Rant: discount tire stores SUCK.

So I'm new to the forum, I know, but I felt the local group was a more appropriate place to get this off my chest than any of the other forums I'm on.
I bought my 07GTvert used from a dealer in Jan 09 and after about a year of driving it to work every day the tires that were on it from the dealer were getting thin.
I want larger rims/tires than the stock 18's but I figured that - like everyone else - I would want a set of all weather tires to put on in the winter time. So instead of buying a new set of 20" rims/ Nitto tires I decided to go ahead and buy some new tires for the stock 18's and wait a little longer on the larger /summer set.
So in July I shopped around for some sport/all season tires for my 18s and ended up goin to Merchants tire in Bel Air to buy the identical Michelins.
Bought em July 15 and within two weeks TPMS was throwing a low tire pressure code. I aired em back up at a gas station and kept going and sure enough about 5 days later was getting a TPMS code. I let it go with this cycle for about a month just filling em back up when TPMS threw a code until one day it was raining and I was filling the air and i noticed bubbles around the air stem then realized that the stem still had polishing compound on them from me doing my rims.
I finally took the car back to them in Sept and complained that they never changed the valve stems and that they were leaking. (no wonder they advertise not charging for mounting and balancing) They inspected the two tires, couldn't find a leak in one, replaced the valve stem in the other. I was back the next month complaining that one tire was still leaking and that they had not replaced the other three valve stems.
Two weeks ago I was back because the front right was low and throwing a TPMS code again. They took it apart and told me that my rim was dented and that my TPMS sensor was rattling around inside the tire and the band had broken.
I told them to put it back together good enough to hold me until I could buy some new rims. They put a new band on and since the sensor bracket was broken as well they kind of mickey moused the bracket with some double stick tape and some black electrical tape. Since it now appeard as if I had hit some road hazard and it was my fault that was the best I could get. They put a bunch of bead seal on the rim and closed it back up. I hoped it would hold. That was 10 days ago.
Yesterday in the snow TPMS threw a low pressure code and I pulled over at a gas station to air it up and check to see how bad the leak was. I threw my pressure gauge on the Right front expecting to see PSI in the 20s and hoping not to see something in the teens or lower...it read 33PSI. The bead seal held just fine.
So I checked the other three looking to find the low one. Answer 28psi, 26psi and 22psi all three were low and the 22 was just the first to get below the 25psi threshold that throws the code.

So what now...take it back to them again and try and convince them to do a proper bead seal on the other 3 tires?
Take it to another shop who will do it properly and let them charge me to fix Merchant's tire's shoddy work?

Anyway I'm really just ranting to get this off my chest and I'm sure you guys probably wouldn't buy from them to begin with, but I did and am sorry I ever went there.

sorry to hear this!

I have never had to use bead seal on new tires before. I worked at a place called Les Schwab tires in oregon. Thats why i like doin crap myself. Why didnt you use Fort Mead Skills center?

chrisverneuil wrote: Thats why i like doin crap myself. Why didnt you use Fort Mead Skills center?

I don't really use Fort Meade for much of anything because I live in Edgewood.
Does anyone know if Aberdeen Proving Grounds has an Auto Skills Center? Thats closer to my house and I could use the heck out of that.

Edit:
also I've never actually busted tires before. pulled a trans yes but mounted and balanced a tire ..no.

They should. Majority of military bases of auto shills centers or a hobby shop. Should be able to find out by going on line.

Did you happen to take notice of the TPMS sensors on the rim before the new tire was installed? The sensors have to be placed on the opposite side of the stem on the rim. jmo, your second mistake was getting the michelins, not a fan of the brand.

Poor choices. If you have to pay to get the work done, it is totally worth the extra cost to go to someone trusted in order to avoid such headaches.
Sorry, bro.
I enjoy a good fight so go back to Merchant's and make them fix it.

fix your broken sensor/s and in extreme cold temps like we are having air is more suseptable to expansion and contraction which is why alot of the new cars with tpms are urged to use nitrogen to avoid frequent tpms lights on, seen alot of it lately as the temps keep dropping, but first make sure no leaks are present before persuing this venue, you can check for leaks with a spray bottlefilled with soapy watter

ThunderSteed wrote:Did you happen to take notice of the TPMS sensors on the rim before the new tire was installed? The sensors have to be placed on the opposite side of the stem on the rim.

I didn't. mostly because I wasn't in the bay when they put it back together. You think they would know that?
I didn't.

ThunderSteed wrote: jmo, your second mistake was getting the michelins, not a fan of the brand.

Uh... I noticed that I mis-stated the tires they're BFG G-force KDWS 235/50ZR.. not the point but correcting my mistake. As you can tell by my mistake I didnt put a lot of research into buying the tires...just replaced with duplicates of the ones that were on it. I was more focused on what I wanted for new rims/tires.

I like my BFG's for daily driving. I had to replace one of my monitor straps once after a mishap (unfortunately my fault), their not that expensive from Ford. I would definitely make Merchants eat this one, G/L!

Man, I am so sorry you have had to deal with this...that sucks.

05RedDevil wrote:Poor choices. If you have to pay to get the work done, it is totally worth the extra cost to go to someone trusted in order to avoid such headaches.
Sorry, bro.
I enjoy a good fight so go back to Merchant's and make them fix it.

Gotta go along w/ Mike on this one.