Pep Boys can’t be trusted to change oil or rotate tires, in my humble opinion. They are a budget place that people with marginal cars go to spend money. Notice I didn’t say “get their cars fixed”.
No one expects you to be a tire specialist. Tires are not all the same. Your car came with Pirellis, they are more expensive (read; Better) than Nankang tires, you are replacing only 2 tires. Why not avoid any potential issues and get 2 Pirellis that match the tires that are on the car?
With regards to the tires, my plan was to replace with pirrellis but the reviews were fairly negative. So i looked for tires more buyers were happy with. I have no reason to believe anything is wrong with these tires at this time.
OK, the OP has a car problem. Criticizing his choice of repair shops has been done, enough already. Let’s not start down the dark alley of quarreling about who said what.
The fact of the matter here is that the driver had a collision with something (a pole, maybe lying on the road. I hope not a Pole.)
Collisions are serious business and can cause all sorts of tricky issues, especially with front suspensions. In my view this calls for a shop that specializes in front end work, not a tire shop. And, as the bills pile up, when does this become an insurance claim?
If the object was lying still in the road and had been there a while, so that it was visible and should have been avoided, it’s a collision insurance claim. If it fell off something and was just recently there, or was still moving, it may well be a comprehensive claim. Collision claims can cause rate increases, comprehensive claims rarely do.
So, find a specialty shop for front ends, and keep your receipts.
If you paid to have the wheel straightened you should return to the wheel repair shop and see if the problem can be corrected, if not perhaps they can find a reconditioned wheel for you. A reconditioned or used wheel will cost much less than a new wheel, OEM wheels are expensive.
I’ve always heard that bent wheels – steel wheels anyways – if bent, they should be scrapped. The reason explained was that trying to straighten them could weaken the steel. Is that no longer true? Is it possible now to straighten wheels and maintain their strength? Even steel ones?
Steel wheels are inexpensive, OEM aluminum wheels on luxury cars range between $500 and $2000. I have seen a lot of wheels tossed into the recycling bin but when an insurance company is involved they want the wheels repaired when possible.
It is possible to repair aluminum wheels. There are companies that do this. I would use this type service for an OEM wheel or a very high quality aftermarket wheel, like a forged or pressure cast wheel but not an inexpensive plain cast (brittle) wheel. It may be a cost issue or a design issue - maybe you just can’t buy an identical replacement aftermarket wheel. So if its an expensive OEM or 4 more aftermarket wheels, its at least worth a try.
Steel wheels can easily be repaired but why bother? They are plain and so cheap, just buy bother? Just not worth it.