Tyre fitter messed up - course of action?
Discussion
Briefly, my 407 with pressure sensing valves picked up a slow puncture. Along to the local tyre fitters who had a look and said they could fix the puncture as it looked fairly straight forward. However, they did warn me that the pressure sensing valve might break during the repair because they corrode. I accepted this and sure enough the valve did break. The valve is only available from Peugeot and the nearest dealer is 30 miles away. I was going there anyway so agreed to return later in the afternoon with the valve (£52 FFS!). On returning they told me the puncture was not repairable because the nail causing it had gone in at an angle and I would need a new tyre. They could provide no evidence to support this, but again I accepted what they said and they fitted the new valve and tyre.
Driving away the dash lights up and tells me the pressure sensors aren't working. Back to the tyre fitters and out with the handbook. "You have to take it to Peugeot mate". So I am now in dispute with them as to who is going to pay for the trip to Peugeot and the associated costs - the car is a Hackney Carriage. They refuse, but I am of the impression that they have to leave the vehicle in at least the same condition as they found it - i.e. four pressure sensors working? Otherwise they should have refused to undertake the work?
Am I right and are they in breach of any agreement/consumer law?
Driving away the dash lights up and tells me the pressure sensors aren't working. Back to the tyre fitters and out with the handbook. "You have to take it to Peugeot mate". So I am now in dispute with them as to who is going to pay for the trip to Peugeot and the associated costs - the car is a Hackney Carriage. They refuse, but I am of the impression that they have to leave the vehicle in at least the same condition as they found it - i.e. four pressure sensors working? Otherwise they should have refused to undertake the work?
Am I right and are they in breach of any agreement/consumer law?
Same thing happens all the time on my Dad's 52 plate Laguna. They'll just break again and again so I just wouldn't bother. The sensors are constantly playing up so it's just the good old fashioned way of detecting a puncture.
TyreSmoke FYI:
My Dad's colleague has a 04 plate Diesel 407 with nearly 100k on it. It's had no end of problems, mechanical and electrical, it's now out of warranty (on mileage basis). Latest problem are the 'long life windscreen wipers'. They've turned out to be long life because the rubber is so hard they've scratched the glass and it requires a new screen. Use soft ones and accept replacing them on the new screen is the dealers advice!
TyreSmoke FYI:
My Dad's colleague has a 04 plate Diesel 407 with nearly 100k on it. It's had no end of problems, mechanical and electrical, it's now out of warranty (on mileage basis). Latest problem are the 'long life windscreen wipers'. They've turned out to be long life because the rubber is so hard they've scratched the glass and it requires a new screen. Use soft ones and accept replacing them on the new screen is the dealers advice!
Tyre Smoke said:
However, they did warn me that the pressure sensing valve might break during the repair because they corrode. I accepted this and sure enough the valve did break. The valve is only available from Peugeot and the nearest dealer is 30 miles away. I was going there anyway so agreed to return later in the afternoon with the valve (£52 FFS!).
So every time you replace a tyre there's a chance the pressure sensing valve might break? That makes for expensive tyre changes!
(btw do you know how these valves work?)
Why are the valves so weak and prone to corrosion? How old is the car? Are the valves unserviceable? Sounds like a crazy system, but that's the way modern cars are going, full of electronic wondery that will lead to their premature scrapping when it all goes tits up.
I would have thought any decent tyre bay would want to sort your car out, but if they have fitted the valve correctly and it still doesn't work, then they can't really do anymore IMO.
it's your valve that corroded so it's not really their fault is it, you can't expect a tyre dealer to have the kit to sort valve matching it's not economically viable for them with the cost of the kit involved, this operation would have put another £60 on the bill anyway so it makes no odds whether they do it or someone else does it for you it's all part and parcel of this job - it just needs rematching to the system and yes this will almost certainly happen if you need have another tyre fitted and they'll also need rematching if you swap the tyres to a different position on the car
good luck
good luck
motorwise said:
it's your valve that corroded so it's not really their fault is it, you can't expect a tyre dealer to have the kit to sort valve matching it's not economically viable for them with the cost of the kit involved, this operation would have put another £60 on the bill anyway so it makes no odds whether they do it or someone else does it for you it's all part and parcel of this job - it just needs rematching to the system and yes this will almost certainly happen if you need have another tyre fitted and they'll also need rematching if you swap the tyres to a different position on the car
good luck
good luck
Thanks for that.
In future, there will be normal valves fitted - bugger the pressure check!
herewego said:
I think the fiiter should have made it clear at the outset that if the new sensor didn't work out of the box then they wouldn't be able to do any more. That way you could have opted to take the car to the dealer for the tyre change. Maybe they said something like that.
No, that's the point - they didn't and I would have.
Edited by Tyre Smoke on Wednesday 17th January 13:29
Tyre Smoke said:
However, they did warn me that the pressure sensing valve might break during the repair because they corrode. I accepted this and sure enough the valve did break.
I know this information isn't much use to you now, but it might help others who search and find it.
A friend has a Peugeot 807 with the same pressure sensing system. I mentioned this thread, so he asked his tyre fitter about the valves when he had a tyre fitted at the weekend.
Apparently they don't need touching at all. Infact they shouldn't be touched, as thats how they break. The sensing part of the valve is connected to the inside of the wheel, and this can get damaged by a careless fitter's tyre lever, or the bead of the new tyre if care isn't taken. Also seems to be backed up by this...
Tyre Bible said:
Valve-stem sensors.
The second type of sensor is a small block which forms part of the inside of the tyre valve stem. It's a little smaller than the strap-on type and doesn't have the associated steel band to go with it. Autodax are one of the manufacturers of this type of system. This is the type that you can now get on some GM and Subaru vehicles. These sensors are lighter and weigh about 28g (an ounce). Because they are smaller and are part of the valve stem itself, they are mounted to one side of the wheel rim. Again, regular wheel-balancing can account for this weight. The disadvantage of this system is that because of its proximity to the side of the wheel, a ham-fisted tyre-changer can easily destroy the sensor with the machine that is used to take tyres off the rims. Also, when re-fitting the tyres, the tyre bead itself, if not correctly located, can crush the sensor.
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