Hi,
I have a mazda cx-9 grand touring the manufaturer recomended tire size is 245/50 R20
I had all the 4 tires installed new yesterday
I have found out that the tires installed in the front are not the same as the ones in the back.
The front installed ones are 235/55 r20 and the rear ones are 245/50 r 20
I am not even sure weather it is safe to drive back to the dealership please advice.
Thanks
Supat
You should be o.k. driving back to the dealer, but do make the dealer replace the tires with the correct size.
Take it back and have the proper size installed if that’s what you want. The front tires are 235-mm wide; 10 mm narrower than Mazda recommends. The 50 or 55 is the height of the sidewall as a percentage of the tread width. In this case, the new tires are about a quarter inch taller. Neither is likely to be a problem, but if you are more comfortable with the Mazda recommended size, make them replace the tires. Do it soon so high at they can’t complain that you waited a month or more.
Is your CX-9 all-wheel drive (AWD)? If it is, I’d have the dealer tow it back, just to make sure it doesn’t damage the AWD mechanism.
The dealer clearly made a mistake, and I’m very confident that they will install the correct front tires.
However, I’m not so confident they’ll pay for a tow bill.
Yeah it is an awd
I’d tell them to either come get it, or give you a guarantee in writing regarding the drive train. See if that works.
Depending on how the tire dealer chooses to treat you in the wake of their screw-up may help you to decide whether to ever patronize that shop again.
A sincere apology, coupled with an offer to flat-bed your vehicle (towing is not recommended for AWD vehicles) to their shop, coupled with something like a hefty discount coupon with no time limit, would be appropriate, and if I was treated in this manner, I would consider returning to the shop when I next needed tires.
On the other hand, if someone says (or implies) that you are making a big deal over, “nothing”, or if they are grudging in their treatment of you, I would suggest that you make your second visit to this shop your last visit to the shop.
Considering the AWD aspect of this and how blatant the problem is, you should politely ask the dealer to correct the problem by sending a flat bed tow truck to get it and installing the size of tire the vehicle came with. If polite doesn’t work, then you get nasty if necessary.
This was either a very egregious mistake or someone was trying to clear out some orphan tires in the hope that you wouldn’t notice.
Definitely get the dealer to take them back and replace tires. If the dealer is close by, there should be little problem. But, I would not drive on the interstate or drive very fast, or very far. It DOES increase wear with different tire diameters. Personally, I would add a few lbs of air to the lower tire… Funny, but that tells you that a tire specialist may be a safer bet to buy tires. They are over priced and now you know the dealer is incompetent. This is a bad combination.
Talked to the dealer and he ordered the 2 correct tires. Gave a loaner till then.
Thanks every one
Some of you are being obsessive about tire size differences, it won’t hurt the car a bit to drive the car across town to the dealer. You will put more strain on the differentials going around a traffic circle.
Maybe, but why should OP take that risk, when it was the dealer’s fault?
I think there is a lot more risk getting winched up onto a flatbed than there is driving this car to the dealer.