tyre garage scuffs alloys, where do I stand?

[Trtj]

Since having 19" oem option on my e46 m3 which many of you may know are notoriously difficult to lacquer properly and keep nice, they have been perfect for 6 month since refurb.. Today a tyre fitter gouged out a good chunk of paint and lacquer off the edge of the rim. Cue subsequent degradation due to water ingress. When I pointed this out he was very good about it and said they'd send it off for a re-lacquer. However the damage is visible in the alu and to be honest is in need of an entire refurb to match the condition of when I took in this morning. I doubt they will honour this, but where do I stand legally? Complete pita as I'll now be without a car whilst it's up on axle stands with the two rears off.

[Trtj]

bump

[cat with a hat]

All I can say is that's its a ballache for all parties involved.

I would explain that it will look off without a full refurb and attempt to get them to completely sort it. But if they don't play ball, for the sake of sanity/life I'd probably go 'halfs or something.'

[Captainawesome]

Get them to sort it properly.

Exact same thing happened to my (exact same) wheels 3 months after a full and expensive refurb. The shop were good about it and had the minor damage re-laquered.....about a month later the milkyness began and now one of my rear wheels needs done again. If you let them away with it, it will end up coming out of your own pocket.

[lamboman100]

Phone the manager. Go as high up the chain as poss. Be charming and persuasive. Don't send abusive or stroppy diva emails, like most people do.

Bottom line: (assuming the known half of the story is correct):

They broke it. They fix it.

[HertsBiker]

Eventually we will run out of garages that will do tyre changes on larger wheels though. Yes it is tempting to try getting compensation but even when I've had wheels marked I didn't chase it. Reason as above, also : could you or I do a better job? It took one fitter an hour to do a tricky one, and still marked the wheel. That was for a £10 tyre swap. Not worth their while swapping tyres they didn't supply if you start talking compensation. Maybe we ought to stop buying cars with stupid sized wheels and rubber band tyres...?

[The Moose]

HertsBiker said:

Eventually we will run out of garages that will do tyre changes on larger wheels though. Yes it is tempting to try getting compensation but even when I've had wheels marked I didn't chase it. Reason as above, also : could you or I do a better job? It took one fitter an hour to do a tricky one, and still marked the wheel. That was for a £10 tyre swap. Not worth their while swapping tyres they didn't supply if you start talking compensation. Maybe we ought to stop buying cars with stupid sized wheels and rubber band tyres...?

Or use a garage that doesn't have cretins working there.

You do what you want with your stuff, but I wouldn't be happy.

[With these feet]

The Moose said:

Or use a garage that doesn't have cretins working there.

You do what you want with your stuff, but I wouldn't be happy.

Is that a serious post?


Ive changed thousands of tyres and believe me, when its a big wheel with a rubber band of a tyre you always think "st, is this one going on or not" Some tyre companies make the bands small which makes the fitting harder, recently (race slicks not road tyres) I had a set that would not seat under 140psi. The tyre company subsequently changed their moulding / release technique.

Sometimes it is down to rushing the job, but even when really careful you can nip the tyre or catch the rim.

[Sheepshanks]

With these feet said:

Sometimes it is down to rushing the job, but even when really careful you can nip the tyre or catch the rim.

The guys who refurbed my wheels and fitted new tyres said it even they do it now and again, he said usually the arm of the machine comes down too hard or in not quite the right place.

I took one of my cars to a well recommended indie some distance away and they marked right around the edge of the rim of both the rear wheels which were otherwise completely unmarked. They said to get them refurbed but I think I was just so dismayed I didn't want to have to interact with them again.

I've found another place now (again through recommendation) and they don't appear to take any special care. I cringed watching them lever the tyre off after breaking the bead but they've have changed tyres on a full set of diamond cut wheels now and not left a mark.

[epom]

Agreed mistakes happen and not always down to not caring or shoddy workmanship. Try and sort it out between ye.

[GrizzlyBear]

HertsBiker said:

could you or I do a better job? It took one fitter an hour to do a tricky one, and still marked the wheel.

Surely the whole point is they are a business offering a service that they charge for, if they damage your property in the delivery of that service, they should put it right; it should be built in to the pricing.

[droopsnoot]

And the main thing is to walk them around the car and show them the wheels before they start the job.

I had my alloys marked by the local tyre fitters, and the first comment was "they were marked before we started", which came from the manager who hadn't been anywhere near the car. Then we got "our machine can't make marks like that" followed by "it's really difficult to fit such low profile tyres". Well, OK, but if there's a chance you'll damage my wheels, warn me beforehand so I can take it somewhere that might not.

I ended up with a bit of a discount, but if it wasn't for the fact that they're only painted and I'll paint them myself, I'd have been way out of pocket.

[CO2000]

I got 4 17" alloys refurbed at £280 after being marked whilst being fitted with a new set of tyres that they supplied so it's worth pushing hard for (well they didn't actually pay the refurb company not far from them when I picked up my car but were going to sort it out afterwards!I got away with my car anyway so was lucky!)

[DJP]

droopsnoot said:

And the main thing is to walk them around the car and show them the wheels before they start the job.

I had my alloys marked by the local tyre fitters, and the first comment was "they were marked before we started", which came from the manager who hadn't been anywhere near the car. Then we got "our machine can't make marks like that" followed by "it's really difficult to fit such low profile tyres". Well, OK, but if there's a chance you'll damage my wheels, warn me beforehand so I can take it somewhere that might not.

I ended up with a bit of a discount, but if it wasn't for the fact that they're only painted and I'll paint them myself, I'd have been way out of pocket.

It must happen both ways though, they must get punters that claim that their wheels have been damaged by the fitter when they haven't.

For that reason, the guys I use point out any existing damage before they start.

[Trtj]

Well the wheels are now back with them to be sent off to be re-re-furbed. They'll have to put the tyres on again after, lets hope this is not a never ending cycle waiting to happen!

[surveyor]

Ultimately you've got tyres that are stuck on wheels and need physical interference to remove. On top of that some are even harder....

I would think it's inevitable that it will sometimes go wrong... I could imagine a health warning as a disclaimer emerging at some point in the future....

[CO2000]

Maybe on bigger sizes or extreme low profiles charge double for taking more time/care and covering when things do go wrong.

[Sheepshanks]

surveyor said:

Ultimately you've got tyres that are stuck on wheels and need physical interference to remove. On top of that some are even harder....

I would think it's inevitable that it will sometimes go wrong... I could imagine a health warning as a disclaimer emerging at some point in the future....

It's not inevitable - there are machines which will do it without touching the wheel. There's lots of scope for something to wrong in the process though.

Having seen the guys that refurbed my wheels do it, they took the sort of care that I'd take if I was doing it myself, even down to having wrapped sockets that didn't damage the edge of the bolt holes. But then I got home and noticed they'd fitted one tyre the wrong way around (not directional, but the sidewall was marked "inside"). So it seems you can't win!