Tire shop ruined my new TRD Rims... Now what?

[Gavin929]

I have been lurking on this site for months waiting on my 4runner to arrive from the port. I like doing slight mods to vehicles to make them "mine". That being said I ordered a set of graphite trd rims and bilstein 5100 shocks to lift/level the vehicle for that more aggressive stance.

The local off road shop did a great job with the lift and rim install, but didn't have the best equipment to balance the tires.

I took the 4runner to an (unnamed for now) tire shop to balance the tires. 2 hours later i go to pick up the vehicle and notice paint shavings all around the lug nuts. Upon inspection, I notice that the area around EVERY lug nut was scratched horribly. Not only are the rim caps mangled, but the rims show significant scratches inside the lug area and on the rim surface near the lug holes. It looks like the guy was either racing to see how fast he could reinstall the wheels or he was blind folded and asked to pin the tail on the donkey with a power tool.

Regardless, the damage is done and the service manager and I had a long conversation. He said he could have the rims fixed/painted and repaired. I told him that I brought him brand new rims to balance and I expected brand new rims upon leaving. I also said that if i wanted refurbished rims that I would have purchased them to begin with. He was hesitant to agree to my demands but admitted fault and said he would call his regional manager and toyota parts to see what could be done.

What should I expect? Am I overreacting? Any insight or previous experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ducmonsta]

You should include pics to see the damage so others can determine the severity.

 

[Range]

How come when most people join this site its because they're pissed off about a shop?

 

[Gavin929]

I joined way before posting this thread. I had hoped my first thread was going to be about my new 4runner in a build thread. Now i have to wait...

Just wanted to grieve over my unlucky situation and hopefully get some insight on how to handle the situation better

 

[Range]

I actually think places should be called out for shitty service so others know not to go there.

 

[sigbrown1297]

i had my wheels/tires mounted by discount tire. They scratched the lip slightly and they replaced them with new ones with no fuss.

 

[GSPRunner]

Discount Tires ever so slightly scratched my Konigs when they mounted and balanced them. I got a free set of tires out of the ordeal. Morale of the story, don't back down.

 

[Gavin929]

Sorry for the bad pics in the dark. I couldn't get any real good ones of the scratches to the rims (too dark outside) but these are just two of the lug nut scratches. They are not even near the worst ones. It looks like this on around every lug nut on the cap side and the actual rim side.

 

[GSPRunner]

Sorry for the bad pics in the dark. I couldn't get any real good ones of the scratches to the rims (too dark outside) but these are just two of the lug nut scratches. They are not even near the worst ones. It looks like this on around every lug nut on the cap side and the actual rim side.

Yeah that's bullshit. I couldn't do that kind of damage even if I tried.

 

[Gavin929]

If I am not satisfied with their customer service I will post their name. I want to give them a fair shot at fixing the situation. I know mistakes happen. I am more concerned with how they correct the mistake and treat me as a customer.

 

[BrianSD_42]

based on those pictures it looks like the scratches are on the caps.

Those caps are < $20 a piece at most online parts dealers.

Perhaps demand new caps?

 

[Gavin929]

I wish it was just the caps. the rim side looks just as bad. there are also small dent marks around the lug holes where he literally missed the lug nut...

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Next time do not take the wheels off or put them back on with the caps on.

 

[Gavin929]

i didn't do it. the tech at the tire shop did it. i actually told the manager that it looked like he was too dang lazy to remove the caps from the rim. doesn't explain all the other marks though unless he was drunk or just didn't give a rats arse.

 

[jrandom]

Any shop worth a sh!t these days should be using nylon sleeved sockets. No excuses they are widely available and reasonably priced. Way cheaper than even replacing a single wheel.

 

[PHXTE]

Nah, I'd push the issue and get new rims out of it. That's absurd.

 

[85straight]

The guy was just being lazy. Tried to save time by not taking the caps off. Then he was too lazy( or didnt have one) to grab the proper thinwall socket....so he scratched the wheels and caps. If your wheels were slighty worn with a few scratches already the shop would most likely NOT take the blame for it. But since they were brand new they should replace the wheel...very very expensive carless f@$& up on their end. From now on if your so worried about your wheels watch them intently( that would really piss them off) or bring them the wheels off the truck( still no guarantee that they wouldnt get scatched.
Who doesnt scratch a wheel driving through a mall parking lot anyways?

 

[Mistaken]

This is exactly why I give the front counter guy my disclaimer about how terribly anal I am about my wheels. And I request they please be careful to not rush and scratch them up. One discount tire told me scratches and little chips are inevitable and so I left and went to another that said their best guy would take the job and be sure to not damage them. These were a set of $4k wheels but I even go through the same dance on my 4runner's setup.

They damaged them and admitted it. I would accept nothing less than new wheels. Just depends on how long you want to play ball with them.

 

[Nolarola]

How come when most people join this site its because they're pissed off about a shop?

I'm always surprised at how many join to ask about how to mod their spouse's (and call her a wifey, which is stupid) SUV.

 

[Ezlife45]

I hate stupid people.
I had a truck in for a bed liner job and the idiot wasn't even putting the bolts in by hand, he just put them into his butterfly impact and started zipping away. He got pissed when I disconnected his air hose and told him to start the bolts before he started ruining my truck.
Another guy actually refused to use a torque wrench on another vehicle after they broke my key to my wheel locks by putting it in an impact. Now I tend to take my wheels off, put them in the truck, and bring them to the tire shop. Now that I have TPMS, I'm in a little bit of a quandry. But I rather take my chances that I'll need to bring it in to reset over having an idiot with a minimum wage job and no respect for a vehicle I worked hard for.

Good luck in protecting yourself.