RANT: Discount Tire 2 new tire mounting policy.

[DemoFly]

My elderly mother hired some idiot handymen to do some work at the house and now she got a nail in her tire right near the sidewall.

Her tires are only 4 years old and 95% tread because she hardly drives at all anymore. Despite this, she was sold a matching pair of new tires to replace her punctured tire and discount tire would not, and will not, put the new tires on the front axle of her FWD car.

https://www.discounttire.com/learn/replacing-2tires

This is a strict policy, for liability I am sure. 70% of her braking, 100% of her acceleration and steering are on the front axle. She was at no risk of fishtailing in a hydroplane with 95% tread. I guess I should consider myself lucky she didn't have a trailer with a matching tire size, because they would have installed them there. Now it's my problem.

 

[methusaleh]

The idiots should be paying for it, not her.

 

[CharBaby]

Yeah, I know!
I believe that every reputable tire store is the same. My buddy had the same thing done at Good/Year.
If this were me, I'd want my old tire back also and then when I got home, I'd also rotate the tires on the
front myself if that was my desire. Others may disagree with me.

 

[DemoFly]

Yeah, I know!
I believe that every reputable tire store is the same. My buddy had the same thing done at Good/Year.
If this were me, I'd want my old tire back also and then when I got home, I'd also rotate the tires on the
front myself if that was my desire. Others may disagree with me.

I'm putting them on the front tomorrow after work. Tempted to borrow a magnet sweeper.

 

[CapriRacer]

I'm putting them on the front tomorrow after work.

If they are within 95%, why are you going to all the trouble of doing a rotation? It's not going to have much effect. Where this makes a difference is when the tire wear is significantly different, front to rear. Michelin did a study and found that anything less than 2/32nds was very close to being the same.

 

[RedSpider]

New tires always go on the rear, regardless if its RWD or FWD. And there are valid reasons for it. You'll search far and wide before you find a shop that will put them on the front.

 

[RooflessVW]

Sounds like you're just mad that someone disagrees with you.

Mark one more. They put the tires where they should have.

 

[Nukeman7]

The real question is why your mother agreed to buy two tires when only one had a puncture. The companion tire that was replaced was not old and had 95% of tread remaining per your description. I don't even think that would cause any issue with an AWD Subaru or Audi, both of which have strict requirements for matching tires.

Sounds like someone at Discount Tire took home a nearly new tire.

 

[D1dad]

I had a tire shop try and tell my that they could only replace 4 tires at a time on an AWD regardless of tread depth. While that’s good in theory, and true if the depth is 32nds apart, it’s false. I had picked up a roofing spike on the outside of a set of primacy’s I had gotten from Sam’s club and I was nowhere close to a Sam’s to take advantage of the included road hazard. The tires only had 11k on them. I plugged the tire with a kit from Walmart and drove to Sam’s. My road leading to town will wear the passenger sides down faster than the driver side, so I had Sam’s put the new tire on the right and within 5k it had matched the other tires. Problem solved.

 

[Astro14]

New tires always go on the rear, regardless if its RWD or FWD. And there are valid reasons for it. You'll search far and wide before you find a shop that will put them on the front.

Yep. That’s been true for a long time.

The tire manufacturers say that’s how you should do it, and the stores make it a policy that new tires go on the rear.

And about every six months, someone starts a thread here on the forum about that policy.

 

[dnewton3]

The thread title is misleading, and the OPs interpretation of the "policy" is not accurate, IMO.

The Discount Tire policy specifically says "... we recommend ...". This is NOT a requirement, but a suggestion.

Further, I don't see anything that states tires shall be bought in pairs as a minimum; the linked statement does not preclude buying a single tire. It may be the "policy" of the franchised location, but it's not the corporate position of DT in the manner you imply, based on the link you provided.

Additionally, if only one tire is truly in need of replacement, and they are trying to force a customer into buying an unneeded product (a second tire), that is VERY likely unlawful:
- from the State point of view, it's called "coercion" and is illegal
- from a federal FTC point of view, it's called "tie in sales" and is not allowed


Many years ago my wife had a tire leak on the Villager; I sent her to Big O. She called me and said we needed to buy a new tire, rather than have it replaced. This can be true; tires which are damaged on the shoulder of the tire carcass often cannot be safely repaired. I'm not the type who just blindly buys a product; I wanted to shop around, and the tires were near the end of lifespan, so buying 4 new ones wasn't out of the question. But that's not a decision I would leave up to my wife on the spot. However, the problem came when they refused to put the tire/wheel back onto the vehicle (the tire was not dismounted from the rim, but the wheel was simply removed from the vehicle for inspection). Then they tried to tell her that she had to buy a tire from them. She called me (while I was on duty; LEO), and I calmly explained to them they were committing a crime ("coercion") by Indiana code, and asked if I needed to come arrest the manager? Obviously, they changed their tune quickly. I said "If you are unable to remount the wheel to the hub, then I have to question your ability to make reasonable decisions and you won't be getting my business any longer." He said "We cannot allow her to drive away like this." Then I said "Option 1; have her sign a waiver. Option 2; put the spare tire on the car and throw the damaged tire in the back of the van." They chose the latter. It was just that simple; put the spare on and let her drive away. Needless to say, I didn't buy the four new tires from them.

The reality is that the OPs mom likely was taken advantage of, but not by official "policy". Rather, it was just unscrupulous behavior.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I had a 2014 Jeep GC and one of the tires was unrepairable. The other tires had only 25,000 miles on them and on the Jeep. I purchased an equal tread depth tire from ebay and it was the same brand and size. The first one I had to send back and the second one was great. I see no sense in wasting money if I can buy a previously owned one somewhere. Sure, you take the risk of getting one that doesn't work as in my case. If you have an extra vehicle or work from home you can wait it out and save hundreds of dollars especially if you have an all wheel drive and have to replace all four. There are race car shops that have a shaving machine too but I didn't want to go that route.

 

[Sayjac]

As noted several times, it's been a DT/AT standard practice for a long time to put two new tires on the rear as tire industry best practice recommended. I 'speculate' she was sold two tires because the DT store didn't have the same exact tire (as punctured) in store stock and wanted them to match. With some discussion, 'perhaps' they might have sold and mounted one tire, but imo two the same preferable. That said, 'if' the store had the same tire(as puncture) in stock, then selling two tires would be out of the norm in my experience.

 

[Astro14]

I agree with everything that was said, except the title, because this is not a “new policy”.

It’s been a recommendation, and a store policy to make that recommendation, for a very long time.

 

[oil pan 4]

I stopped going to discount tire in like 2010.
After I bought 5 Yokohama tires off tire rack, had the local tore shop put them on for less than another guy who bought 4 of the exact same tires and paid more than I did even with discount tires "military discount".

 

[RaymondP]

They'd have a tough time putting new rears on the front of my Beemer as the different (bigger) rear size wouldn't fit on the front. LOL. I always put my own wheels/tire on the vehicle once the tires are mounted, after several bad situations along with stories from others. Also rotate my own regularly.

It's hard to hear people getting taken because they can't do stuff themselves or don't have the knowledge. Have to bite my tongue when visiting service centers and tire outlets. I recognize most don't have the ability or the tools to DIY but happy to step in for all my family members, as well as friends who may ask me.

 

[DemoFly]

Because they are 4, almost 5 year old factory Sinceras. The car is currently in its most dangerous configuration for emergency braking or maneuvering. I understand the forum is ganging up on me but my mothers safety is more important than ego.

If they are within 95%, why are you going to all the trouble of doing a rotation? It's not going to have much effect. Where this makes a difference is when the tire wear is significantly different, front to rear. Michelin did a study and found that anything less than 2/32nds was very close to being the same.

 

[AZjeff]

The real question is why your mother agreed to buy two tires when only one had a puncture.

Maybe the real question is letting elderly mother go to tire store alone?

 

[Pew]

Because they are 4, almost 5 year old factory Sinceras. The car is currently in its most dangerous configuration for emergency braking or maneuvering. I understand the forum is ganging up on me but my mothers safety is more important than ego.

Generally speaking having newer tires on the back reduces oversteer in emergency situations and especially in poor weather conditions. Understeer is much easier to control for most of the driving public because usually all it takes is to let off the throttle to get the car straight again. With oversteer, people tend to panic, smash the brake, and counter steer too much, causing fish tailing and the vehicle direction is harder to judge to other people in the danger zone.

 

[CKN]

My elderly mother hired some idiot handymen to do some work at the house and now she got a nail in her tire right near the sidewall.

Her tires are only 4 years old and 95% tread because she hardly drives at all anymore. Despite this, she was sold a matching pair of new tires to replace her punctured tire and discount tire would not, and will not, put the new tires on the front axle of her FWD car.

https://www.discounttire.com/learn/replacing-2tires

This is a strict policy, for liability I am sure. 70% of her braking, 100% of her acceleration and steering are on the front axle. She was at no risk of fishtailing in a hydroplane with 95% tread. I guess I should consider myself lucky she didn't have a trailer with a matching tire size, because they would have installed them there. Now it's my problem.

So if she hardly drives it doesn't matter where the tires go. And needless to say-probably doesn't do any high speed interstate driving and doesn't drive in inclement weather.
Now-let's bury the dead horse again on a topic that has mentioned this very scenario multiple times-involving Discount Tire.