I was amazed today at the service I got when I went to get some new all season tires for the R.

This morning, I called up C&F Tires in Trenton to see about getting some Falken Ziex 512's as a general all season tire. They didnt have any in stock. I didn't expect them to, I figured I would have to order them; which I did. I was then surprised when they told me they would have them in 30min to an hour. Sure enough, and hour later they had the tires.

The next thing that surprised me was the price. The price they gave me was about average from other tire shops in the area. Then I asked about mounting, valve stem, and balancing. They said "that's included in the price." I was quite impressed. All of the other shops around here charge an additional $15-$25 for that.

So I went for the deal and drove the R there on my brake dust encrusted CW wheels. And when I say encrusted, I mean hawk hp+ dust caked on so bad no store brand wheel cleaner could remove it, or claybar. They promptly pulled my car into the shop and began work.

I waited what seemed quite a long time to have news tires put on. Finally my car was about done. I walked up to the front desk and paid. Then the guy says "Your car will be done in just a minute. They are just finishing up cleaning the wheels. We can't let a type-r leave here with wheels looking like that."

I was really shocked. They did what I thought was impossible. I thought my wheels were going to have to be refinished again. It took them an hour to do it, and it was at no charge! They aren't perfect, but I would say they got 95% or more off. I wish I had a picture of just how bad they were, but I don't. Lets just say the area between all the spokes and the sides of the spokes were 100% black. Here is what I got back:



It's actually cleaner than that, but it was raining on the way home. Regardless, I am quite impressed. I have never been to a tire shop that takes care of their customers so well. C&F Tire =

 

nice...do you know what cleaner they used?

 

That's awesome. I love shops that go that extra mile for their customers

I think it's funny that some companies don't realize how important "repeat" business is.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by white rocket &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That's awesome. I love shops that go that extra mile for their customers

I think it's funny that some companies don't realize how important "repeat" business is. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Sounds like you had a great experience.

On the side note. I promise you those tires will start to feather. Regardless of the care you put into the tires, they will feather. You will start to hear alot of road noise regardless the speed.

They are notorious for doing that. After 4 months of use of those tires. Take it back to them and have them inspect them. If they knew anything about tires they will either admit they are feathered and blame the user or they will flat out lie to you and say they arent feathered.

Ive sold only a handful of sets of those tires only to get them back in return, warranty.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by migs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">On the side note. I promise you those tires will start to feather. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Odd. I had the Ziex ZE502 (completely different tire, I agree), and while they kinda sucked *** for a summer tire, they didn't have any real issues like this.

Oh well, that's what the loud catback is for. Road noise be damned.

Chris, hasn't seen customer service like that in a while.

 

I've known quite a few people with that tire, and feathering was never an issue. I guess we will see though.

As for road noise.. I would never notice over the spoon n1.

 

Real glad you found some good service, Brad. On a side note I should let peeps in the DC area know that good tire service and prices can be had at Radial Tire Company in Brookville, Md. I've never seen them clean wheels like that, but they are very good on the rest.

 

glad to see you had a good experience brad. Thats hard to find in many company's nowadays

 

Good stuff. Glad there are still good shops like that around. Hopefully when I get my tires on this week, I'll have the same result.

 

This is in Trenton, NJ? Shocking!

 

man, that sounds like a great shop

I take my car to a discount tire store, they do a pretty good job most times, except the last time I went to get my new tires rotated, they didnt rotate the drivers side tires.. Good thing I always look at my tires for wear each time I get out of my car

 

That's awesome.

Remind me of my bike mechanic days in college. I someone came in with a cool high-end bike that needed parts/tuning and it was a little scuffed up, I'd hit it with a little cleaner or WD40 to polish it up a little bit.

A clean car/bike always seems to treat you better.

 

Noice!

 

I'm on my third set of Ziex 512's, on two different cars. The ITR as scrub tyres and on my daily driver EP3. I have used 205-50-15 and 225-40-16.

Never had the first issue with unusual wear. The 225-40-16 currently on the EP3 have over 30,000 miles on them.

Noise is relative and subjective. Compared to RT215, the Ziex 512 are damned quiet.

Considering that the 205's are usually under $50/ea, I also have no problem with the dry, warm weather handling. I dunno. I think they're pretty good for the money.

 

I don't know if anyone noticed/knew, but it seems Discount Tire has finally changed their policies. They now seem to match Discount Tire Direct prices, plus $10 for each tire to be mounted and balanced. Previously they used to say "our price includes everything" making it hard to figure out what the true costs were. It made my tire purchase experience much easier.

 

Not to totally jack the thread, but what do you guys pay to get four tires on & off the stock wheels with balancing? Whether it be Azenis or Hoosiers or whatever brand/type.

I pay $40 cash to a local shop that I have pretty good rapport with here in Raleigh.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Utilitarian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Not to totally jack the thread, but what do you guys pay to get four tires on & off the stock wheels with balancing? Whether it be Azenis or Hoosiers or whatever brand/type.

I pay $40 cash to a local shop that I have pretty good rapport with here in Raleigh.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I don't usually pay anything.

BTW, what kind of calipers are in the pic?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by machgo5go &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This is in Trenton, NJ? Shocking!</TD></TR></TABLE>thinking the same thing....i would be very careful with your type r, keep an extra eye on it for a while. it almost seems as if they were TOO nice to you. (its sad that i actaully said that, but dam, in today's world, nice people and good service just does not happen all that often anymore)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Utilitarian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what do you guys pay to get four tires on & off the stock wheels with balancing? Whether it be Azenis or Hoosiers or whatever brand/type.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Having initiated several surveys on the topic, I've found that most shops charge $10-20 per tire ($40-80 for a set of four) for mounting and balancing.

A few folks do it themselves or have friends who charge them less, and a few shops (all of which are apparently located close to my home ) charge more, but almost all seem to be in that $10-20 range.

You can look up mounting and balancing charges for shops that are recommended installers for the Tire Rack on their website.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Utilitarian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I pay $40 cash to a local shop that I have pretty good rapport with here in Raleigh.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Theres a local place by me that I always use called American Cycle & Tire that always charges me a different amount but its always really cheap. I make things easy for them and come on a different set of wheels and bring them the rims and tires and just tell them to mount and balance. This way they don't have to put the car on a lift and take the wheels off etc. I've done this maybe 4 or 5 times and they charge anywhere from $25 to $35 for all 4

 

Armor all wheel cleaner does that

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MugenHonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Armor all wheel cleaner does that
</TD></TR></TABLE>

No way! What is it made of?

 

I take mine down to the local honda dealer my brother used to work at and have them do it for nothing. Although there's usually an incentive for them. May I say Wesley Pipe's.

 

It's nice to find shops like that.