Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[you&me]

Originally Posted by sa226

Holy crap.

I'll just bow out then.

Despite someone else 5 posts up saying they just had it done for half that, and as I was dropping them off at reception the manager walked by, saying over his shoulder "Not today, and make sure you add the extra charge because it's a new tire"

I don't think I'm totally out to lunch, and I'm just asking about what other have paid.

Maybe I'll edit out "gouge" for less triggering purposes.

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"Not today" = very busy time of year for seasonal swaps...

Is $75 a little high? Maybe.
Does it seem like a gouge? Maybe.
Can I see why, at this time of year, a shop would want to charge $75 to change a single tire that was purchased somewhere else. Yep.

For the reasons Sliver listed, it's better business for a shop to do a full swap, especially for a customer that just bought 4 new tires from them.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by you&me

"Not today" = very busy time of year for seasonal swaps...

Is $75 a little high? Maybe.
Does it seem like a gouge? Maybe.
Can I see why, at this time of year, a shop would want to charge $75 to change a single tire that was purchased somewhere else. Yep.

For the reasons Sliver listed, it's better business for a shop to do a full swap, especially for a customer that just bought 4 new tires from them.

No, it's better profitability. It's better business to help a guy out on an easy 10 minute job so they are satisfied and come back when they need a new set of tires, or whatever else the shop does. It's quite literally the opposite of better business. But I guess they don't teach that stuff anymore.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

What type of vehicle?

2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe AWD, staggered fitment. 235/50/R18 front and 265/45/R18 back, and I'm going to 235/45/R19 front and 275/40/R19 back which matches the OEM 19" option.

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Just go to tire rack and punch your year and model in their wheels section. They will only list plug and play wheels/tires with offsets close to factory that fit without modification. Even if you don't order from them it provides the brand and spec of wheels that will work on your car. Unless your car is obscure or exotic you shouldn't have too difficult a time finding wheels.

You say that...

If I do that for 19" wheels there's exactly 1 option on Tire Rack that has stock, but they're over $700 per wheel and not a fan of the darker wheels.. if I went with black wheels I'd have lots of options on other sites, but once I specify silver or machined face and put in my sizes (front 8.5, back 9.5) then things thin out drastically.

On Tire Rack the SAVINI BLACK DI FORZA BM13 which I REALLY like is out of stock

There's probably 8 different wheels where I've liked them but I can only find fronts but backs are out of stock. Or they have only 1 of the front/back (one set I like ok and is reasonably priced from pmctire.com is like that).

There's one set I like where I'd have to order from 2 different places, fronts from one and backs from the other. Heck one site I emailed them to ask about stock and the link went 404 by the next day! Then they emailed me saying they'd been discontinued.

I have considered ordering from a US place but if something gets damaged in shipping it's probably a giant hassle or expensive for shipping.

That said I've finally found maybe 3 different sets where there's stock in Canada (or they SAY there's stock) on 1010tires, pmctire or wheelhaven.com.

And even then generally I'm at 13mm offset decrease (ET48 -> ET35) which some people say is too aggressive, I think they'll be fine fender wise from my measurements but still a little worried about suspension geometry and wheel bearing wear. Some people say changing scrub radius negative results in your car jerking the wheel out of your hand when you go over pot holes. 13mm doesn't seem like a lot but I'm not the expert. Sites I've asked the question to just say "the wheel manufacturer says this wheel is compatible with your car", which isn't overly assuring.


Haha tldr version I've spent WAAAAY too much time looking at sooo many sites and wheels.

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Also no you do not require an alignment when swapping tires. If the tires you take off have signs of uneven wear then you may want to get the alignment checked so you don't wear down the new tires.

Ok.. I mean I guess it makes sense, alignment is about suspension. Thanks for that (and all the others that chimed in on the question).

[nik-]

Just call HRE and get a set made.

[photon]

I guess the Savini wheels are like that, one place I asked said they just machine them to the specified offset when I order, 4-5 weeks to come in.

I guess the other problem I should mention is that this all started when I went to switch to my summers and the guy said my tires had cracks in them.. So I'm still on my winters, so doing something asap is also desirable. Driving as little as possible now.

EDIT: Some nice wheels there but the cheapest one I like is $1700 per wheel. My car isn't worth that much wheel!

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by sa226

Holy crap.

I'll just bow out then.

Despite someone else 5 posts up saying they just had it done for half that, and as I was dropping them off at reception the manager walked by, saying over his shoulder "Not today, and make sure you add the extra charge because it's a new tire"

I don't think I'm totally out to lunch, and I'm just asking about what other have paid.

Maybe I'll edit out "gouge" for less triggering purposes.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk

lol, nobody was triggered and you can always find somebody who will do anything for cheaper. $75 is fair; the guys doing it for less are serving you at below cost to hopefully sell you new tires that same day or down the road. Perfectly fine strategy on their part, as is charging what that job actually costs (while leaving room for modest profit). Gouging just didn't enter into it. No need to flap around having a spazz attack just because somebody had to explain the basics of how a business works.

[sa226]

Never change .

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[speede5]

That would have cost you about 40$ balanced at most tire shops around here. Don’t feel bad for feeling like it was high. The guys swapping tires are minimum wage or a bit higher grease monkeys and they can do it in ten minutes.

[81MC]

$75 for a mount and balance on a lose wheel is way high. Most shops do $15 mount/$25 balance or some silly variation for $40.

There’s tons of independent tire shops around that will gladly take $40 for 5 minutes of their lackeys time.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by nik-

Just call HRE and get a set made.

Always buy HRE wheels in November as it's the only time of year they get discounted. That said even the Flowform wheels are pricey and I'm currently fighting with them over paint chips that I feel are unacceptable at the prices they charge.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by photon

I guess the Savini wheels are like that, one place I asked said they just machine them to the specified offset when I order, 4-5 weeks to come in.

I guess the other problem I should mention is that this all started when I went to switch to my summers and the guy said my tires had cracks in them.. So I'm still on my winters, so doing something asap is also desirable. Driving as little as possible now.

EDIT: Some nice wheels there but the cheapest one I like is $1700 per wheel. My car isn't worth that much wheel!

Can you find any OE 19" CTS-V takeoffs available used online for a fair price? That may be something that can get you out of your bind. You can try Tunerworks (Rob Leech) as while they sell mostly high end stuff they also sell Enkei, TSW, etc. Also if you aren't a member of any CTS forums you may want to join as they will usually have some vendors that keep specific sizes on the shelf for these cars.

[photon]

Yeah I've been checking Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji in the major centers across Canada for a while and haven't really seen anything. I have been on the Cadillac forums but that's a good idea to look for vendors, or I guess maybe even used wheels.

I have found one Niche set that I do like and is in stock (EDIT: Lol nope, they just emailed me saying they don't have stock even though their website says they do.. argh):



But there's also a TSW set I like, thanks for the recommend for Tunerworks I will give them a call. Mostly I want someone to tell me a 13mm negative change in offset is ok or not beyond "the wheel manufacturer says it fits"..

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Sliver

lol, nobody was triggered and you can always find somebody who will do anything for cheaper. $75 is fair; the guys doing it for less are serving you at below cost to hopefully sell you new tires that same day or down the road. Perfectly fine strategy on their part, as is charging what that job actually costs (while leaving room for modest profit). Gouging just didn't enter into it. No need to flap around having a spazz attack just because somebody had to explain the basics of how a business works.

It's a 10 minute job, I think you're overestimating the time it takes to mount and balance one loose tire. We used to charge $60 for a set of 4 on the car 20 years ago, the idea that job is $300 today is absurd.

[Nufy]

I'm having the winters swapped off of my wifes Honda HRV today.
Relatively well known Tire shop in the NE.

Will follow up with the cost this evening.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Nufy

I'm having the winters swapped off of my wifes Honda HRV today.
Relatively well known Tire shop in the NE.

Will follow up with the cost this evening.

FWIW, I just checked the invoice from my wife's swap (hahaha) last week and it was $40 per tire for unmounting winters and remounting summers on the same rims and reinstalling the wheels on the vehicle.

I misread / misunderstood the OP that the shop was only mounting on the rim and not also removing & reinstalling the rim on the car (thereby taking up a lift in the shop)... That said, still not sure I blame the shop for the $$$, under the circumstances.

[photon]

Ah I long for the days of cheap tire swap (unmounting/remounting on the same rims) from Costco.

The last time I did it they got my wheels on backwards on one side (put the wider rims on the front), no idea how they didn't notice it it was SUPER obvious.. the guy said I couldn't bring my car back as their policy was to not do staggered cars lol.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Always buy HRE wheels in November as it's the only time of year they get discounted. That said even the Flowform wheels are pricey and I'm currently fighting with them over paint chips that I feel are unacceptable at the prices they charge.

You should see their powder coating prices on their forged wheels. If you want one of the non standard colors in one of the extra finishes you're looking at adding upwards of $1300 USD

Per wheel.

It's ridiculous.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by nik-

You should see their powder coating prices on their forged wheels. If you want one of the non standard colors in one of the extra finishes you're looking at adding upwards of $1300 USD

Per wheel.

It's ridiculous.

That is exactly what I'm complaining about although my wheels are flowform and it's $800 USD per set for non-standard color. I got a non-standard color and it's chipping badly. I've had Calgary Powdercoatings coat wheels that lasted winters with none to minimal chips and my new HRE wheels are chipping like crazy. This isn't the first set of HRE wheels I've owned and I've not had issue in the past with standard colors but the custom color I chose is way too fragile.

[nik-]

For the flowform I wouldn't even bother dealing with them and just get it powder coated here. They say powder coating will void warranty on their multipiece wheels (also bull####, but whatever, technically you do need to take them apart) but for their monos and flowform, screw it. Not worth the aggravation, or their prices.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

It's a 10 minute job, I think you're overestimating the time it takes to mount and balance one loose tire. We used to charge $60 for a set of 4 on the car 20 years ago, the idea that job is $300 today is absurd.

Yeah, except four wheels is a different story.

If you have a one-off customer, wandering in with one wheel and one tire purchased somewhere else because he chased the best deal over supporting local, why would you give him an at-cost deal? He's going to want it right away, which means pulling somebody off a higher-margin job (nothing would be lower margin than a straight-up labour-only rush job) to get this guy in and out. You have to take better care of the customers that take better care of you. If he had come in in August when tire shops are way slower, then yeah, $40 or $50 would be perfectly reasonable.

When you come in smack dab in the height of tire-swap season and need to be bumped ahead of the people who purchased tires, wheels or both and labour to have them installed, it only makes sense that you're charged more (from a business perspective). The shop is trading a bit of a goodwill (there's a guy potentially sitting in your waiting room who just dropped $2k on wheels and tires and is waiting for his car that he booked in ahead of time who you just pissed off) and Joe Blow cheapskate who found a tire $15 cheaper somewhere else and now wants the cheap labour rate reserved for better customers and he needs it nOw.

IDK, if you want the cheapest price on something you can always find it. Sounds to me like he was charged the non-loyal customer rush price. Is it a fair price? Yeah, it totally is whether you guys think so or not. The business owner is sitting in a shop with all this equipment and overhead, let alone the staffing costs, and can charge what he wants. If it's too expensive you can definitely find it cheaper, but just because you can doesn't mean the more expensive price is a gouge. It could mean the cheaper price is artificially low.