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Post by alf on Jul 5, 2024 15:46:45 GMT
Cheers. It has a new tyre on it now - the wheel/tyre warranty people - GardX - people seemed fairly relaxed (I hadn't done the litany of checks at my purchasing dealer that you're supposed to do). So I ordered a Bridgestone Potenza Sport, two of which I was thinking of fitting at my cost anyway. The GY Asym 5's were too light-feeling on that car on the front (it has GY Supersports on the rear). This way one is paid for, the other I can get reduced from work.
However........... the wheel is slightly buckled. It felt perfect on the M4 coming back last night (I'm a two hands on the wheel sort of guy, and usually notice everything) - if its not feeling unbalanced on the motorway then I think I'll leave that until the winters are back on. A place in Basingstoke can press them out true again.
Also the warranty company for the fuel pump, are now annoyed I didn't call them again for authorisation for the work. The garage refused to call them/seek payment from them, now the warranty company are saying I should have called again myself as even if that was the case I could have got authorisation - for myself - before proceeding. I thought that's what the original conversation was about...
Cars eh!!!
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Post by Martin on Jul 9, 2024 9:39:18 GMT
Snap!
I hit a pothole in the rain last week, hard enough for me to have the tyre pressures on the main screen for a while. Checked the tyres as best I could when I got home and all seemed OK. I thought it felt a little ‘unsettled’, but assumed it was me feeling things that weren’t there. It felt worse over 65mph the following day, so something definitely not right. I took it into Tyres Northampton this morning as they’ve got a great reputation (Harry M used to take his Zonda there, it’s a Pirelli Performance Centre etc) and so far it’s well deserved, they are very good and it’s even a nice place to wait.
The bad news is I have two buckled wheels, the good news is I won’t have to spend over £3k on new ones as it’s only slight / repairable and the almost brand new tyres are OK. I asked them to check the alignment as the old tyres had worn on the inside and the fronts need adjusting, which they say will have increased the wear on the inside of the tyres. The cost for front wheel alignment…£49.95, Porsche wanted something like £400 for a 4 wheel alignment iirc. I don’t know what the cost for checking / the wheels, rebalancing etc will be, but it’s a lot less than I feared so will be whatever it is.
Only slight problem is they can’t get it all done until 4pm. Thankfully they are only a few miles from Head Office so I’ll get a Taxi.
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Post by Martin on Jul 9, 2024 14:54:52 GMT
All done and excellent service plus they’ve properly cleaned off the old weights and the wheels aren’t the usual post tyre change mess.
Total cost of £290…. £200 to repair 2 wheels, £40 to re-balance them and £50 for the alignment. The front toe was -0.4 degrees when it should have been between 10-20. I have no idea if that’s much of a difference / worth £50 to sort out, but I’d rather it was right.
It shouldn’t be a rarity to feel like you’ve had great service but unfortunately it is. I’ll definitely be calling them then next time I need new tyres.
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Post by Tim on Jul 9, 2024 15:10:02 GMT
That sounds like excellent service and doesn't appear that they've ripped you off given what you turned up in.
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Post by alf on Jul 10, 2024 8:17:49 GMT
That does sound good! Presumably they pressed the wheel out to be round again, not sure if they need to take the tyre off, it all sounds cheaper and faster than expected. Great service indeed!
I've only ever had this done as part of a refurb so hadn't really thought about my NS front until the next time winters are on. It balances out fine I might take it off and see if I can see anything. I've had wheels before where you could see a slight flattening of the curve on the inside edge, but with a tyre on and balanced, you would never know. Mine feels totally fine on the motorway now, I'll order a Potenza Sport for the other side to match up the fronts through work. I wanted those fronts changed anyway, this way I (hopefully) only pay for one...
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Post by Martin on Jul 10, 2024 8:26:04 GMT
I'm not 100% sure....but it's sorted! I wasn't 100% convinced all was well when I drove through Northampton, but soon realised they had inflated all 4 tyres to the standard pressures and I'd been using the comfort pressures then it was fine on the dual carriageway. I was going to increase them to that next week anyway, as we're off to France for a long weekend, we won't be taking a lot of weight but as that's half way between comfort and full load it made sense.
Not tempted to order new rears at the same time and have a matching set? It's a costly exercise needing to have a full matching set, but with your discount it shouldn't be so painful? I've got rid of perfectly good tyres twice in the last 2 years, although that's not strictly true as I have 2 x 22" tyres in the garage with just over 4mm of tread as it made sense to keep spares rather than dispose of them. I should find someone to give them to...
I'm going to offer my Mk7 Golf SE driving neighbour the 18" winter wheels / CC tyres, they could do with a refurb so not worth a huge amount and it's good to be in credit with a decent neighbour.
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Post by alf on Jul 10, 2024 8:39:44 GMT
I'm tempted, but with the Alfa having cost more than £1 per mile in servicing/repairs so far, the Porsche needing rear tyres and some front suspension parts (the NSF sounds dreadful over low speed bumps), and the money wasted on the Scotland "trip" I think I'll leave it/nuke them! The Supersports on the rear are an equivalent tyre to the Potenza Sports (they even look more similar with big sidewall protectors). The Asym 5's on the front lacked any weight in the steeting, a modern car issue, the Potenza is the best for that, and much better in the wet.
I'm WFH today so might take the wheel off for a look... A refurb place in Basingstoke straightens them, but they don't do the tyres on site themselves if they need to come off - you did very well getting that all done in one hit so fast!
Bloody potholes.... I've never had damage from one before, despite a few hits where I could not believe the tyre made it. A week ago I hit one on my best road bike, with the deep section carbon wheels on it as I have a Tri this weekend and was training for it. It punctured, but also I noticed at the weekend has cracked the rim of a wheel that's about £500.......... It will hopefully be fine as its a tiny crack, but still.....
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Post by Martin on Jul 10, 2024 8:55:39 GMT
Yes, really lucky they could do it quickly, especially as their own wheel straightening machine wasn't working. It's the first time I've had any damage from a pothole as well, the roads are getting worse for sure. I zig zagged all the way home yesterday, even more than usual!  |
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