. I actually talked to the manager at one of there stores about my hellcat tires. I told him my concerns and asked about the machines they had and if they could do it. He literally told me they didn't have the time to spend that it would take to do that kind of job. At least he was honest about it ! After that is when I found the Porsche dealer who did my first set.

 

[snobrdrdan]

And make sure your car and wheels are spotlessly clean, that goes a long way in showing you take pride in your car.

This, and taking pictures of your wheels/tires before hand....JUST IN CASE something happens and you have proof that any (new) damage wasn't there before


I also always just bring the wheels/tires off the car too for them to work on them.

 

[That Guy]

I'm reading a lot of praise for Discount Tires. I actually talked to the manager at one of there stores about my hellcat tires. I told him my concerns and asked about the machines they had and if they could do it. He literally told me they didn't have the time to spend that it would take to do that kind of job. At least he was honest about it ! After that is when I found the Porsche dealer who did my first set.

I'm willing to bet the corporate office would like to hear that story.....

 

[trw0042]

Thanks for everyone’s comments on my initial post. I have decided to use thread connection. The are a Mobile installer who will do it at your house. Their van has all the tools and balancing machine, seems great. Talked to the owner and he said he would be doing personally himself and I can watch. Made me feel good! Now I just gotta decide what tire!!! but maybe for those of you who have a thread connection franchise in your area call them and see how you feel about them doing your tires. Thread connection has a website just Google them and then you can search by area

thanks!

 

[Frosty]

Let us know how it turns out. I know locally (Austin TX area) they've done a good job and most people have been happy. I say most as you can't make everyone happy these days anymore but I've yet to hear of a damage issue.

 

[RIcat]

Is there any benefit to using the dealer, where you purchased your cat? Since they know the cost, I would hope they recognize the need to be careful, to keep you coming back.

 

[2ndAmend]

Wish they had them here in the Northeast. Around here Town Fair Tire has cornered the market and they hire any warm bodies to sling tires. My son worked at one of their stores and said it was a shitshow behind the scenes. Then worked at a different one. Same story. Worn out machines, lazy workers, damaged wheels daily, management turning a blind eye as long as the money rolled in. He was so frustrated with complaints and management that he eventually quit and moved on.

And they don't have the Hunter RFV balancer.

 

[2ndAmend]

Also realize that if you have found the best shop in the area, that applies to today only. My best local shop turned into a nightmare in just a few years. Consider reputation, but realize that it is history, management changes and so does quality. A good F2F with the mgr and direct questions goes a long way.

 

[audocat]

Also realize that if you have found the best shop in the area, that applies to today only. My best local shop turned into a nightmare in just a few years. Consider reputation, but realize that it is history, management changes and so does quality. A good F2F with the mgr and direct questions goes a long way.

Exactly! Like body shops.