Ken,
I suppose if all you do is go for nice "Sunday drives" on sunny days and never
stress the tires there will be no noticeable difference. My feeling however,
is that they owe you at least two tires. In tire tests by the various
magazines, there is always considerable difference between tire performance
even though the tires being tested are all the same size. I would want a
matched set either front or rear.
I don't know that you could make a court case out of it necessarily, but just
the fact that they look different would bother me and I would let them know I
am not happy about it and expect them to do something about it.
You brought in a matched set of 4 tires. They basically ruined that set. At
the least they should match two of them.
Probably would not do business again with them and would tell all my friends
(this complete list as a start) about their poor business practice. My
experience with Goodyear Tire Centers (in the Northwest only) has been minimal
because each experience I did have with them has been a bad one. I was always
left with the feeling that they did what was in THEIR best interest and not in
MINE.
Gordon Buck
Sultan, Washington
71 TR6 CC62806
67 MGB GT
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Tharp [SMTP:kthinc@dwx.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 1998 8:11 PM
To: triumphs@autox.team.net; spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: mismatched tires
Listers,
A new dilemma for my Spitfire: I took it in today to have all four tires
switched from one set of rims to another. During the process, the
company doing the work accidentally ruined one of my tires. They
apologized profusely and told me that they had put a brand new tire on
in its place. My cause for concern is that it is not a match for the
other three tires on the car. The company, who shall remain nameless
(but whose name rhymes with "Hood-deer" <g>), said that the tires that
were on my car are no longer available. They chose a tire that is
exactly the same size, but has a different tread pattern, of course.
The four tires that were on the car were nearly new in terms of tread
wear (probably less than 3,000 miles on them). Is having one mismatched
tire something I need to be concerned about? They indicated that it
wasn't (surprise, surprise), but I told them that I was not going to
consider the matter closed until I got a second opinion. That's where
you come in - what do you think? Considering that the tire that they
ruined was virtually new, is asking for another tire so that I have two
pairs of tires unreasonable? Or do I just forget about it?
--
Ken Tharp
79 Spitfire 1500
West Des Moines, IA
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