I bought new tires, got on the intestate went about 3 miles and my low pressure light came on and the car felt like it had a weird bump. Ran a quick errand bump got worse, stopped check pressure, it was very low. Went by tire store already closed. This was Thurs. couldn’t get back over to tire store til Tues. (labor day) Didn’t drive the car just kept putting air in trying to find leak.
Get to tire place they tell me my rim is bent, so I have a look, it is badddddly bent they tell me it was like that when they put the new tires on, so they let me leave with a brand new unsealed tire? The bend was very bad is it possible that I hit a pot hole bent the rim and the old tires didn’t leak and I didn’t fell the bend, I can feel it now? I’ll have to say it would have had to be a very big jolt to create that bend I would have surely felt it! Any thoughts?
Was the tire that used to be on that rim leaking? If not, I would suspect they whacked the rim in the shop, but would need to know more about exactly how it’s bent before I stood behind that suspicion. Got pics?
Hint. Potholes are hard on modern rims. The old steel rims will stand up better to curb hits and potholes. Of course if you want to pay saw $7,000 per rim you can get the real deal quality as used on race cars, but they don't come standard equipment on consumer cars.If the rims are steel, is there rust in the damaged area? If it’s an old dent, the rust should be severe and there should be pitting. I have a hard time believing that they would not point out the dented rim if it went into the shop that way. They should have called you immediately before starting any work. It’s hard to believe that they don’t know about CYA.
No the old tire was not leaking, the shop started trying to knock it out before i could get a pic. They said they would put it on the back so I couldn’t feel it as much, but I didn’t feel it before and they cannot tell me where the rim was, just that it was bent when they put the new tire on. And they had already put it on the back, even now that they knocked it out it rides very rough. The bend was almost 45 degree angle straight up.
I have trouble believing that if the wheel was really bent 45 degrees off of true, you wouldn’t have noticed it, or had a tire leak. I think it’s pretty likely that they dropped something on it, or screwed up when taking the tire off, and damaged your wheel, and then tried to cover it up to avoid buying you a new wheel.
Well, at the very least they sent me (and my child) out of the shop w/ a tire that they knew would not hold air. Either way they are at fault. Now how do I handle it?
Is it the inside or outside of the rim? I agree that they probably damaged the rim. Otherwise, they likely would have tried to sell you one. I’d call the state police and ask them. Just tell them the story and that you are confused with where to go from here.
How deflated did the tire get while you were driving it. There is a good possibility that the rim was slightly damaged and leaked from the time you took delivery but hit a curb or pot hole while nearly flat before you could get back to the dealer… Maybe.
It is inside. Put air in it drove 4.5 miles and pressure was down to 15psi. So I just put the spare on. I hate changing tires,but thank God my granddaddy made me learn how. Taking tire/rim to another place tomorrow to get another opinion.
Your best bet might be to buy a replacement rim at a junk yard and take it to the first tire shop. Ask them to put the tire on the new rim, balance it, and put it on the car. If you are diplomatic, they might go for it. It looks like you can find a 16" alloy rim for around $100.