I called Firestone locally here and asked how much to pull my old tires off and put them on my new rim? he asked what size 275-40-17 and 245 45 17 he said $16 each...cool

"what are they going on? he asked
"a 85 corvette"

"Ohh that will be extra. It will be $24 a tire."

Why? i asked

Cause of the sensors in the wheels...

What? I said Its an 85 not and 05

"Well corvetts are harder to work on and have more liability."

I said you know I just want the tires changed over not the head gasget.

He said that "17 inch wheels are harder blah blah blah...."


Ok so let me get this right. a honda that is worth over easily 20 grand more than my car gets charged 16 dollars.

Because I drive a Vett that is worth At most 6-8 grand I get charged extra... nice Thats fair.

 

Screw that guy. Find an honest shop.

 

LMAO.

The "Corvette Tax" in action...

They use the same lug wrench.

They use the same bead breaker machine.

They use the same air.

17" wheels on a Corvette are no different than 17" wheels on a VW.

If your car has LPTWS, then the bead breaks in a certain spot.

That's it.

Find another shop.

 

I have nothing good to say about any Firestone I've ever dealt with.

 

Take the wheels off and take them in. (to a different shop of course) If they ask, say they're on a POS blazer or something. That's such BS, they should be prosecuted for that garbage. Make sure you share this story at work, car events, grocery stores, street corners... Stuff like this makes me angry.

And about that "Corvette tax," don't let Obama hear about it or he'll raise it!

 

I E mailed the Company see Below

I want to file a complaint about your east gate store located at 4625 Eastgate Blvd, Cincinnati, OH.

I took my corvette there for an alignment and when the called me to tell me it was don he informed me they "could not open the hood" I explained how it opens and he said it was no big deal it was close enough and in tolerance.
They did a partial job yet charged me full price.

Second thing is I called this morning to get a price of taking my tires off my factory rims and putting them on after market rims. He asked the size I told him. He said $16.00.
I was then asked what they are on I told him a 1985 corvette, suddenly I was told ooo we charge more for a corvette! WHAT WHY? He said because of the wheel sensors. I said it is an 85 it does not have them, then he said it was the increased Liability.

Increased Liability on a 8k car? A 30 grand Honda pays 16 a tire but I have to pay 24 because I drive a corvette?
Then I was told I could NOT bring it in Saturday but I had to do it during the week.
So I get charged more and less service awesome!

your Tech uses the same lift, lug wrench, bead breaker and air so tell me why I am being charged more?

I have been a customer for a long time and I am furious over this. In our current market condition I can not fathom why you would turn away customers.

I would like to resolve this with you with out informing the Ohio attorney general of your business practices.
Dave Scharold

 

They messed up a wheel on my '01 Sport Trac when they where putting tires on it. Cost them over $300 to replace the damaged wheel. RUN, don't walk from Firestone. They're a bunch of rip off artists.

 

For reply!

 

I think they require all Firestone managers to attend Jackass school. Years ago, I had a new Firestone tire come apart on the highway and tear up a fender on my Nova. When I asked the tire dealer what they would do about it, they instantly started blaming me for what ever went wrong. They said they would only SELL me another tire. I told them, "I wouldn't use a Firestone tire as a bumper on a tugboat", and to this day I haven't touched another one.
If you make a customer happy they will tell their friends. If you **** off a customer; They'll tell everybody!

 

17"s are harder to work on?

1/2 the cars these days, even my little Scion TC has 17"s on there. 17"s are pretty standard these days.

 

 

Funny Scion Story. I played music professionally for years One gig we were hired by scion to play at Mid Ohio. As part of the perks they offerd to take me for a ride in a 2 seater Scion race car. I have NEVER been afraid in a car and i love speed.

Those guys are Nucking Futts! I have no idea what they had under the hood but WOW That car flew and handeled like a rail train. That guy scared me to death! I got out and tingeled for 10 min!

 

Bogus shop. Good on ya for emailing em. we'll see how they respond.

 

Yes, the "corvette tax" in action. But like eveyone else is saying, obviously it's BS because 17's are now standard on many vehicles.

 

they couldnt figure out how to open the HOOD?!!?!!?!!?!!


anyone who does not know that ALL corvette hoods open backwards should not be allowed to work on cars.....even at a lousy Firestone tire shop!!!

i think i knew corvette hoods opened backwards when i was 4 years old!!!

 

I got the same (almost verbatium) line of BS at my local CHEVROLET DEALER! (Mine's an '86) INCLUDING THE TAX!!!

The Jerk-off Service Writer then proceeds to lecture me as to why I don't need my wheels Road Forced Balanced (they where one of the few places that have the Hunter GPS9700 balancer) that's it's really only needed for "steel wheels".

I hung up on him. And took my business to the local Tire Warehouse. 'Asked for their head tire monkey and the guy (not a kid) knew what he was doing.

 

Walmart quoted me 11 bucks a wheel.....Ok stop calling me a idiot I would NEVER let those morons touch my girl. I found a guy who is well respected in the auto cross world he has a small shop and is well reviewed on tire rack. His price 22.00 a wheel but it will be done right Balanced Via Road Force and gauntee not to destroy my newly painted wheels

 

I stay far away from Firestone and Goodyear shops. These shops are only interested in one thing.. getting your money and pushing you out the door as fast as possible to take the next guys money. I've had numerous problems with both shops. Goodyear sent me out the door with the wrong size tires on the wrong rims. They didn't correct it because it was too late and they were closing. The rim was sticking out so bad it was probably dangerous to drive that way. The Firestone shop tried charging me a couple thousand to start replacing the entire coolant system when I had an overheating probelm. I drove it home against their advice, flushed it out real good, and it ran fine from then on. I was very happy to get the corporate survey call a couple of months later. The managers are *******s and their employees are mostly highschool kids or dropouts who I wouldnt trust to change a light bulb. I found a local shop that specializes in larger SUV and car rims. They charge a bit more but they actually know how to use the expensive equipment that they own. I doubt the Firestone guys could spell Hunter. The owner of the new shop I found has owned several Corvettes in the past.

I forgot to mention that I did run Firestone Wide Oval tires for a few years. Those were great tires. I have nothing against corporate Firestone or their tires. It's their service shops that suck.

I also went to 5 Minute Oil Change once and the kid could not figure out how to open the hood. He was trying to lift it at the front until the manager said something and beat me to it. Never went back there either. I do almost all my own work now. I have one trusted, Corvette only, mechanic that I can send her to if really needed.

 

www.tirerack.com you can search for installers and read reviews, see prices, some of which (if the installers are "preferred") are "locked".

I bought my 4 Sumitomo tires from them and had them installed at a recommended place, no problem, on time, no 'extra' charges, great guys.