An Ohio man is outraged at a Toyota dealership for telling him he needed a new tire. A second opinion revealed it wasn’t necessary.
TikTok user JC (@redsfan88) posted a video about his experience over the weekend. He explains that he recently purchased a Toyota and received three free oil change coupons in the deal.
“Today I go to get an oil change,” he says. “Well, I get the service report. You’ve got a nail in your tire. It’s not replaceable. We recommend a new tire because it’s too far in the tread in the sidewall.”
The service department if the unidentified dealership purportedly told him it’d cost $200 for a new tire. JC does acknowledge that the Toyota techs told him it might not have punctured the tire, but they couldn’t tell until they took it out.
“I was like, well, I’m not buying a new tire,” JC says. “I’m gonna take it over to one of the mom and pop tire shops by my house over on the west side. I’ve seen this nail in this position before in a tire on past vehicles.”
He ended up going to a place called Zaino’s Tires in Columbus. He says the tech from Zaino’s promised to repair the tire for a cool $35. Except that once he pulled the nail out, the tech realized it was so tiny it hadn’t actually punctured the tire. He wouldn’t even take LC’s money.
“These corporate dealership maintenance shops do not give a [expletive] about your vehicle,” JC says. “All they give a [expletive] about is money coming out of your wallet. Go support honest people when you can.”
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Viewers React to the Toyota Tire Story
In the comments section, viewers both called out and defended the service department in this situation.
“I get your point 100 percent,” wrote one person. “The problem is if it’s near the sidewall, they can’t plug it and they can’t tell if it’s really punctured until they take it out. Really a no-win situation.”
“The dealership pays mechanics pennies and literally forces them to steal from people like that to be able to afford their tool bill next week,” wrote a second person. “Only people with no conscience end up staying, and they usually make most of the money.”
“They are not dealerships, they are ‘stealerships,’” wrote a third viewer.
It’s frustrating, but this scenario does tell us a lot about the design of modern tires. The sidewall of a tire wraps around the entire structure and protects it from wear. If that sidewall is compromised—by a nail or by driving on a flat tire—then the entire structural integrity of the tire is as well. That’s why a dealership tech, who's traditionally got more rules to follow than your local mom and pop shop, might tell you that the tire isn’t salvageable even if they aren’t 100% sure.
Motor1 contacted LC via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We’ll update this if he responds.
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