Tyre fitting experiances
Discussion
Evening all, I wasn't sure if this should be in the business section but here will get a wider audience.
I run a tyre fitting/vehicle repair fast fit type operation with 2 branches open at the moment. We are always looking for ways to improve our service offer to make us stand out from our competitors so I'm interested in hearing about people's tyre purchasing experiences, I know tyre fitters tend to get a hard time on here so I'm expecting lots of stories about damaged wheels and over tightened wheel nuts etc, but I'm also really keen to hear about positive experiences where the tyre fitters involved have exceeded your expectations and how they did it. So, over to you!
I run a tyre fitting/vehicle repair fast fit type operation with 2 branches open at the moment. We are always looking for ways to improve our service offer to make us stand out from our competitors so I'm interested in hearing about people's tyre purchasing experiences, I know tyre fitters tend to get a hard time on here so I'm expecting lots of stories about damaged wheels and over tightened wheel nuts etc, but I'm also really keen to hear about positive experiences where the tyre fitters involved have exceeded your expectations and how they did it. So, over to you!
Last week had trouble with vibration through steering after fitting new tyres. They had already been re-balanced by the place I bought them but I was near a place I've used before so got them to have a look.
No weights at all on the back, fronts (that had been re-balanced) had all the weights on the inside edge so were wrong too.
One was also on the wrong way round (directional tyres).
They also managed to fit four tyres to a Q7 with air suspension while the key was in my pocket, I found out in the 2nd place that it needs to be in jacking mode or you could break the suspension!
The place that sorted the problem was Sillets in Aberdeen, I've used them for bike tyres for years and will only use them in the future.
Reliability is key. One (admittedly major) cockup has cost the first place all of my future business as well as that of my friends and family.
No weights at all on the back, fronts (that had been re-balanced) had all the weights on the inside edge so were wrong too.
One was also on the wrong way round (directional tyres).
They also managed to fit four tyres to a Q7 with air suspension while the key was in my pocket, I found out in the 2nd place that it needs to be in jacking mode or you could break the suspension!
The place that sorted the problem was Sillets in Aberdeen, I've used them for bike tyres for years and will only use them in the future.
Reliability is key. One (admittedly major) cockup has cost the first place all of my future business as well as that of my friends and family.
I hate buying tyres. If I go into a tyre shop and ask for some tyres, I just want some tyres. I don't want new shock absorbers, or brake discs, or cv joints, or cv joint boots. Just supply me with the tyres. Don't show me the oil on the shocks and try to sell me some new shocks. The oil is grease and it is being thrown UP from the split CV boot. Even if I did want shock absorbers, brake discs, CV joints, CV joint boots, I'd have asked for them. Now fit the bloody tyres and I will be on my way.
Speed addicted said:
Last week had trouble with vibration through steering after fitting new tyres. They had already been re-balanced by the place I bought them but I was near a place I've used before so got them to have a look.
No weights at all on the back, fronts (that had been re-balanced) had all the weights on the inside edge so were wrong too.
One was also on the wrong way round (directional tyres).
They also managed to fit four tyres to a Q7 with air suspension while the key was in my pocket, I found out in the 2nd place that it needs to be in jacking mode or you could break the suspension!
The place that sorted the problem was Sillets in Aberdeen, I've used them for bike tyres for years and will only use them in the future.
Reliability is key. One (admittedly major) cockup has cost the first place all of my future business as well as that of my friends and family.
+1 No weights at all on the back, fronts (that had been re-balanced) had all the weights on the inside edge so were wrong too.
One was also on the wrong way round (directional tyres).
They also managed to fit four tyres to a Q7 with air suspension while the key was in my pocket, I found out in the 2nd place that it needs to be in jacking mode or you could break the suspension!
The place that sorted the problem was Sillets in Aberdeen, I've used them for bike tyres for years and will only use them in the future.
Reliability is key. One (admittedly major) cockup has cost the first place all of my future business as well as that of my friends and family.
The number of times I've had to take the car back because the tyre monkey has f
ked up balancing the wheel is ridiculous.How hard can it be.
There is only one local place I will use now because every other spot has f
ked it up. I don't want the cheapest - although being competitive is nice - I just want to pick the car up and not find that beyond 20mph the car is vibrating itself to bits.
The absolute classic was waiting while one idiot repaired a puncture and then popped the tyre back on the rim and tried to re-fit it without it getting anywhere near the balancer.
My advice to you OP is training; make sure your staff know what to do! And make sure they always check that the punter has left the locking wheel nut key.
For me it's all about looking after my wheels...I've had a few rows in tyre fitting shops when the fitter has scratched the wheels and the not giving a toss attitude when I complained lights the blue touch paper.
Having new tyres fitted is right up there with going to the dentist as enjoyable experiences.
Having new tyres fitted is right up there with going to the dentist as enjoyable experiences.
I took my car to have 2 rear tyres fitted a few weeks ago. I had bought the tyres from mytyres.
The service was pleasant and took little time, however the car was taken around the back out of sight with no viewing area so I couldn't see what was happening at all.
Now the car is old and almost in shed territory, so I can't get too upset, however if it was more expensive then I'd like to see what was happening.
The service was pleasant and took little time, however the car was taken around the back out of sight with no viewing area so I couldn't see what was happening at all.
Now the car is old and almost in shed territory, so I can't get too upset, however if it was more expensive then I'd like to see what was happening.
The small place I use:
- covering my car seat and wearing disposable gloves when driving the car into the bay so as not to get grease and oil all over my seat, steering wheel and gear lever.
- jack my car up with careful placement of a trolley jack, one corner at a time, not throwing arms of a 4 post lift randomly under my car to pick it off the ground by whatever the arms hit on the way up.
- removal and refit of wheel nuts by hand, not an air gun, and nuts torqued up by hand using a proper torque wrench, not just on as tight as possible.
- that gum/paste stuff they use to help slip the tyres on the rim on the inside of the tyre/rim, so when remounted you can't see it and don't drive home with a tyre covered in creamy goo!
- tyre inflated to correct pressure, it's on the inside of the filler flap.
- covering my car seat and wearing disposable gloves when driving the car into the bay so as not to get grease and oil all over my seat, steering wheel and gear lever.
- jack my car up with careful placement of a trolley jack, one corner at a time, not throwing arms of a 4 post lift randomly under my car to pick it off the ground by whatever the arms hit on the way up.
- removal and refit of wheel nuts by hand, not an air gun, and nuts torqued up by hand using a proper torque wrench, not just on as tight as possible.
- that gum/paste stuff they use to help slip the tyres on the rim on the inside of the tyre/rim, so when remounted you can't see it and don't drive home with a tyre covered in creamy goo!
- tyre inflated to correct pressure, it's on the inside of the filler flap.
Some good experiences I've had:
- Tyre fitters where you can drive your own car up to the ramps. I don't care who drives my daily driver, but there's no way I'm having an oily 15 stone mechanic trying to clamber into the 2-Eleven cracking the bodywork on his way in.
- Good prices - let's face it, we're all after a good price.
- Stock of winter tyres. There's a rush every year on these, and it gets to the point where they're unavailable from November to January - if tyre fitters can't stockpile them, perhaps they can lobby the tyre companies on the issue?
- Ability to fit tyres to wheels without the car present. I'd like to be able to pay less to get my summer tyres fitted whilst the winters are on the daily driver, or perhaps the 2-Eleven tyres on a rainy day whilst its on axle stands in the garage.
- Decent magazines to read whilst you wait and a TV to watch. There's nothing more satisfying than a copy of Bike magazine and a comfy chair
- Tyre pressures are always wrong, sometimes dangerously so. I had a fitter set the pressures on my Caterham to double what the recommended pressure is.
- Wheelnut torques are always astronomically high, so when you get a flat in the middle of nowhere, you can't remove the wheelnuts with the 30cm wrench the manufacturer gives you. Not to mention the stress on the threads and potential danger involved. I know it's safer too tight than too loose, but since when has a torque wrench ever failed?
- Geo all wrong. My local tyre fitter tried three times to do the geo on my E36 328i Sport. The first time they put on the settings from an E46 (thankfully I noticed within about a mile..), the second time it was a standard E36. My ex's Yaris even got screwed up - how simple should that be?
- Wheels damaged - I had a set of wheels refurbed only to be damaged by the tyre fitter - so much so it was noted on the MoT report the following month.
Rarely seen a tyre shop do a good job of alignment.
I needed the alignment doing on my last company car and the huge chain who pride themselves on fitting things quickly (who I have to use for tyres) couldn't do the alignment as the least company don't let them.
I may be reading too much into that but I suspect there is a reason for it.
A tyre place with a reputation for doing alignments well would be a good selling point.
I needed the alignment doing on my last company car and the huge chain who pride themselves on fitting things quickly (who I have to use for tyres) couldn't do the alignment as the least company don't let them.
I may be reading too much into that but I suspect there is a reason for it.
A tyre place with a reputation for doing alignments well would be a good selling point.
rhinochopig said:
+1
The number of times I've had to take the car back because the tyre monkey has fked up balancing the wheel is ridiculous.
How hard can it be.
There is only one local place I will use now because every other spot has fked it up.
To be fair, I look after 4 cars so buy tyres fairly regularly and haven't had an issue with balancing for years. It did always used to be a problem though.The number of times I've had to take the car back because the tyre monkey has f
ked up balancing the wheel is ridiculous.How hard can it be.
There is only one local place I will use now because every other spot has f
ked it up. I just wish they'd be careful with the wheels - I had a tyre fitted last week on my daughter's car after she got a bolt through the tread. I've mostly used Costco (Chester) for the least few years and been very happy with them. This time I wanted a matching Bridgestone tyre so used a very well recommended indie that I've wanted to try for a while and gave a price straight off that was thereabouts what I seeing from online places.
They didn't appear to take any care at all (particularly when levering off the old tyre) yet I couldn't see a mark on the rim. Looking at home though I noticed a scratches from the outside to the inside where he'd "stabbed" off the stuck-on weights with a screwdriver.
When I have had tyres fitted I use a local company to home when I can. What I like about the place is not only is there a great big photo of the owner and Mr Eccleston, but they'll sell you reasonable tyres. They don't automatically give you the biggest mark up tyres, but neither do they willingly supply you with ditch finders.
This amongst what others have said and just generally the entire team being reasonably pleasant makes it an alright experience.
This amongst what others have said and just generally the entire team being reasonably pleasant makes it an alright experience.
Spitfire2 said:
Rarely seen a tyre shop do a good job of alignment.
I needed the alignment doing on my last company car and the huge chain who pride themselves on fitting things quickly (who I have to use for tyres) couldn't do the alignment as the least company don't let them.
I may be reading too much into that but I suspect there is a reason for it.
A tyre place with a reputation for doing alignments well would be a good selling point.
When I had lease cars the lease company would never pay for alignment, even if the car obviously needed it. Never did get the bottom of what their thinking was. I needed the alignment doing on my last company car and the huge chain who pride themselves on fitting things quickly (who I have to use for tyres) couldn't do the alignment as the least company don't let them.
I may be reading too much into that but I suspect there is a reason for it.
A tyre place with a reputation for doing alignments well would be a good selling point.
Not having hassle over tyre issues was one the main advantages of opting out.
The op doesn't need lessons on how to jack up a car, balance wheels or torque up the wheel nuts. Lets just assume he knows what he is doing when it comes to this stuff. I think he would rather benefit from advice on how to improve the customers experience.
Some good advice above though especially
Clean wheels and tyres when done
Provide a wheel drop off and collect service for a cheaper rate
Customer drives into and out of bays
Air freshner b.card
Comfortable waiting room with viewing window and tv/magazines
I would add my suggestion of a free tea/coffee machine in the waiting area
Some good advice above though especially
Clean wheels and tyres when done
Provide a wheel drop off and collect service for a cheaper rate
Customer drives into and out of bays
Air freshner b.card
Comfortable waiting room with viewing window and tv/magazines
I would add my suggestion of a free tea/coffee machine in the waiting area
My local fitters are great. Reasonable number of outlets and I know most of the lads now as I take all 3 cars there for everything tyre, exhaust, brake and battery related. If its a busy time one will drop me home instead of wait and call me when its done or drive my car back then I take them back. I very rarely pay for punctures and at quiet times they let me use the ramp to grease up props and do other small jobs. At christmas I always take in 3 or 4 cases of beer to be shared out.
Being a lunatic with OCD, having the centre cap on each of my wheels lined up with the RS badge and valve cap is important. Last time I had to remove the wheels and re-fit the centre caps myself after the tyre place just threw them on. 
All the other stuff like not scratching the wheels, using a torque wrench etc. goes without saying! Here is what I mean with the centre caps:
All the other stuff like not scratching the wheels, using a torque wrench etc. goes without saying! Here is what I mean with the centre caps:Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff