Not very pleased with Costco tire center

I got some new tires put on at Costco recently. I think I got scammed to replace all 5 TPMS sensors at a cost of $240. Their claim after 'scanning' them was that 'they were all bad'. I didn't feel like arguing at that point.

The next issue I had is that after replacing the sensors on all 5 wheels, they would not re-mount one of my worn tires to serve as the spare. So instead of putting on a worn 4 year old tire, they insisted on mounting the 14 year old tire that is likely the original spare tire because it still had tread. I've had old tires that were less than 14 years old fail spectacularly. The worst thing I can think of happening is to get a flat and put the spare on, only to have the spare blow out before I can make it to the tire store to get the flat fixed.

Anyone else have a bad Costco tire experience?

nm_alien said:

I got some new tires put on at Costco recently. I think I got scammed to replace all 5 TPMS sensors at a cost of $240. Their claim after 'scanning' them was that 'they were all bad'. I didn't feel like arguing at that point.

The next issue I had is that after replacing the sensors on all 5 wheels, they would not re-mount one of my worn tires to serve as the spare. So instead of putting on a worn 4 year old tire, they insisted on mounting the 14 year old tire that is likely the original spare tire because it still had tread. I've had old tires that were less than 14 years old fail spectacularly. The worst thing I can think of happening is to get a flat and put the spare on, only to have the spare blow out before I can make it to the tire store to get the flat fixed.

Anyone else have a bad Costco tire experience?

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No, my experiences have been pretty good fortunately. I would definitely write to corporate about that experience though. I also seriously doubt all 5 sensors were bad, as your light would have let you know even if one was bad. Mine went bad right before I got new wheels and tires, so I just disabled the TPMS following one of the threads on the subject here. It was super easy, and since I used the jumper method, very reversible should I, or someone else want to make it work again. I just went with plain rubber stems with my new combo to keep things simple and cheap. As for your spare, that sucks they used the oldest tire, even if it had more tread. They should’ve gone by the date codes to determine the best candidate regardless of tread. Since it’s a spare, tread amount is way less relevant than general safety.

Terminator03 said:

No, my experiences have been pretty good fortunately. I would definitely write to corporate about that experience though. I also seriously doubt all 5 sensors were bad, as your light would have let you know even if one was bad. Mine went bad right before I got new wheels and tires, so I just disabled the TPMS following one of the threads on the subject here. It was super easy, and since I used the jumper method, very reversible should I, or someone else want to make it work again. I just went with plain rubber stems with my new combo to keep things simple and cheap. As for your spare, that sucks they used the oldest tire, even if it had more tread. They should’ve gone by the date codes to determine the best candidate regardless of tread. Since it’s a spare, tread amount is way less relevant than general safety.

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I did have the light come on the dash just prior to new tires but the temps had just dropped, which always sets off the TPMS light due to the drop in tire pressure from the colder temps. I wish I had just put some air in the tires before going there so that they couldn't claim the light was due to 'bad sensors'.

I feel like going to costco/sams club/walmart is what you do if you drive a 20 year old toyota tercel or chevy celebrity.

These trucks aren't cheap, why go to bottom of the barrel places for tires?

Ive always done tirerack for the rubber and a decent wheel shop for alignment (NTB/goodyear). Never had a problem.

sctrsk said:

I feel like going to costco/sams club/walmart is what you do if you drive a 20 year old toyota tercel or chevy celebrity.

These trucks aren't cheap, why go to bottom of the barrel places for tires?

Ive always done tirerack for the rubber and a decent wheel shop for alignment (NTB/goodyear). Never had a problem.

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Might be true about Sams club/walmart, but Costco has always exceeded my expectations. They actually patch all their tire repairs instead of plugging them, they always do a good job for me on balancing my tires. Free nitrogen fill. And I don't know where else you can get all your tires rotated and balanced for 21.99.....never had any issues with Costco. I actually take it there when I order tires from Discount Tire Direct and have them mount it at Costco because they've never let me down. Not only that, Costco indvidually torques each wheel to the exact torque spec with a torque wrench, not just Ugga dugga ugga dugga six times and it's good.

sctrsk said:

I feel like going to costco/sams club/walmart is what you do if you drive a 20 year old toyota tercel or chevy celebrity.

These trucks aren't cheap, why go to bottom of the barrel places for tires?

Ive always done tirerack for the rubber and a decent wheel shop for alignment (NTB/goodyear). Never had a problem.

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Bro, bottom of the barrel places? I don’t know about Sams club, but where I live, every rich person has a membership to Costco. There must not be a Costco where you live, because you’re just wrong there.

OP, sorry man, but if a tire shop tells me all 5 sensors are bad and they want 250 bucks to replace them, that is the time to ‘argue’ and say show me. There’s a difference for your light coming on to tell you a tire has low pressure (solid) and that the sensor is offline (flashing).

sctrsk said:

I feel like going to costco/sams club/walmart is what you do if you drive a 20 year old toyota tercel or chevy celebrity.

These trucks aren't cheap, why go to bottom of the barrel places for tires?

Ive always done tirerack for the rubber and a decent wheel shop for alignment (NTB/goodyear). Never had a problem.

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$850 for a set of Michelin Defenders isn't exactly bottom of the barrel for tires. And my 4Runner is a 14 year old 'beater' that I paid $6,500 for.

simple said:

Bro, bottom of the barrel places? I don’t know about Sams club, but where I live, every rich person has a membership to Costco. There must not be a Costco where you live, because you’re just wrong there.

OP, sorry man, but if a tire shop tells me all 5 sensors are bad and they want 250 bucks to replace them, that is the time to ‘argue’ and say show me. There’s a difference for your light coming on to tell you a tire has low pressure (solid) and that the sensor is offline (flashing).

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Yep. Hindsight is 20/20. The complication was that I showed up 7 PM (because that was the appointment I was given). Then the guy proceeds to tell me that I should not have been given an appointment that late as they will barely have enough time to get them on. Then I have to multi-task getting glasses for my kid, groceries for the wife, keeping the crew happy and try to interact with the tire dude on the phone about sensors. I decided on the fly that the vehicle which is 14 years old 'might' have a bad sensor and just decide instead of arguing with someone for the next 20 minutes to just replace them and have new sensors in all 5 wheels. I mean, I am one of those 'rich' guys that shops at Costco after all. Hell, I almost bought a $100 toaster oven on a whim when I was there yesterday, just because my old one is 10 years old and dirty.:wink2:

I wouldn't consider Costco as bottom of the barrel either. They only sell "mainstream" brands like BFG,Michelin,or Bridgestones, not some in-store brand like Pep Boys Futura. Maybe that poster is related to that bourgeois guy complaining about about going to Walmart and getting a botched oil change then claims to own like 3 homes in 2 different states and a multimillion dollar annual income.

And anyone claiming Costco sells "factory seconds" is blowing smoke up your ass. The Michelins I bought from Costco balanced/rode just as well as the Michelins the Lexus dealer I worked for gets from the wholesale tire distributor. At the time Costco had the tires in stock and was cheaper by a few dollars than the tire distributor or even Tire Rack.

I have been using Costco since the Price Club days.

I have never had a problem with their tires or service.
Well, except they won't mount 33" tires on what comes OEM @ 30".

You probably won't get the same kind of personal service as you would get from your "local reputable" tire shop, and that's why they exist.

Sure things happen...but it's how they would handle the situation.

BTW, Denso sensors typically ~ last 10 years.

:hippie:

Strange Costco experience for sure. There is typically a big difference between rebuilding TPMS and replacing. Replacing all 5 is pretty insane. I would escalate to corporate and say you are unsatisfied with being pressured and the customer service experience.

Family has been a member since the Price Club that was near 'The Beach' in ABQ to bring this full circle with the OP location and other guy above

ZiaMan said:

Family has been a member since the Price Club that was near 'The Beach' in ABQ to bring this full circle with the OP location and other guy above

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I remember going to the old location when I was a kid and when it was Price Club and getting the giant hot dog for the same $1.50 it still costs. Remember when they had one person calling out the item numbers and another person punching them into the computer, before bar code scanners were a thing?

I go through the tire store telling me my sensors are bad each year. I use my factory wheels only during the winter. Each time they mount the factory wheels they tell me they can't get a reading from there scanner on all four tires. So after driving on them for a day i go back and have them scan again which they somehow there scanner is able to read them

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ZiaMan said:

Strange Costco experience for sure. There is typically a big difference between rebuilding TPMS and replacing. Replacing all 5 is pretty insane. I would escalate to corporate and say you are unsatisfied with being pressured and the customer service experience.

Family has been a member since the Price Club that was near 'The Beach' in ABQ to bring this full circle with the OP location and other guy above

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After the discussion here and thinking about it some more, I decided to call corporate. I'm supposed to be getting a call back from the store manager in a day or two.

I've had issues where an Name Brand after market TPMS scanner had a difficult time waking up a Denso TPMS sensor on the spare (4 other were Dill brand/Discount Tire).

I used my Autel 501 TPMS scanner to wake the Denso sensor up, the shops Scanner was then able to read the Denso sensor.

:nerd:

nm_alien said:

After the discussion here and thinking about it some more, I decided to call corporate. I'm supposed to be getting a call back from the store manager in a day or two.

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Good call, please update with the results. They are usually awesome with going above and beyond to keep customers happy, so I have no doubt they will do “something” for you.

We don't have a Costco here where I live....But I just had the same tires as the OP bought put on my T4R at Sam's Club and for a bit less than the price he paid, I also have lifetime rotation and balancing, lifetime free roadside tire change as long as you have a spare (they won't do tire repair on the roadside), and lifetime road harzard coverage all included in the price.

Also on the comment [MENTION=214194]sctrsk[/MENTION] about Costcos and Sam's Club being "Bottom of the barrel" places for tires is totally incorrect, Sam's only sell top brands, the above mentioned addition items I got are on all tires sold and is included in the installation price, they also only repair a leaking tire from the inside with a "boot/patch" and don't use "plugs", they also use a torque wrench to torque every lug nut, you don't get this type of service at "bottom of the barrel" tire places!!

The roadside tire change I will never take advantage of because I can change the tire in 5 to 10 minutes myself instead of waiting for them to come out and change my tire...but I also had a set of Michellins put on my daughter's Corolla and she has all the same coverages and I have told her to call for the tire change so she's not out in the middle of nowhere changing her own tire and take the chance of some lowlife robbing her or worst, she can stay safe locked inside her car until thay arrive, should someone try to get to her while she's waiting then she will use her firearm if she has too, in our state as long as you're in your car or your home you have to right to protect yourself if you feel there's a real possibilty of harm to your person, if you're outside of the car it's a trip to jail at the very least!!!

What's the point of making a thread lumping all Costco tire centers into one category and whining? They have great customer service, just go there and complain. If I returned a four year old coffee machine that had a leak, I think they can hook you up.

I don’t get people who complain but won’t bring this up when it’s presented. It’s your money, don’t spend it if you don’t want to.

T4R2014 said:

They have great customer service, just go there and complain. If I returned a four year old coffee machine that had a leak, I think they can hook you up.

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This... I have never had one bad experience with Costco. They have an amazing business model in comparison to many of the other major "big box" stores and thats keeping the customers happy. I have literally taken back countless items some days later, some years later with no questions asked, except if I wanted a replacement or a refund.