# I have to pay for the lug bolt they broke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** tires, element, honda\ **Created:** [July 25, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427 "2010-07-25T05:09:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kathymieko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c89c15/32.png) [@kathymieko](https://community.cartalk.com/u/kathymieko)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/1 "2010-07-25T05:09:08Z")
We went to Costco to get a new tire because we had a nail in the old one. They broke off the bolt and gave us a card to someone who could repair it. Why do I have to pay for this repair? Shouldn’t they be held responsible? ---
**Author:** ![nfs480](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@nfs480](https://community.cartalk.com/u/nfs480)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/2 "2010-07-25T05:28:51Z")
Who put the tires on the car last? It could be that they were previously overtightened by the last person who worked on it. ---
**Author:** ![geeaea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@geeaea](https://community.cartalk.com/u/geeaea)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/3 "2010-07-25T05:42:08Z")
Yep. While some outfits would fix it gratis, it would be extremely difficult to be accountable for breaking a stud off with lug nut removal. It’s not something you mess up when your tool is an impact gun and a socket. Now the last guy, the one who turned the air up and then grabbed a breaker bar with cheater pipe “just to make sure” …well, if you can get him to pony up …. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/4 "2010-07-25T05:50:29Z")
What would you have prefered them to have done, let you take the lugs off, perhaps have you stand and watch and give a “go/no go” command,refuse the job unless you signed up front that broken off studs are on you? ---
**Author:** ![kathymieko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c89c15/32.png) [@kathymieko](https://community.cartalk.com/u/kathymieko)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/5 "2010-07-25T06:28:07Z")
Thx nfs & geeaea. Well it’s the same shop that put the tires on previously, so maybe I need to give them a call. Oldschool, It’s not a question of how the job got done, the question is who is accountable. Thanks for the replies. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/6 "2010-07-25T13:41:01Z")
Since Costco hand-torques the lug nuts to factory specs when they mount your tires, that leaves out the possibility that the previous guys (the same Costco Tire Center apparently) over-torqued the lug nuts. This may just be a case of defective materials in the Element, but I have no other possible explanation. ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/7 "2010-07-25T14:53:00Z")
I don’t think it “leaves out” the possibility that they over-torqued it. Discount tire says the same thing - we hand torque. And yet I caught them threading the lug-nuts with an air gun - actually putting the nut in the socket and then spinning it on with the gun set to high, like they do in NASCAR pit crews. I also caught them intentionally mis-torquing a wheel lock because they didn’t feel like switching their socket for the lock key. Just because a place claims to follow a certain procedure doesn’t mean they necessarily do. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/8 "2010-07-25T15:16:18Z")
Okay–Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say that this reduces the possibility that the lug nuts were over-torqued. Whenever I go to Costco, I park fairly near the tire center, and I almost always walk past their service bays. As a result, I have observed (briefly) the installation of many tires at two Costco tire centers, and whenever I have passed by their bay doors, their tire techs were indeed using torque wrenches to mount the wheels. However, what I observed relates only to two Costco tire centers in NJ. ---
**Author:** ![grampy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a9adbd/32.png) [@grampy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/grampy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/9 "2010-07-25T16:10:13Z")
You should have talked to the Store Manager,or go elsewhere. I have been very happy with Costco and their Tire dept. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/10 "2010-07-25T16:34:32Z")
Costco does not have the equipment and their technicians do not have the training to replace a stud. They have to send you somewhere else. If you can show the manager that only Costco has been servicing the tires on your vehicle since new, he might be willing to pick up the tab at the place they recommended. You can ask. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-have-to-pay-for-the-lug-bolt-they-broke/52427/11 "2010-07-25T16:49:28Z")
Did it break while they were trying to remove the lug nut, or did it break while they were installing the lug nut? If it was already stripped, and it broke while they were trying to remove it, they are not at fault unless they were the last ones to install the lug nuts. If they stripped it when they were reinstalling it, they are probably at fault, and should pay for the repair.