jagdriver727
Site Donor 2021
I'm spending a few weeks at my place in Tallahassee, and on the way up here I had a noticeable vibration between 60 and 75 mph. It is definitely a tire balance issue.
My CR-V, a spare car which I don't drive much, is sitting on four month old Sumitomo tires with about 900 miles on them. I bought them at Tire Kingdom in Gainesville in May. That being the case, and since I'm a good 200 miles from my shop, I made an appointment at the nearest Tire Kingdom store for a balance and took it in.
First impressions were not good, as the "tech" didn't know he had to hold the clutch to the floor to start the car. Another employee moved the car inside for him. He got it up on the lift, removed the wheels, and then came inside and asked me to come look at something with him.
He proceeded to show me my Honda OE replacement struts with 50k on them, and said they were the source of my vibration. He showed me factory undercoating in the wheel wells and said it was oil spraying from the struts. Total BS but I didn't say anything, just let him keep going. He then said I needed new tie rod ends, and had a leaking valve cover gasket (I had replaced the valve cover gasket two days before, what he was seeing was residual oil on the back of the engine. Cylinder head and valve cover were dry and clean).
When he was done with his spiel, I figured it was a good time to inform him that I, an ASE Master Tech, happened to own a shop in another town and I knew none of those components were bad. When I told him the struts had 50k on them, he said with a straight face "that's the manufacturer's recommended interval on them." He didn't care to argue when I said even if the struts WERE bad, they don't cause that kind of vibration. I told him about the valve cover gasket, and that the tie rod ends and alignment were perfect. I said thank you for "checking it over," but please just balance the tires like I asked and I'll be on my way.
When they were typing up my bill, they gave me an estimate for all the work I supposedly needed.
I laughed out loud at this. I wouldn't have charged a dime over $1200 for the same job, had it actually been needed.
On the way out, the same tech who lied about my car was talking with an older lady in the parking lot. I rolled up next to them, got out, and asked him if he had actually checked my power steering fluid, because if he had he would have found it to still be clear and new as it was flushed 3 days ago.
That guy went silent. The older lady turned around, got in her car and left. Serves them right
My CR-V, a spare car which I don't drive much, is sitting on four month old Sumitomo tires with about 900 miles on them. I bought them at Tire Kingdom in Gainesville in May. That being the case, and since I'm a good 200 miles from my shop, I made an appointment at the nearest Tire Kingdom store for a balance and took it in.
First impressions were not good, as the "tech" didn't know he had to hold the clutch to the floor to start the car. Another employee moved the car inside for him. He got it up on the lift, removed the wheels, and then came inside and asked me to come look at something with him.
He proceeded to show me my Honda OE replacement struts with 50k on them, and said they were the source of my vibration. He showed me factory undercoating in the wheel wells and said it was oil spraying from the struts. Total BS but I didn't say anything, just let him keep going. He then said I needed new tie rod ends, and had a leaking valve cover gasket (I had replaced the valve cover gasket two days before, what he was seeing was residual oil on the back of the engine. Cylinder head and valve cover were dry and clean).
When he was done with his spiel, I figured it was a good time to inform him that I, an ASE Master Tech, happened to own a shop in another town and I knew none of those components were bad. When I told him the struts had 50k on them, he said with a straight face "that's the manufacturer's recommended interval on them." He didn't care to argue when I said even if the struts WERE bad, they don't cause that kind of vibration. I told him about the valve cover gasket, and that the tie rod ends and alignment were perfect. I said thank you for "checking it over," but please just balance the tires like I asked and I'll be on my way.
When they were typing up my bill, they gave me an estimate for all the work I supposedly needed.
I laughed out loud at this. I wouldn't have charged a dime over $1200 for the same job, had it actually been needed.
On the way out, the same tech who lied about my car was talking with an older lady in the parking lot. I rolled up next to them, got out, and asked him if he had actually checked my power steering fluid, because if he had he would have found it to still be clear and new as it was flushed 3 days ago.
That guy went silent. The older lady turned around, got in her car and left. Serves them right