Darthvol

Since truth is a complete defense to a slander suit, I offer up the following tale of woe in the hope that I can save even one person in the mid-TN area from my experience.

Not too long ago, I ordered two sets of winter tires for my wife's and my roadsters (we may live in a temperate area, but we live near the KY line, and since our cars are daily drivers, we have needed, used and liked snow tires in the winter in the past). Since I wanted to order from Tirerack, I wanted to ship to a good installer that could meet all our needs, including a Hunter Roadforce balance machine, and install and alignment on 18" rims. I thought I was being smart by cross-referencing Tirerack's list of area installers with Hunter's listing of area Hunter machine owners.

Long story short, the ONLY installer Tirerack will ship to in the entire middle-TN area who also owns a Hunter machine is Auto Pro in Mount Juliet, TN, a little over a one hour drive from my home. I LOVE Tirerack's customer service and have dealt with them for some time, and am very happy with them as a company, but because we had been less than satisfied with two of their recommended installers in the past (although nowhere NEAR to this degree), I called the place to check them out, confirm they could do align on large rims, etc.

I spoke w/Erika, who was very professional and understanding and confirmed they could do my 18s, as well as my wife's 17s. I place my order w/Tirerack and have my tires shipped to Auto Pro. I confirm correct shipment received, take a day off work and schedule both our cars for install and 4 wheel align, if necessary, on Thurs. the 30th.

The place is located in a nice area, and when I arrive at 8:00 a.m., I am a bit dismayed by the unprofessionalism of the fact that they have a TV and a coffee maker in the waiting room but won't use either one of them. Oh, well, that doesn't affect anything that happens in the garage. I wait 3.5 hrs, despite the fact I am told 2.5 hrs. Oh, well. I am told my car doesn't need align. (good; I didn't think it did), pay for the install and drive away. I swap my car for my wife's and drive back with it.

I ask them to check the vibration in her steering wheel, and again wait longer than promised (the whole day is now blown). I am told that again, no alignment was necessary, but that the vibration was coming from a warped rim, which the tech moved from the front to the driver rear to lessen the vibration. Great. I have no reason to think that they damaged the rim in any way, because it did have a vibration when I drove it in. I pay and drive away. The vibration is largely gone, but I'm slipping and sliding all over the place on my way home, with the LSD cutting in every time I go around a corner. I don't expect summer grip from Blizzaks, but having owned the tires in the past, I can't believe the grip was that bad.

About the time I get home, I'm thinking Auto Pro MUST have screwed something up. I pull up my driveway and get out to look closer. They put BOTH the larger rear tires on the right side of the car, and the smaller tires on the driver side. I think that uneven rear tire sizes can't be good for the rear diff, and call Auto Pro to complain. They are very apologetic, and say they will get me in and out quickly anytime I bring in the car.

Now suspicious they screwed up the tires on MY car, I go out for a closer look. For some unknown reason, they have one of my Pirelli Snowsports, the driver rear, on inside out. The sidewall showing looks nothing like the other 3, and what's more, it clearly says "this side INSIDE rim" or similar language! I was peeved before, but now I am livid!!

I take my wife's car back in to Auto Pro first thing the next morning (new year's eve). I state that I want the tire on the right front swapped with the driver rear, so that not only will the tires be properly located, but also so that the warped rim will stay in the back to lessen the vibration. They say they'll do it. I ask them to be sure to re-balance both tires they are moving; again, they say they'll do it. When I receive the car, I confirm that the tires are where they're supposed to be, at least. I drive away. As soon as I hit the I-state, I realize that the vibration is WORSE than when I first drove it in a day ago!! I call my wife and ask her if she wants me to take her car back and tell Auto Pro to try again. She says they've done enough damage; we'll take it to someone else.

I then take my own car back in a second time. All they are supposed to do is flip the tire on the driver rear, and re-balance. I confirm that the tire has been flipped, at least, before I drive away. This time, when I hit the I-state, I notice that for my car to travel in a straight line, the steering wheel has to be turned one inch from center to the right???!!! The front end was PERFECT when I drove the car in, and they were only supposed to touch the driver rear.

I now have to take off even MORE time from work and spend more $ because they couldn't get EITHER car right, even with TWO TRIES!!!

And as they say in the Ginsu knife commercials, that's not all folks. We had a really warm new year's day here, and I washed my car yesterday. You guessed it; they scratched my rims.! You could tell it was the install because of the location and shape of the scratches. Nothing big enough to be hideous, and nothing I would have noticed when they gave me the car back, but on top of everything else, it galls! Beware these people if you have performance tires/rims.

Sorry for such a lengthy rant, but I just had to get it off my chest. Happy New Year!

BENJ-AMG

I live in Goodlettsville. Wanna get together and go weld their front doors shut? Sounds like they need it.

zmann

I've found Precision Motoring in Antioch and these guys are exceptional. www.precision-motoring.com or 615.837.3990. They are knowledgeable and take pride in what they do. And these guys know what they are doing. Just take a walk through their shop and you'll know what I mean. I posted this info on another thread, as well. But for any of you all in driving distance to Mid-Tenn and currently looking for a trustworthy shop, you owe it to yourself to meet these guys. John Dix is the owner and Ryan Dix is the lead tech.

Scott

Darthvol

AAAAAND it gets even better. Just went out and checked w/the 'ol tape measure. They moved BOTH front rims to rear, and vice versa, on wife's.

MannishBoy

iTrader: (1)

Don't the stock 17's have different wheel widths front and rear? I thought the fronts were 7" and the rears were 7.5". I wouldn't think you'd want to put the front wheel on the rear if this is true, not to mention offset issues.

Poison123

iTrader: (2)

I thought there was a bolt on the rears to prevent the fronts from being put on them?

Darthvol

I thought the bolt/pin thing was only supposed to be on the Track model?

I had remembered off the top of my head that my 18s were different front and rear, while wife's 17s were the same. Confirmed just this a.m. that I had it exactly backwards; MannishBoy is right about sizes of rims; had I known that for sure, or had they bothered to look and or tell me, I would've told them to leave fronts in front and rears in rear.

OTOH, I don't think running 1/2" different WIDTH rims side to side would matter much, especially when tire width is the same for winters I ordered (225/50/17F & 225/55/17R). In any event, front to rear thing was intended, by me at least, to be only a very temporary fix for the vibration until the warped rim could be repaired/replaced. The problem now is the vibration is worse, and because they've gotten the rims all mixed up, I'll have to have someone else spin all 4 to confirm which one (if any) is warped.

Racer Z

You should sue Auto Pro for damages, lost work time, and emotional distress! Get a good lawyer...you probably can get a GREAT out-of-court settlement!!