[05and91]

If I would not have inspected the tires closely after getting them installed I would have never known what DT did! I liked Discount Tire. I have bought many sets of tires from Discount Tire over the last 15 years, 5 or 6 sets or more. The last 2 times I bought tires from Discount Tire were bad experiences. I forgave them the first time, but this last time was the last straw.

Most recent incident:

Last week, September 2013. I went on the Discount Tire website to see and price tires. I decided to buy four Michelin Primacy MXV4 V-rated for $131 each. Note: At the time I looked the Michelin Primacy MXV4 came in two types, V rated for $131 and H rated for $121. I printed the page of the $131 V-rated tire to give to DT to eliminate any confusion about which tire I wanted. The website showed they had the 4 Michelin Primacy MXV4 V-rated in stock. Several other DT stores in the area showed they also had them in stock.

When I got to DT I handed the DT guy my printed copy of the web page for the "$131 Michelin Primacy MXV4 V-rated Tire" from the Discount Tire website, and told him I wanted 4 of these and he verified he had them in stock. I went across the street to a mall while waiting for my car. After coming back and paying, when I was leaving, I decided to inspect the tires before driving off. They had installed the H-rated tires and charged me for the V-rated tires. The receipt did not indicate V or H but I was charged for the V. I thought it was a mistake and went back into Discount Tire and told the DT guy they put the wrong tires on my car. He insisted that they were out of the V-rated, in spite of telling me he had them in stock when I arrived, and not saying anything to me, or adjusting the bill for the cheaper tire. I asked him why didn't you tell me before switching to H-rated? He said a message was left on my cell phone, but the only message I had was DT telling me my car was ready to pick up. I then asked him why didn't you let me go to another DT location as there were 3 or 4 other locations that had the V-rated in stock? He told me all those tires are being "held for other customers".

I told him to either put the V-rated tires on that I requested and paid for, or put my old tires back on and I'll go somewhere else. He then insisted that he would get the V-rated tires "next week" and call me, and that I can drive on the H-rated set until he gets the V-rated in. This week I got a call from DT and I went back and got the correct V-rated tires put on.

But there's more, the shadiness didn't stop there. On the V-rated replacement tires I checked the manufacture dates and 3 of the tires had matching dates and one tire was 4 months newer than the other 3. The single newer tire had the green stripes on the tread indicating the tire is brand new, and other 3 (with matching dates) tires no longer had the green stripes on the tread. The green stripes already worn off the tread on 3 of these tires indicates that these 3 tires were slightly used already, and were probably someone else's returned tires. I now suspect my "new" set of V-rated tires is really one brand new tire and three slightly used returned tires. I didn't mention this to DT because I am sick of DT and don't want to deal with them anymore. And I'm over it as long as the tires are good. By the way the original (wrong) H-rated set I was given all had the green stripes indicating all brand new tires.

Discount Tire? I completely don't trust them anymore. It will be Sam's Club or Costco for tires for me from now on.

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First incident in 2011

In 2011 I bought a set of 4 Michelin tires from Discount Tire. When I got home I checked the tire manufacture dates on the side of the 4 new tires.

One tire was over 3 years old.

One tire was over 2 years old.

The remaining 2 tires had been manufactured at less than a year old.

When I complained to Discount Tire about getting old tires, DT replaced the 3 year old tire with a newer one but did nothing about the 2 year old tire. Again if I had not checked the tires closely I would never have know I was getting 3+ year old tires installed as brand new.

 

[[ChaosweaveR]]

This is why I'm so grateful to be working in the auto trade...I find the tires I want and install them myself.

****s to hear that, but I'm seeing more and more service like that from these big corporate places. Mavis, Goodyear, Firestone, Sears Auto...they're all like that.

Any Wal-Mart, BJ's or Sam's Club auto centers I would avoid, the minimal training they get on top of hiring just about anyone, your money is best spent elsewhere.

As for DOT #s, you're overreacting. Having a tire that's been brand new and stored in a climate controlled warehouse...2-3 year old tires are fine. You will never have a problem, I know this for a fact.

 

[mikeyd914]

just buy the tires online and get it installed somewhere you like with good equipment. thankfully i get tires greatly discounted from my cousins performance shop and get installed and balanced for free

 

[jimnfor]

That sounds like a crappy deal. I've used Discount Tire for years and years and never had any trouble.
Definitely poor service. Keep us posted on the how the tires hold up.

 

[05and91]

Any Wal-Mart, BJ's or Sam's Club auto centers I would avoid, the minimal training they get on top of hiring just about anyone, your money is best spent elsewhere.

Thanks. This is the only reason I went to Discount Tire instead of Sam's Club. I figured the installers / balancers at DT would at least be somewhat more trained and experienced and I had good luck with DT in the past.

As for DOT #s, you're overreacting. Having a tire that's been brand new and stored in a climate controlled warehouse...2-3 year old tires are fine. You will never have a problem, I know this for a fact.

At the time I was buying them the plan was that the car was a 2nd backup car that would not be used very often, 3000 to 4000 miles per year, so the tires were expected to last 8 or 10 years or more. Plus, how do you know how 3 year old tires were stored? If you didn't store it yourself you don't really.

I know if you're going to use the tires up in 2 or 3 years it doesn't really matter. But otherwise a tire with a shortened total lifespan, by years, IMO should not be sold for the same price as a newer current year one. I had just read articles on the tire manufacturing date issue, with recommendations to throw out a tire 6 years after the manufacturing date, regardless of tread left or usage, and the recommendation is to get a set of tires with the same manufacture date, or at least close.

 

[[ChaosweaveR]]

You have a source for this article on the DOT #'s? Because I've never heard such a thing like that. "Throw out" tires after they're six years old? Tire shops may as well flush money down the toilet, it'll be the same thing. PLUS, most tire shops sell tires quick enough to where that isn't an issue, unless you're getting a tire type that's not common.

Tires are all stored pretty much the same, away from sunlight. It's the UV rays that kill the rubber, causing them to crack and dry out.

I've been working in the field for over ten years now, I've never seen a tire fail because of being 4-5 years old. 95% of the time it's driver error and/or neglect (hitting potholes, smacking curbs and not keeping the tire PSI correct) that causes severe tire damage and failures.

 

[mr500cm]

The BQE and LIE (highways here in NY) are the biggest killers of tires.

 

[[ChaosweaveR]]

The BQE and LIE (highways here in NY) are the biggest killers of tires.

Don't forget about the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Belt Parkway.

 

[Aviography]

Tire stores order what they think they can sell, they eat the excess tires if they can't sell them, so they will continue to push for these old tires, at certain point it becomes a liability so tire shops dump really old tires to someone who wants to buy them bulk/cheap.

There are several local shops around me go buy old tires cheap from brand name tire stores and mark them up a bit to sell to the general public again, one place I know of sold a set of 10 year old Yokohama winter tires to the owner of a TL whom I was buying the rims from, the tires were so old I couldn't even find any info for them except some obscure eastern European country website! Those tires had almost full tread depth when I saw them, but the rubber compound had significantly hardened compared to fresh winter tires.

 

[wynnbb]

Costco and Bj's should be okay. Competency of the workers aside, at least they won't burn you on the actual tires.

 

[wynnbb]

The BQE and LIE (highways here in NY) are the biggest killers of tires.

Biggest killer of tires, and rims lol

 

[namegoeshere]

You have a source for this article on the DOT #'s? Because I've never heard such a thing like that. "Throw out" tires after they're six years old? Tire shops may as well flush money down the toilet, it'll be the same thing. PLUS, most tire shops sell tires quick enough to where that isn't an issue, unless you're getting a tire type that's not common.

Tires are all stored pretty much the same, away from sunlight. It's the UV rays that kill the rubber, causing them to crack and dry out.

I've been working in the field for over ten years now, I've never seen a tire fail because of being 4-5 years old. 95% of the time it's driver error and/or neglect (hitting potholes, smacking curbs and not keeping the tire PSI correct) that causes severe tire damage and failures.

From http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-old-and-dangerous-are-your-tires.html

How Long Does a Tire Last?

Carmakers, tiremakers and rubber manufacturers differ in their opinions about the lifespan of a tire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has no specific guidelines on tire aging and defers to the recommendations of carmakers and tire manufacturers. Carmakers such as Nissan and Mercedes-Benz tell consumers to replace tires six years after their production date, regardless of tread life. Tire manufacturers such as Continental and Michelin say a tire can last up to 10 years, provided you get annual tire inspections after the fifth year.

The British Tyres Manufacturers' Association which represents tire manufacturers' such as Bridgestone, Continental, Cooper Tires, Dunlop, Goodyear, Hankook, Michelin, and Pirelli, recommends "that unused tyres should not be put into service if they are over six years old and that all tyres should be replaced ten years from the date of their manufacture."


From http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4813029&page=1

The U.S. tire industry is refusing to give American motorists the same warning given to car owners in Europe and Asia about the possible dangers of tires six years old or older.

More than 100 deaths in the U.S. have been attributed to aged tires which dried out and lost their treads, even though they appeared to be safe, according to Sean Kane, who heads a private auto safety firm and consults with the federal government.

A tire older than six years old, even if it's never been driven a mile, "is like a ticking time bomb. You don't know what's going on inside. That's what makes it so dangerous," said Kane in an interview for broadcast on "20/20."

Safety experts say there is extensive research showing tires begin to deteriorate in "critical" ways even if they remain unused or unsold in store inventories.

The Ford Motor Company has urged the federal government to adopt a six-year expiration date, citing "comprehensive research" and "defendable data driven by analysis."

Mercedes, BMW, Chrysler, Toyota and VW/Audi have also adopted this 6 year replacement recommendation.


The manufacture date can also affect your tires Workmanship & Materials warranty if you don't have the receipt to prove when you bought them. For instance, Firestone states, as does Goodyear and pretty much every other tire manufacturer, that a bad tire will be prorated and replaced with a comparable tire up to 5 and 6 years, respectively, from date of purchase.

If you don't have a receipt to show the purchase date, they'll use the tires date of manufacture. If a shop sold you a Firestone tire that was 4 years old or a Goodyear tire that was 5 years old and then you start having problems 1 or 1.5 years later and lost your receipt, you'll be SOL. Hopefully that shop kept a record of your purchase and didn't go out of business.

 

[namegoeshere]

Discount tire just lost a lifetime customer. I will NEVER buy anything from ANY Discount Tire store again. I think more and more people will quit using DT as more and more people get burned by DT. Too bad because DT used to be good.

If it were me, I'd contact Discount Tire's corporate office and let them know what happened before boycotting them. What happened at one location isn't indicative of a company-wide problem. If these two problems were at the same location, then I would use another location.

If you had a bad Honda dealer experience, would you boycott Honda forever or would you try another dealer?

They can't correct an issue if they don't know there's a problem to begin with.

Personally, I've never had any problems with DT over the past 10 years and I will continue to use them.

 

[RTexasF]

If it were me, I'd contact Discount Tire's corporate office and let them know what happened before boycotting them. What happened at one location isn't indicative of a company-wide problem. If these two problems were at the same location, then I would use another location.

If you had a bad Honda dealer experience, would you boycott Honda forever or would you try another dealer?

They can't correct an issue if they don't know there's a problem to begin with.

Personally, I've never had any problems with DT over the past 10 years and I will continue to use them.

I agree. It makes no sense to dump on an entire chain of stores due to the less than stellar performance of one store. As far as subbing the H for the V, that was really wrong. Glad you caught it.

 

[05and91]

When I got on the freeway with the "new" V-rated tires, I noticed my car was pulling to the left. It was a moderate radial pull. I tested it at different speeds and it pulled at all speeds, getting worse the faster the car went. The car never pulled before until the new V's were installed. The original set of wrongly installed H=rated tires were all tracking perfectly.

Before going back to DT again, I switched the two front tires and now it's not pulling anymore and seems to be tracking correctly. From now on it's order new tires online, or go to Sam's Club where I can pick out my own tires myself, and have them installed elsewhere. At least I know what tires I'm actually getting that way and won't get cheated again.

I agree. It makes no sense to dump on an entire chain of stores due to the less than stellar performance of one store. As far as subbing the H for the V, that was really wrong. Glad you caught it.

It wasn't the same store. It was 2 different Discount Tires stores that are both in the same area about 5 miles from each other. I went to a different one after getting 3 year old tires from the other.

I am tempted to put DT reviews (original post) all over the Internet too, wherever there are reviews for Discount Tire.

 

[Lilmonster]

I have NEVER had a good experience with DT. From paying for chrome wheels and them installing polished ($100 difference each wheel) to having all 4 wheels scratched by the mounting bar, different store each time.

 

[Accord_Rules]

I recently changed my old tyres. Got four of Goodyear Eagle GT. They suggested I change the 4 valve-stems. I did that too. I got life-time free balance and rotation at any Walmart on my new tyres. Everything came up to around 390 dollars. Not a bad deal at all. I am very happy with my new tyres. Bought them in September. The tyre's sidewall is showing the manufacturing date as 1113. I'm happy with the manufacturing date also. The entire process was hassle free and finished by the time I finished doing my groceries .

Feeling confident now while going at 75-80 MPH on I-10 E/W. No pulling to one side. No vibrations. Smooth. Walmart did a pretty decent job I thought. The staff was very friendly, casual (not-professional) and loud. I'll stay with them for my next set of tyres as well.

 

[poorboyaccord]

Discount Tire Direct or Tire Rack, I just ordered new tires on the Black Friday weekend from Discount Tire Direct, my whole family have been using them for years