Ridle me this, charge for fitting & balancing new tyres vs no charge for old tyres

Perfectos · Jun 9, 2021

Two and a half year old wheels: i noticed corrosion under the paint, spidering and bubbling. Not just the faces but on the rear / inside the rims.
the wheels have never been cleaned with acid, no kerbing or damage whatsoever ever and they look immaculate other than the corrosion

my dealer asked me to send photos, which I did for each wheel.
the dealer agreed they had corrosion.
the dealer then asked me to come in for an inspection so they could take their own photos.
VW have approved the supply and fit of four new wheels under a warranty claim, the dealer will take my vehicle remove the exiting tyres fit the old tyres to the new wheels and refit to my van, great no problem

here’s the riddle.

I asked the dealer to quote for supply only of new tyres, to be fitted to the new wheels under the warranty claim, primarily so Its more convenient for all involved and I don’t have to spend in excess of two hours (quoted time) at the dealer premises whilst they take the old tyres off the old wheels and fit them to the new wheels
“no problem sir, yes that makes sense, we can do that“
great send me a quote for the new tyres:

VW £186 per tyre / £744 per set vs “supplied, fitted and fully balanced“
An other £122 per / £488 per set
difference £64 per tyre / £256 per set!

very long story short, (I had typed up the whole dialogue but it’s far too long to post) the dealer dropped their price per tyre to £150 per tyre.! (£600 per set)
I was not going to pay for over inflated (excuse the pun) tyre prices just because the dealer thinks he could make a quick buck at my expense.
later after much discussion, the dealer agreed they would fit the new tyres if I supply them,
BUT, they will charge me £40 for the privilege of “fitting and Balance“ them, despite the dealer acknowledging the dealer is being paid by VW under the agreed factory warranty claim to remove and refit one set of tyres regardless of if they are new or not!

the dealer can’t give me a rationale explanation as to why I should pay £40 for fitting new tyres rather than used, Other than the dealer won’t make the massive profit from selling me over priced tyres, (which they wouldn’t have normally expected to do under the warranty claim).

Drpps · Jun 10, 2021

I suppose it depends how close you are and how much you trust your AN other to fit the new tyres vs time taken but does rather seem to be taking the mickey. At least if they fit them and the new ones corrode they can't blame someone else for damaging it.
That £40 however might include the disposal of the old tyres though which is normally about £5 ea.
irritating though it is your time is probably worth more than £40 for the hassle of taking it elsewhere later. I'd go with it through gritted teeth and hope some good will remains for next time.
perhaps you could ask them to align it for that price!

Ch1pbutty · Jun 10, 2021

Perfectos said:
Two and a half year old wheels: i noticed corrosion under the paint, spidering and bubbling. Not just the faces but on the rear / inside the rims.
the wheels have never been cleaned with acid, no kerbing or damage whatsoever ever and they look immaculate other than the corrosion

my dealer asked me to send photos, which I did for each wheel.
the dealer agreed they had corrosion.
the dealer then asked me to come in for an inspection so they could take their own photos.
VW have approved the supply and fit of four new wheels under a warranty claim, the dealer will take my vehicle remove the exiting tyres fit the old tyres to the new wheels and refit to my van, great no problem

here’s the riddle.

I asked the dealer to quote for supply only of new tyres, to be fitted to the new wheels under the warranty claim, primarily so Its more convenient for all involved and I don’t have to spend in excess of two hours (quoted time) at the dealer premises whilst they take the old tyres off the old wheels and fit them to the new wheels
“no problem sir, yes that makes sense, we can do that“
great send me a quote for the new tyres:

VW £186 per tyre / £744 per set vs “supplied, fitted and fully balanced“
An other £122 per / £488 per set
difference £64 per tyre / £256 per set!

very long story short, (I had typed up the whole dialogue but it’s far too long to post) the dealer dropped their price per tyre to £150 per tyre.! (£600 per set)
I was not going to pay for over inflated (excuse the pun) tyre prices just because the dealer thinks he could make a quick buck at my expense.
later after much discussion, the dealer agreed they would fit the new tyres if I supply them,
BUT, they will charge me £40 for the privilege of “fitting and Balance“ them, despite the dealer acknowledging the dealer is being paid by VW under the agreed factory warranty claim to remove and refit one set of tyres regardless of if they are new or not!

the dealer can’t give me a rationale explanation as to why I should pay £40 for fitting new tyres rather than used, Other than the dealer won’t make the massive profit from selling me over priced tyres, (which they wouldn’t have normally expected to do under the warranty claim).

Get VW to refit the old tyres as part of the warranty claim.

Select Mobile Fitting from Black Circles (or similar) and get the new set fitted at home.

If the old tyres still have some life left - sell them on Ebay / FB Marketplace. Otherwise let the mobile fitter dispose.

Perfectos · Jun 10, 2021

Thanks for the responses guys

my morale compass would not let me pay the stealer an over inflated price,
particularly as the original price they quoted was no where near competitive vs two other quotes I had. (The dealer only dropped the price when I pressed them on why they were so uncompetitive). Even then they told me the offer was their cost price ! £150 per)

The local business who quoted a competitive price first time got my business And future business.

I collected the new 235/55/17 tyres today, Michelin cross climate SUV (103 load V speed rated)from the local suppliers paid my £122 per tyre (£488 set)
took them to VW to have them fit the new tyres at their leisure,
will then book in for the change over of the wheels. (Yes two visits) and removal of the part worns which will be handed back to me.

total saving after paying the Stealer the spurious £40 will be £72 and an extra hour of my time and a couple of pounds in fuel.

had I gone with the dealers original price, I would have been overpaying £256 !

I will sell the old part worn tyres and recoup more than the £40 the stealer charged for fitting the new tyres.

Black Circles would charge for fitting on top of their price, didn’t want to go down the route of having a third party fit the new tyres for the reason Drrps gave.

Ozzy Pete · Jun 11, 2021

A couple of years ago I bought 4 brand new 17 inch wheels and 235 -55 Dunlop tyres from a Caravel off eBay for £500. It’s almost as cheap to buy a whole new set and sell the old ones for a few quid or just keep them for spares.

Stoneybroke · Jun 11, 2021

Ozzy Pete said:
A couple of years ago I bought 4 brand new 17 inch wheels and 235 -55 Dunlop tyres from a Caravel off eBay for £500. It’s almost as cheap to buy a whole new set and sell the old ones for a few quid or just keep them for spares.

I did the same, but bought new factory fitted wheels & tyres being sold on this forum to put on our 2005 Caravelle prior to selling it to buy our Beach. The Caravelle tyres were on the limit, and the wheels showing their age.
Bargain full set for little more than 4 tyres made the old van look smart. Then sold the old wheels + tyres on eBay for a couple of hundred. Good result.