Wheel Damage - Bridgestone Tyre Centre

[Dave B]

Hi guys,

I got 4 new tyres from a Bridgestone Tyre Centre in Melb. last Wednesday and have been generally happy with them ( RE002's ) however... while washing my car today i noticed this on two of the wheels:





The damage is 2/3 of the way around 1 wheel and 1/2 on the other.

I will be visiting them tomorrow to discuss repair replacement. Pretty disappointed . . .

D

[Bayman]

Hi Dave B, sorry to hear your news of butchers attacking your wheels. Stand your ground and demand it get fixed at no expense to you. Also next time take before and after photos if possible.

I have been subjected to this cowboy act before myself. Generally the fools who did this have not realised most VW alloys need to have the machine setting much higher cause the alloy face is curved outwards hence closer to the pivot where they lever the tyre off and as it moves down slightly under pressure, it can touch the wheel.
In my instance they damaged a Golf wheel so bad it needed a full repair, (costs about $180). Trouble is it takes 3-4 days, spare (or spacesaver) needs to go on, two trips etc , a very annoying and costly job.
Next time shop around and only go to a specialist place that sells top wheels, that way hopefully you get better trained techs doing the job. Also discuss with the manager prior to the task that no wheels be damaged and that they are to take great care. Also in my experience make sure they lift the car on a hoist and use rubber mounts soas to avoid damage to the underbody. I know the manager personally in my case and had to tell him I was pi55ed off. I will not be going back to him. Generally now I am happy to pay more for a better standard of service cause there are a lot of monkeys out there wrecking good wheels.

Bayman

[Dave B]

Hi Dave B, sorry to hear your news of butchers attacking your wheels. Stand your ground and demand it get fixed at no expense to you. Also next time take before and after photos if possible.

I have been subjected to this cowboy act before myself. Generally the fools who did this have not realised most VW alloys need to have the machine setting much higher cause the alloy face is curved outwards hence closer to the pivot where they lever the tyre off and as it moves down slightly under pressure, it can touch the wheel.
In my instance they damaged a Golf wheel so bad it needed a full repair, (costs about $180). Trouble is it takes 3-4 days, spare (or spacesaver) needs to go on, two trips etc , a very annoying and costly job.
Next time shop around and only go to a specialist place that sells top wheels, that way hopefully you get better trained techs doing the job. Also discuss with the manager prior to the task that no wheels be damaged and that they are to take great care. Also in my experience make sure they lift the car on a hoist and use rubber mounts soas to avoid damage to the underbody. I know the manager personally in my case and had to tell him I was pi55ed off. I will not be going back to him. Generally now I am happy to pay more for a better standard of service cause there are a lot of monkeys out there wrecking good wheels.

Bayman

Thanks, thats good advice.

I am also happy to pay extra for better quality accross the board, but seriously, these guys fit tyres for a living. . .

The worst part is that I was there ( working on my computer ) about 25 metres away from my car the whole time - no one said anything!

We'll see what they say tomorrow, but lesson learnt.

D

[Bayman]

We'll see what they say tomorrow, but lesson learnt.

D

Most likely they'll deny doing the damage but all you have to say is (my guess your 2nd set of wheels) they are geniune OEM rims and have never had a tyre off from the factory. You'll be able to see that the scuffs are fresh.
Unfortunately operators get good money and take less care than they should. It is just sloppy work !!
My father in law had a BJTM scratch the face of a Peugeot 406 alloy with a air pressure nut remover - unbelievable! I guess mistakes happen but the B*****ds never own up to it cause the boss will kill them. I was close to my car when it happened again, although so slight and the manager told all the monkeys I was a fussy owner before they started, beware - and they still managed to mark one of 4 wheels. Trouble in my case it was a Good**** T&B place. He put really nice Assymetric F1 Mk2s on my Tiguan but left a bad taste in my mouth and I'll try Tyrepower next time, shop front is covered in performance mags. Mind you I'll get a verbal agreement before they start on how they'll lift the car, and care taken on wheels/tyres being removed. I did this on a nail repair and the guy never marked the tyre at a Higway Tyre place.

Just keep your cool and don't leave until they agree to remove the wheel, have it repaired (properly by a wheel repair specialist!!!) If they totally refuse then get Consumer affairs on to it. Also contact Bridgestone's Head Office. In my case I knew the MD for years so he really had no choice, in your case you'll have to say a long time loyal customer etc. I know in Melb there is a good place that costs around $180 plus to fix and in your case it looks about that much. Good Luck.!

Bayman

[Dave B]

My car is a 2010 118tsi with 42,000 and this is it's first new set of tyres. I wash my car myself every weekend and I know the rim was undamaged last weekend. I even cut my finger while cleaning the wheels today - the burred edges are that sharp. There is no gutter that could do that kind of damage so I hope they take responsibility for it. If not I may have to try my luck with the insurance company...

[Bayman]

I even cut my finger while cleaning the wheels today - the burred edges are that sharp. ...

I had a Telstar that some idiot did the same damage many years ago, yes cut my finger as well. As I said if they are a reputable dealer they should accept the fact, but pity you didn't pick up on the damage before you left the site. Go straight to the manager, make sure he is in when you get there, don't pre warn them though, it will give them time to think up an excuse. To get your wheel fixed means they probably make no profit on your job, hopefully they make the guy who did the job pay out of his pay packet, teach him to do a better job next time eh?

Heck 42,000kms on a set of tyres is not great, what tyres did you have Conti's?.
Also we just have our Golf V in the workshop getting a Tranny rebuilt (under ext warranty TG) so looking to buy a new Golf Wagon, wife wants a 118TSI where as I'm a Diesel man 103TDI, can you tell me if you are happy with the 118TSI? We are used to the 2.0 FSI and a smooth Tiptronic whereas the 118TSI with a DSG will be a totally different experience so I thought the Diesel lag may help smooth the DSG jerkyiness, any comments greatfully appreciated.
Best of luck with your wheels, oh give insurance a miss, it would be cheaper to get the wheels fixed yourself than pay your excess. Update us here on how you go.

Bayman

[Dave B]

It had Brigestone RE50's - To be honest I dont think they had ever been rotated so probably got significantly less out of them than I should have.

I'm totally happy with the 118TSI. It has had a couple of the problems discussed on this forum - clutch pack replaced for dsg shudder - water pump chirp - but all fixed under warranty and with a free hire car so with little inconvenience. I took it on a trip up to Bermagui over NYE, roughly a 1600km round trip with a mate and so much camping gear that our group were calling it the Tardis ( It's Shark Blue also ) It performed admirably.

I really enjoy the DSG and am still surprised by how smooth and powerful the little twincharger is. I have driven a 103 TDI DSG on more than one occasion and find that although the TDI seems quicker from the line, at lights etc., i prefer the revvier drive of the TSI.

Frankly its the best car I have owned. I am only selling it because my lease is up and I have ordered a GTI.

I'll keep you posted on the wheels... maybe my company can pay the excess

D

---------- Post added 27-02-2012 at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous post was 26-02-2012 at 11:52 PM ----------

Update - Spoke to the manager, they accepted responsibility and will fix the damage at no charge. Now I just have to find the time . . . . 3-5 days he reckons.

[walbjj]

3-5 days?? thats total bs, u can get any mobile rim repair guy and he can repair that type of damage in a few hours. seems like they r yanking ur chain

[BottomScratcher]

I don't want to knock mobile rim repairers without having used one, but they are limited to what they can do with the wheel on the car and the tyre still on the wheel. They can only polish gutter rash out, which means removing material from the rim. If the damage is close to the bead of the tyre, as well may be the case when a tyre remover is the cause of the damage, then the damage on the front face of the wheel may get done OK, but from the front face in an arc across to the inside where the bead meets the rim will most likely remain untouched.

In another thread I recommended Magman at Punchbowl. He removes the wheel from the car, and the tyre from the wheel. Then he places the rim in a lathe, which means scratches on literally any part of the wheel inside or out, can be machined out. If there has been material gouged out of the wheel he will replace it by alloy welding and then machining and polishing the new material. Mobile guys can't do that. Also, while the wheel is in the lathe he checks for buckling or out of round. It doesn't take too much contact between a wheel and a gutter to bend the tyre bead seat of the rim inward. It can only be repaired by removing the tyre and hitting it back out.

I know the damage in the photos is most likely cosmetic and non-structural, but when it comes to people working on my car I prefer they have a fully equipped workshop as opposed to a van. And the part that really astounds me is that Magman does gutter rash for about $50 a wheel less than the mobile guys, including repairing any buckling and out of round. I've no interest in the place, but have used him to fully refurbish a set of Walkinshaws, and another set of BBS rims to as new. Mrs BS rashed her then 1 week old Golf VI. About $80 later she was all smiles again. A look around at the wheels waiting to be collected from his workshop is his best advertisement.

[walbjj]

i can agree with u completely with using magman. but i had a set of rims, with similar rash as the pic above, not as long. but similar.
anyway, the guy came, took off the rim and went about his business and i came back later and i couldnt tell the damaged rim from the others.
again, depending on the extent of damage, it depends. u can easily email the pic to them and they will say yes or no. thats what i did.

[MGV]

Good recommendation! Wonder if they have something similar in Melbourne? Anyone know?? I have a bit of a chunk out of one of my VMR rims from one of those cast iron sewer vent-things that poke out of the front yard...