QuestionI sent this Toyota and BBB, tires are dry rotting only 2 and half years old come to find out they were 32 months old before I bought them new....Please help with advice...
To: Central Florida Toyota
11020 S. Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, Florida 32837
From: Scott Grieves
Date: March 20th, 2008
Subject: Old tires sold as new
To whom it may concern:
I am writing this letter in regards to invoice 24600T1R and T1Cs918748-(merchant 031100399)
I have just learned from my certified master mechanic, after fixing my brakes. He noticed they were dry rotting. So after checking the DOT label on 9-16-05 the tires your businesses sold and installed on my vehicle, were not new tires. In fact they are 32 month old tires before the date of purchase. DOT explains tires have a shelf life because of dry rot and age. DOT also recommends never put tires in service if over six years old. Which I am sure your company (Toyota) is aware of, and this could possibly be an oversight on your part.
I ordered and paid for the tires/rims, and had your service department install them. I’m sure they are required to check tires for safety (DOT standards) when mounting and balancing tires. The problem I have is I bought new tires thinking they were new, and then paid your business to install the tires on my vehicle. Which in fact they were old tires and not a new purchase. I feel Central Florida Toyota has taken advantage of me as a customer and has put my life and my family’s life in danger. Not once but twice on the order and on the service install. I have called three times and have not received a call back from management or anyone else on this issue. I have no choice but to take the necessary steps.
Sincerely,
Scott Grieves
AnswerScott,
There are a number of issues here, so let me divide this into sections:
Technical: Cracking is a natural consequence of the aging of rubber. It is to be expected. But you should also be aware that cracking in rubber can also be caused by stress. This makes the issue of cracking in tires a bit problematic.
My experience is that some mechanics are overly sensitive to this cracking - feeling that the only acceptable level is "None". This is not true. Some level is to be expected and it takes some time and some expetise to find that level.
Without looking at the cracks themselves, I can not assess how bad they are or whether the age is the issue or the stress the tire went through is the issue. I am sure the dealer will think the same thing.
One of the questions on the table is the issue of the age of the tire when it was sold to you. It is not uncommon for tire manufacturers and tire distributors to be aware of how old their tires are and to manage their process so that as a tire gets older it's price gets reduced so that it is put into service quicker. Within 3 years of manufacture is considered by the tire industry to be an acceptable level.
So if you got the tires at a good price, this may be the reason. (BTW, you didn't mention the brand of tires and that ought to be an issue as well.)
There are some points which are confusing in your letter:
1) Did the Toyota dealer sell AND install the tires? It sounds like it, but there is a point in the letter that makes it sounds like all they did was install the tires.
In either case, they are a CAR dealer, not a TIRE dealer, and their level of tire expertise may be low. Besides, they rely on their tire distributor to handle these kinds of things. Their view would be that they are merely acting as the retail outlet and if there was nothing wrong with the miounting or balancing of the tire, then they don't feel a sense of responsibility for anything else.
2) I assume you haven't gone back to the dealer in person. So we don't know what they may or may not do to handle the situation. Normal business practice is to give the business the opportunity to "fix" the problem - and in this case it is common practice to show the business the problem in person, just the way you handled the tires the first time around. The BBB is going to note that and they are not going to be sympathetic if the dealership hasn't seen the tires.
3) I'm sorry to tell you this, but your letter is a bit disjointed and hard to follow. It isn't clear what you expect to happen, plus the letter leaves me with the impression that it is written by someone who is going to be difficult to deal with - and difficult in the sense that there will not be a clear logical progression of events - difficult in the sense that your expectations are out of line with what has actually happened - which is that someone found some cracks. The "lives in danger" is a bit over the top.
The fact that the dealership hasn't returned your phone calls is a reason to escalate, but this needs to be done in steps. Which brings me to the next point:
Tactics: Here's the proper order to deal with this.
Return to the dealership, explain your situation and ask for an adjustment. The dealer should examine the tires and decide whether or not they qualify for an adjustment. You should be prepared to hear that the tires aren't that bad and don't qualify for adjustment. You should also be prepared to hear that the tires have been subjected to high levels of stress (they might use the term abuse).
If that happens, don't get angry - get another opinion. It is possible your mechanic was wrong. The best place to get a good opinion is from someone you deals with tires a lot - a tire dealer. To find one that handles the brand you have, you should call tire manufacturers customer relations department, and that phone number should be on their web site.
Expect the customer relations department to direct you into a local tire dealer - and possibly to handle the whole situation without going back to the Toyota dealer - which is probably what should have happened in the first place.
