Sharing Bad TireRack Experience

[lou m]

I'm sure I'm like many of you who spend quite a bit of money annually on tires, brakes, shocks, etc. I recently purchased 4 new tires for my wife's Mini Cooper S. Since one of our ASA silver wheels was bent, I figured I'd spring for a new wheel too.

I piled the order in the car and dropped it off at the tire shop. When we got home (3 miles), I noticed that the new wheel was not silver like the other 4 I have, nor the online picture. It was a light gray, definitely not matching the others.

I called Tirerack, I sent them pictures, they are willing to credit me $40. on my $136. wheel purchase. I did mention how much I have spent with them over the years, but they really didn't care.

My expectation (and I told them this to make it easy) was to return the mounted wheel/tire to them, have them deal with ASA on the defective color, and send me a new wheel with my "used" tire mounted on it. No dice. The wheel was now used and they wouldn't budge.

My family and friends buy tires from Tirerack on my recommendation. No more. There are other places to go where customer service and customer loyalty counts for something. Call around next time you make a purchase. If Tirerack thinks they are the only game in town/online they really don't have to give good customer service and resolve customer issues.

See you all Saturday!

Lou Milinazzo
02 Camaro
86 Shelby GLHS

[lou m]

Update: I did send Tirerack a link to this post. They replied that they could up the credit to me from $40 to $68, 50% of the cost of the wheel to keep it. So there it is, not quite matched color on the right side wheels. Since the tires are directional those wheels will always be on the passenger side and out of sight while entering the car.......

[djsteviec]

Discounttiredirect.com (Tires.com) depending on how they make you buy, has awesome customer service! Always very happy with them, but they don't carry Hoosiers.

[ED9man]

I'd be blaming the tire shop instead for not bringing it to your attention before mounting the tire on that wheel.

[lou m]

That is a good point. Tirerack had already mounted a tire on the wheel, they just bolted it on. I can blame myself too for not looking at the wheel myself before dropping it off. It never crossed my mind it wouldn't match.

FYI: Hoosier 225/45/15 on the Hoosier ecommerce site are the same price as tirerack.

I have had good luck at discount tire, got some tires for the camaro from them.

[paultg]

I suspect the situation would be much different had you checked before having the wheel/tire bolted to the car.
Curious:
1. did you order the correct color and it doesn't match, or did you order the wrong color?
2. How old are your existing wheels? Like anything with a finish over the years wear/tear and sun exposure changes the finish.

Paul G.

[962porsche]

Mini has 5 wheel colors .
not all are used for the same models of mini's .
NO code Listed just color chips to look at for color matching . used 2003 to 2005 felgen grey met .

code # 144 felgen reflex silver used 05 to 09

code A54 felgen bright silver used 06 to date . most likely your wheels color as it's used on the cooper S

code A65 felgen bright silver steel met .used in 2007 only .

code B04 night fever black met matt finish used 2012 to date .

doing body work I run into wheel color problems allot .
I could tell you who I deal with for replacement wheels and how good they are but all kind of pointless .
tire rack I'm sure really has no control over what color wheels are that you ordered .
when you got the wheels it was up to you to check the style size and color to be sure they are right for the car .
just as my self as a shop owner having to do so if I order a wheel for a customers cars .
most all auto makers offer many different colors for there wheel options .
if you ordered the wheel from mini you would have had to give them your vin number so they could order the proper wheel for the car . sadly this is not a option for reman or aftermarket wheels .
for the reman and aftermarket wheels they are not going to paint them with the low production codes they will only paint them in the popular codes used . so if your wheels are painted in the 144 code that was only used for 4 years but are the same style rims as the A54 code that was used from 2006 to date then you will only get the A54 color .
because places like tire rack and discount tire tend to buy from the same aftermarket wheel makers it a good bet it doesn't matter who you got them from . and once you mount the rims on the car and then drive it no matter how far your screwed .

[joncowen]

I HATE the new tire rack website. Now this...

[TroyV]

TR has fallen out of favor with me because they can't seem to get V710's ever again even though they have enough leverage to make that kind of thing happen. Got stuck with Hankooks because the money was already spent and I was out of time.

[ED9man]

I HATE the new tire rack website. Now this...

The new website is pretty terrible. I wish Tirerack would just release a massive spreadsheet with every wheel they carry with columns for all the relevant specs/colors. I've had to play guessing games trying to figure out what car the wheel I want will fit on, because they don't consider the car I'm putting in on to be an application.

[6PAK72]

Discount Tire Direct +++
great company, great experiences.

Buy your hoosiers from Hoosier East.

[SEISAN]

Have used Hoosier East a couple of times. Easy to deal with and best of all I call early in the morning and have them the next day. They ship from CT and to MA its one day - ground delivery.

BB

[jeffw]

Discount Tire Direct +++
great company, great experiences.

Buy your hoosiers from Hoosier East.

Or better yet, buy them from SMarty when he's at NHMS or Palmer or Thompson in support of a SCCA race. No shipping. No tax if you go to NHMS.

[breakaway500]

The best Hoosier tire option: buy them right from Hoosier! Right now they have "discontinued" tires available...cheap.....not all sizes..BUT..I just scored four new gumbos for the Atom for $440, with free shipping. My kind of tire company.. https://www.hoosiertire.com/index.htm