The Consumer Reports Cars blog has posted a video on how to choose the best tires for your car. Here’s one interesting trick we learned from the clip: how to measure tire tread depth using coins.
tires
Air Compressor Company Re-Recalls 700,000 Products After Continuing To Receive Injury Complaints
By 10.9.09
In 2006, DeVilbiss recalled nearly 700,000 pressure washers and air compressors to replace the pneumatic tires, which were sometimes bursting on models that used plastic rims. Apparently not enough consumers responded then, because the complaints keep rolling in, so they’ve announced a do-over.
Update: Tire Lights Actually Still Exist, Are Completely Absurd
By 9.29.09
After reading our post on dumb inventions from the last century, many commenters declared that lighted tires were actually a great idea and wondered why they haven’t caught on (especially among rappers). So we did some more research.
Tires Prices Increasing Soon, At Least For Cooper
By 9.22.09
Are you planning on buying tires soon? According to this report from TireBusiness.com, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is planning on raising its prices for passenger and light truck tires by “up to 12 percent,” in response to an increase on tarrifs from China. They wouldn’t provide a hard date for the price increase, but said “soon.”
Government's New Tire Label Rules Reveal More About The Rubber You're Riding
By 6.19.09
Proposed federal rules will mandate more comprehensive labeling on tires. The new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration label will rate tires’ fuel efficiency/gas greenhouse rating, tread ware, as well as the traction they get on wet roads.
Customer Drops Off Car At Dealership For Repairs, Gets Tires And Wheels Stolen Instead
By 5.27.09
Before you drop off your car at your local dealership for any sort of repairs, make sure you’re clear on the chain of liability should anything happen to it—especially right now, when dealerships can barely afford those flappy air things, much less tires. A woman in Charlotte, NC was left with around $1,000 in damages when the tires and wheels were stolen from the 2005 Audi she’d left with the dealership over the weekend.
Your New Tires Could Be Six-Year-Old Death Traps
By 9.14.08
Those “new” tires of yours could be six-years old and ready to disintegrate on the highway. Tire rubber dries out after six years, but unlike in Europe and Asia, American companies are allowed to sell expired tires long after they turn into death donuts. A 20/20 investigation found that the “new” tires on sale at Sears and Walmart can be up to 12-years-old. Inside, how to tell when your tires were born…
Enterprise Tells Post-Op Patient To Drive 400 Miles On A Faulty Tire
By 8.23.08
Enterprise wouldn’t replace Melissa’s rental car even after a mechanic declared the tire on her current car “unrepairable,” and warned that it would be unsafe to drive 400+ miles back to New York from Rochester on a donut spare. Enterprise told Melissa to spend the day repairing the car at a garage at her own expense. Melissa, who was recovering from surgery, asked to swap her broken car for one that worked, a request Enterprise repeatedly denied.
Sears Auto Sucks As Hard As Sears Repair
By 6.10.08
While Sears Auto may not be the division of Sears that leaves you without hot water for three weeks, or refuses to refund the money on the TV they never delivered, they are the division that magnificently screws up changing a tire then tries to bill you for the labor it took them to fix their mistake. Reader R writes in to tell us when he needed to replace a damaged tire, Sears Auto had the cheapest price. After three hours and two different tires, he left Sears Auto with the damaged tire he drove in with. Sears botched the first attempt at a tire change by giving him a tire in the wrong size, then presented him with a bill for the additional labor it took them to get it right. When R balked at paying to fix their mistake, the manager on duty put the busted tire back on the car. Classy! Read his story, inside.
By 10.16.07
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Nitrogen in your car tires can marginally reduce air-loss, just don’t use it to replace regularly checking tire pressure. [ConsumerReports]
Pep Boys Apologizes For Bilking Customer Over Tire Warranty Replacement
By 10.3.07
After sending a complaint via Executive Email Carpet Bomb, Arnie says the Pep Boys Vice President of Service called him and has apologized and refunded all his monies.
Chinese Tire Recall Goes Into Effect
By 8.9.07
NHTSA ordered the recall after Foreign Tire Sales told the agency that some of Hangzhou Zhongce’s tires were made without a safety feature, called a gum strip, that helps bind the belts of a tire to each other. Some of the tires had a gum strip about half the width of the 0.6 millimeter gum strip Foreign Tire Sales expected, the importer said.
At Least 450,000 Imported Chinese Tires Missing Important Safety Feature
By 6.26.07
An importer of tires based in New Jersey is asking the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for help recalling 450,000 imported light truck tires from China, according to CNN Money. The tires are the focus of a lawsuit involving a fatal crash “in which two construction workers were killed and a third was severely injured when a van rolled over,” according to the New York Times. The lawyer representing the lawsuit claims that the company only came forward after being named in the suit. From CNN Money:
The tires, made by Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., have an insufficient or missing gum strip, a safety feature that helps prevent the tires from separating, the lawyers and a consumers’ group said in a statement. The group, Safety Research & Strategies, is urging retailers and wholesalers to stop selling the tires.
The importer says the tires were sold under the names Westlake, Telluride Compass and YKS.
AAA: The Number One Waste Of Gas Is…
By 6.3.07
Running the air conditioner on full blast, keeping the trunk full, and idling excessively are all great ways to waste gas; but, the number one waste of gas may surprise you:
The U.S. Department of Energy reports that the average driver can improve mileage by 3.3 percent simply by inflating their vehicle’s tires regularly. In fact, according to the AAA, under-inflated tires are the No. 1 way we waste gas. One out of every four cars and one out of every three pickups, vans, and SUVs have at least one extremely low tire.
Next time you pull into a gas station, whip out the old tire gauge and see if your tires need some air. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
The Siren Song Of Walmart Tire & Lube Is Impossible To Resist
By 4.12.07
We’re not saying you shouldn’t shop at Walmart. We’re not telling you who to give your money to. That’s not what we do here, (although some people think it is, but whatever.) What we are saying is that you should think about to whom you entrust your property. If you have a bad experience, learn from it and don’t give them the opportunity to mess with your stuff again. Reasonable?
Big-O-Tires Rules
By 6.5.06
In a world filled with Hellacious (with a capital-H) customer service stories, I wanted to pass-on to you my positive experience today….
O. Henry Gets a Flat
By 5.9.06
Drew writes in what surely has to be one of our more literary, if not in style, at least in structure, stories we’ve received to date.
