Experts? Maybe Not!

I got my driver’s license in September 2019. I was driving my 2009 Subaru for a while and my Dad decided he should put studded snow tires on my car. In November 2019 he took my car to a tire place in Augusta. Four winter studded snow tires are expensive and in addition, my Dad got the road hazard warranty with the tires. Approximately, two weeks after he put the new tires on my car, the low-pressure indicator light came on in my car. I immediately pulled over to the side of the road and called my Dad. I asked why that light would come on now. He asked me to get out of the car and look at the tires which I did. I told him the tires looked alright to me so I continued to school. When I got home that night, my Dad checked the tire pressure in the four times. The air pressure in tires is supposed to be 32 or 33 pounds of air. While checking the tires, my Dad discovered two of the tires only had 29 pounds of air in them. Dad put air in the tires and the light went out after he backed the car for approximately 15 feet. I found out that you have to back the car up before the light will go out if the air pressure is at the correct level.

A couple of days later, the light came on again. This time, because we got the road hazard warranty, my Dad and I took the car back to where he got the tires. My Dad told them about the air pressure in the two tires. The tire place jacked the car up and removed the tires from the car. They checked the bead around the rim to ensure it was properly seeded. There was one of the tires that they worked on for a while. The tire technician said he thought the rim was bent. I asked how it could be bent because the other tires did not go flat. The technician did not have an answer. They said they thought they fixed the problem. We were on the road again thinking the problem was fixed by the “experts.”

Well, wouldn’t you know it, a couple of days later, the light came on again. This time I was even more confused as to what was going on. I called my Dad again asking why does the light keep coming on? My Dad was even more upset than I was. That night as soon as I got home, we made another trip to Augusta. This time, a different tire technician looked at the tires. My Dad asked them to make sure there was nothing in the tire, like a nail. The tire technician said he would. The technician checked the air in the two tires that they looked at the last time we were there. He took one of the wheels off and inspected the tire and valve stem. He thought the valve stem was bad, so he replaced it. They did have the car in the garage for what seemed like forever. When we left the garage, the tire pressure gauge was not on, which was a good thing.

This was starting to get old because the air pressure light came on again within a couple of days, We returned to the tire place yet a third time. It felt like they knew us on a personal level at this time because when we walked in, they called up by our first names. Four times in a week and a half was a bit much. This time, we talked with the Manager of the tire place. The Manager ensured us he would get the car in immediately and the problem was fixed prior to us leaving that night. We were there for approximately an hour and a half when the Manager came out and informed us that there was, in fact, a screw in the tire. The Manager said they did not see the screw when they inspected the tire prior to because of the way it was in the tire and the screw was black and blended in with the tire. The Manager said they have been trying to patch the tire, but the plug they put in was not going to work because of the tear in the tire when they took the screw out, so they were going to have to replace the tire. Approximately thirty minutes later we were on the road again.

This was a long process, but I learned that you never settle for a quick fix. My Dad said he had me go with him so I would know what questions to ask. If I had not continued to ask what is happening to the tires then I could have gotten into a car crash. My tire could have popped and I would have gone off the road. He also told me that and if you have paid for something, make sure they honor the warranty and be persistent. Even when you take your car to the experts, sometimes they are in such a rush, they overlook the obvious. I think It feels like sometimes, they just want to get you out of there so they can wait on new paying customers. It is not always about getting in and out quickly, sometimes it costs the company more in the long run. I also learned you can never be too careful when you are talking about your car and safety.

Photo by robmba on Foter.com / CC BY