Great Deal!! (Tire Rotation) (Vehicles - Cars & Trucks)

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

We needed to do some maintenance on the car but weren't looking forward to doing it in the driveway with 20 degree temperatures. DH called around to get prices and found a great deal. Sears will do tire rotation for NOTHING!! He asked how they could do that and they said it was just a service they offered their customers. The tires did not even have to be purchased there! I was a bit skeptical but took the car in this morning and had the tires rotated and didn't even get a sales pitch for more service. Can't beat it with a stick!! The best deal we found for an oil change was Wal-Mart for $15.88 (no name oil was even cheaper). Good way to start a frugal year!

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), January 02, 2002

Answers

Response to Great Deal!!

I still would have done it myself (20 degrees sounds like a heat wave to me!) By the time it would have taken me to drive to Sears (or Wal-Mart) and sit in their waiting room and then drive back home, I could have done the job myself (instead of some pimply-faced teenager). Besides, rotating the tires gives me a chance to check for tire wear, suspension system and the brakes. And doing my own oil change gives me a chance to check under the hood and underneath the truck for any viusal problems. --Happy trails, CF

-- Cabin Fever (Cabin_fever@yahoo.com), January 02, 2002.

Response to Great Deal!!

Yep, I have always used Wally World to change the oil in my 1994 Toyota pickup, after wrestling with the most difficult to remove oil filter on the booger the first time I attempted to do it myself, I resolved it wasn't worth the heart attack the stress of fighting the thing was worth!!!

So, on my monthly jaunts to stock up at Wally World, if it's time for an oil change, the deed gets done before I am even finished shopping. Get all my tires there too, can't beat their prices anywhere, and their Cooper brand cheap tires outlasted the name brand warrantied tires that cost almost twice as much. Our gravel roads really eat up tires, have gone through four sets of tires so far, and it only has 90,000 miles on it.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 02, 2002.


Response to Great Deal!!

Went to Wally World for an oil change once . . . . never again!!! Took forever!!! There were very few cars and the attendants AND manager stood around yakking awhile and when we'd come back to check on it . . . they were still standing around.

After they finally GOT to our car we waited for them to finish. Saw a cluster of mechanics standing around shaking their heads at our car. Went to see why (as they had already backed the car out) and they told me that it would not shut off. Yup. . . car would NOT shut off. They had broken the ignition switch and of course didn't sell ignition switches at Walmart and the mechanic who had actually done the work (and broke the switch) offered to have one delivered from another car parts place if we would pay for the part and he would install it free as he broke it. We agreed. His manager vetoed it and told him in no uncertain terms that they would NOT do any further work on our car.

While discussing this problem one of the mechanics suggested that they pull the fuse to "kill the engine" which they did. Then the car would not start!!!! No how, no way. So now we were stranded across a large city from our house, there was no public transportation, no taxi-cabs and no-one in the shop was allowed (again by order of the manager) to take time to drive us home. We had made purchases inside Walmart and had to load these into the car, push the car into a parking spot and then walk home to see if our neighbor would drive us back to the car to get the items from the vehicle.

Of course, the neighbor wasn't home. We ended up hiring a tow truck to go get the car from Walmart and tow it across town at great expense for what seemed like a great deal on an oil-change at the time.

NO THANKS . . . hubby can change our oil at home from now on!!!!

-- wolfie (wolfiequinn@hotmail.com), January 02, 2002.


Response to Great Deal!!

Wolfie - I guess we must have one of the good Wal-Marts. My car was ready in less than 15 minutes. I asked if they were normally this slow (8:30 AM)and she said they were usually slow after the holidays. One place I will never take a car to again is Firestone. My car had been hit and had the whole front end replaced. I went to Firestone less than a month later for a state inspection and they said the lights were out of alignment and they wanted $20 to fix. Took the car back to the body shop, they turned a screw about a 1/4 turn and fixed it! Firestone are sheisters!

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), January 02, 2002.

Response to Great Deal!!

Wolfie, I would have called the sheriff, in order to get a report, and file a claim for damages against their insurance Company.

Any service that can be done by the owner, is a bargain. I have suffered over tightened nuts on rims and oil pans, spark plug wires left unconected until I figured ourt there was a problem, not to mention stolen change and other items.

This year I was correctly informed that the oil filter on my 1991 and 1992 Honda civics can be removed from the top, so they don't have to be up on ramps.

Cabin Fever is right though, you miss out on a great view of the underside of the car changing filters like this

-- Rick (Rick_122@hotmail.com), January 02, 2002.



Response to Great Deal!!

Wolfie, i would think Wal Mart should be held liable for breaking part of your car and refusing to replace or reimburse you the money required to get it fixed. they were responsible for the damage. Why don't you write/fax a letter of complaint to the mgr or higher up and pursue it?

Wal Mart is not high on my respect list (their auto dept either). I've written a letter of complaint on a tire that was damaged in the process of patching a hole. it was damaged beyond a dependable repair job. In my letter, i requested a brand new tire ...and i got one.

-- Buk Buk (bukabuk@hotmail.com), January 02, 2002.


Response to Great Deal!!

Never take your car to wally world. We took our van their several times in a row for oil changes and then the last time we took it they wouldn't change the oil for us. They said that whoever changed the oil the last time cross threaded the oil plug back in and that they wouldn't remove it cause they didn't want the responsibility of creating a major oil leak at the plug site. The dumb asses were the ones who changed the oil the last time! I took the issue up with the manager and all he said was that they were sorry and offered me a free oil change the next time. I asked him if he thought I had "stupid" written all over my face and told him they would never receive my vehicles again.

I went down to the auto parts store and bought a self tapping oversized plug for about $5.00 and replaced it myself. Since then I have gone back to changing the oil myself.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), January 02, 2002.


Response to Great Deal!!

Sorry I mentioned Wal-Mart. For those who have had problems, I would have definitly followed up with higher management. I have gotten lots of gift certificates and free products by sending letters out when I have gotten a bad product or service - most recently a $50 restaurant gift certificate. BTW, this was the first time in 11 years of marriage that my DH has not changed the oil himself. He is currently working a full time job and spending his evenings and weekends restoring the woodwork in one of the rooms of our 90+ year old home. I will gladly pay an extra $6 to have someone else change the oil in order to get that room done! Isn't anyone interested in the free tire rotation at Sears?

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), January 03, 2002.

Response to Great Deal!!

Out west (and maybe back east by now), Les Schwabb Tire Co. will REPAIR your flat tires for free, even if they didn't sell you the tires. (They count on their good will to help you decide to buy from them someday. It must work!) That's what I call a good deal! Plus, since they specialize in tires, you can get in and out fast. I recommend them, if you've got a location nearby (oh, and a flat to fix!)

-- sheepish (WA) (the_original_sheepish@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

Since the Wally supercenter opened here last winter, the local tire dealers all do rotations at n/c and now have the cheapest oil changes.

We do three diesel trucks on a monthly basis...oil changes & rotations and every other month a fuel separator change. Saves us at least $200, by doing it ourselves and we don't buy bulk oil. Shell Rotella-T 15W40 lasts the longest (Delo-#2) in severe service Pennzoil doesn't hold a candle to it.

-- matt johnson (wyo_cowboy_us@yahoo.com), January 07, 2002.



Moderation questions? read the FAQ