Turanzas are GONE, finally!
06-11-2005, 09:45 PM
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Turanzas are GONE, finally!
-cost me $64. for (4) Bridgestone SE03 Pole Positions in 245/45x17. here's the saga...
i had the dealer balance (3 rotations) my original Turanzas 5 times in 14k miles. not once did the dealer tech(s) manage to get 2 tires set at the same pressure, even tho' i made a point of setting tire pressure in the early am before leaving the car...you'd think that w/ a "problem car/customer" they'd try to get this right...i got more than a little pissed w/ them charging me $35.00 to rotate when Acura was picking up the tab for them to try to balance...i would have been happy to pay this if i had gotten a good balance and someone had bothered to set my tire pressures correctly...let's not even worry about the metal valve stem caps they kept leaving off; i have a box of them from my racing days.
balancing was a joke. it looked like someone would just add more weights each time. after one balance i had more than 90grams in 3 different places around the wheel, all in the same vertical balance plane.
some 5-6 weeks ago the factory rep drove my car and reported "all hi-performance tires flatspot, some just more than others". he then reported that he detected no vibrations at all from my vehicle, BUT would replace the tires and wheels as a goodwill gesture. i guess i had extra special Turanzas that didn't vibrate like "all hi-performance tires", and thats why he spent all that money on me????
the svc mngr (w/ the rep on the phone) suggested i just "swing by" to have them installed (he would mount/balance them ahead of time). i made 3 attempts to "swing by" and had a service advisor insist that it would take an hour or more to mount these and suggested i leave the car. i eventually had to make an appt., even tho' i suggested that she speak w/ her boss as he stated he could put tires on while i wait. i suggested that if they were pre-mounted i could come by w/ 2 of my floor jacks, a battery powered impact gun and my torque wrench and have the wheels on before she finished w/ my paperwork. no way- had to leave the car.
so. i pick up my new wheels and new TURANZAS (yes, they put the sh*t tires on the car instead of the Michelins even after i suggested they were spending good money on a bad product). i hit 2nd gear and the passenger side headrest catches my eye as it's vibrating so hard. i get up to hiway speed (85+) and the car is pulling hard to the right (and vibrating like a plane about to crash)! i didn't need an alignment before the new tires/wheels, but apparently need one now! i'm incredibly upset at this point, and the svc dept is (as usual) closed, so i continue to drive home. i check tire presures and find (for the first time ever) that 2 of my new tires have the same pressure: both right side tires are at 27psi. the l/fr is @38 and l/rr is @ 33.5. NICE! way to provide superb customer service! at least i didn't have to align it....
the following monday i stop by the local Firestone franchise and explain what's happened. he asks for my receipt. he recommends the SE03 tires and orders them in for wednesday. i drop the car and pay for mounting/balancing -$64.00.
thanks to whomever it was that suggested this in their previous post. apparently Bridgestone has a 30-day drive guarantee. they will charge you to mount/balance and put you into a different Bridgestone (you pay any retail difference in tire price) to keep you as a customer. it does not apply to OE tires. mine were not OE tho'; they were OE replacements so Bridgestone replaced them to keep me hapy.
the TL's a nice vehicle. i still get a small vibration that seems to come and go, but it's miniscule compared to the previous year of torture.
thnx for the rant-
i had the dealer balance (3 rotations) my original Turanzas 5 times in 14k miles. not once did the dealer tech(s) manage to get 2 tires set at the same pressure, even tho' i made a point of setting tire pressure in the early am before leaving the car...you'd think that w/ a "problem car/customer" they'd try to get this right...i got more than a little pissed w/ them charging me $35.00 to rotate when Acura was picking up the tab for them to try to balance...i would have been happy to pay this if i had gotten a good balance and someone had bothered to set my tire pressures correctly...let's not even worry about the metal valve stem caps they kept leaving off; i have a box of them from my racing days.
balancing was a joke. it looked like someone would just add more weights each time. after one balance i had more than 90grams in 3 different places around the wheel, all in the same vertical balance plane.
some 5-6 weeks ago the factory rep drove my car and reported "all hi-performance tires flatspot, some just more than others". he then reported that he detected no vibrations at all from my vehicle, BUT would replace the tires and wheels as a goodwill gesture. i guess i had extra special Turanzas that didn't vibrate like "all hi-performance tires", and thats why he spent all that money on me????
the svc mngr (w/ the rep on the phone) suggested i just "swing by" to have them installed (he would mount/balance them ahead of time). i made 3 attempts to "swing by" and had a service advisor insist that it would take an hour or more to mount these and suggested i leave the car. i eventually had to make an appt., even tho' i suggested that she speak w/ her boss as he stated he could put tires on while i wait. i suggested that if they were pre-mounted i could come by w/ 2 of my floor jacks, a battery powered impact gun and my torque wrench and have the wheels on before she finished w/ my paperwork. no way- had to leave the car.
so. i pick up my new wheels and new TURANZAS (yes, they put the sh*t tires on the car instead of the Michelins even after i suggested they were spending good money on a bad product). i hit 2nd gear and the passenger side headrest catches my eye as it's vibrating so hard. i get up to hiway speed (85+) and the car is pulling hard to the right (and vibrating like a plane about to crash)! i didn't need an alignment before the new tires/wheels, but apparently need one now! i'm incredibly upset at this point, and the svc dept is (as usual) closed, so i continue to drive home. i check tire presures and find (for the first time ever) that 2 of my new tires have the same pressure: both right side tires are at 27psi. the l/fr is @38 and l/rr is @ 33.5. NICE! way to provide superb customer service! at least i didn't have to align it....
the following monday i stop by the local Firestone franchise and explain what's happened. he asks for my receipt. he recommends the SE03 tires and orders them in for wednesday. i drop the car and pay for mounting/balancing -$64.00.
thanks to whomever it was that suggested this in their previous post. apparently Bridgestone has a 30-day drive guarantee. they will charge you to mount/balance and put you into a different Bridgestone (you pay any retail difference in tire price) to keep you as a customer. it does not apply to OE tires. mine were not OE tho'; they were OE replacements so Bridgestone replaced them to keep me hapy.
the TL's a nice vehicle. i still get a small vibration that seems to come and go, but it's miniscule compared to the previous year of torture.
thnx for the rant-
06-12-2005, 07:20 PM
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Originally Posted by mbwmn
-cost me $64. for (4) Bridgestone SE03 Pole Positions in 245/45x17. here's the saga...
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