Posted: 10/1/2007 3:55:50 PM EDT
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Had plans to pick up my new suppressor from my SOT on the W coast this weekend. Also, it was the wife's birthday. So our plans were to cruise over to Marco Island Saturday AM and get the suppressor, then up to Sanibel for the night, and make a leisurely drive home Sunday afternoon. Seemed simple enough. 3/4 of the way across Alligator Alley..BOOM...flat tire. No spare, because the car does have room for one (need a fullsize spare, as a donut wouldn't clear my brake/rotors...also, the front & rear tire/wheel combos are a different size). So instead of a spare, the manufacturer was kind enough to give me a tiny air compressor and an aerosol fix-flat kit. All well and good, but my tire was shredded. Call roadside assistance (in NJ), and they say the nearest dealership is in Naples...but the dealership is closed on the weekends. So they put me through to the tow company the Naples dealership uses, and I get them to dispatch a tow truck, and also to get a cab to come out (family was with me...wouldn't all fit in the tow truck). I also had the tow company call around to see if anyone had my tires in stock, but as I expected, nobody did. I also called a few places, no luck. So, the only thing to do is to tow the car to the dealership & leave it there over the weekend. Had the taxi take my wife/kids to a car rental closest to the dealership, so they could come pick me up after the car was dropped off. That accomplished (2+ hours after the blowout), I made it down to Marco and got the suppressor (many thanks to Chris at Tactical Solutions for being so accomodating with my delays), and went up to Sanibel. Now, because the dealership wasn't open until Monday, we had to stay an extra day on Sanibel, which was actually an unexpected & welcome bonus. Had a great time. Dealership called me first thing Monday (much to my pleasant surprise...I guess I've become jaded dealing with the apathetic dealerships in Miami for whom customer service is a foreign a concept as the English language), and told me that they could get the tires & have everything done by the afternoon. Great. I ask him to replace both rear tires (other one was coming due). A few hours later, the service rep calls me to tell me that my front tires should also be replaced. I knew it was getting close, but was hoping I could put it off awhile longer. Sigh, replace the front ones too, please. A little bit later, I get a call that the front brakes/rotors/sending units need to be replaced. I figured it was about time for that as well (35K+ miles), and go figure that now would be the (*%)(*&^)*% time. Alright buddy, do the )&^)&^ front brakes too. I didn't even ask what it was going to cost, because I knew it was going to be a lot. Get the car, all is in order, they even washed it up all nice and sparkly. They present me with the bill...  ...$2,600. It was $2,800, as they charged $200 for the tow, but out of the goodness of their hearts they credited that as a goodwill gesture. Yes, between the repairs, the taxi, the rental car, the extra night in Sanibel, extra food, etc, it turned out to be a (*^%$(&^)&%(*^&)(^(*^%(^&_)&%(*%)*&^ expensive weekend. |
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WTF car you drive? I know Chevy throws in Run-Flat tires for their Corvettes because they can't store a spare tire. Whether it is a full size spare or one of those dinky donuts. Sucks man.... maybe you should look into getting run-flat tires. There are also a number of retro-fitted tire sealants which act in a similar way to self-sealing tires. These compounds are normally injected through the tire valve. The rotating force then distributes the compound onto the inner surface of the tire to act as a self-sealing lining within the tire. |
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It seems to be standard procedure these days that when the front tires come off, you get sold new brakes. I just got new rubber for my truck and the salesman promised me that I wouldnt make it another week to get to my regular mechanic and would probably die a firey death. When I did get to him, my guy pulled the calipers off and said I probably had 5000 to 7500 miles left on my brakes. The odometer had just broke 90000. |
That pisses me off. My wife took her SUV in for a tire repair (I had put the spare on and needed the flat one replaced), and the Goober at the tire store scared the crap out of her with the same type story. I ended up taking off from work because she wouldn't drive it like that, and the brakes were not even close to the screech plate yet. 
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DAMN not even any vaseline with that?? highway robbery at it's finest. I will never take my car to a dealer to get even my windows washed. they'll find something wrong with my wiper blades and charge me 10,000 to re-fabricate new ones. I always DIY or take it to a local shop you can trust. I guess you were SOL with the tires though... I take em to Miami Tires, talk to the older guy luis. he'll set you up nice. |
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With the tires, I knew I'd be at their mercy. The only ones they could find in a matched set were Michelin Pilot Sports, and had to courier them in from somewhere else that day. The Pilot Sports were what I was planning to get anyway in the near future, so that worked out reasonably well. The brakes are 8 piston with 14" rotors, so there's no getting around having one's wallet razed in that area. |
What do you drive? |
So what IS under the hood? We know it's not a spare tire! |
LMFAO !!!!! |
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