zesus-G

Hey guys, I just wanted to throw a quick story out there as an example of the exceptional customer service still around today:

About 4 months ago, while bringing my 08 g37s 6mt into the dealership for service....I asked the service manager to take a look at my front tires because the outside shoulders and the insides were wearing crazy fast...there was almost no tread left, but in the middle of the tire, everything was normal. Upon first inspection, everything was ok and they insured me that our 19" tires usually only last about 20k or so. (my car had roughly 18k on it at the time)

So time went on and I kept noticing more and more wear on the outside shoulders. I've had many 19" and 20" wheels and tires on my cars over the years, and I have honestly never seen any kind of wear like this. So next time back for warranty service on the seat cushion and the steering wheel, I asked them to look at the tires again. Again, they assured me that nothing was wrong with the tire....ok so this situation happens 2 more times thereafter.

Fast forward to this past Sunday night...I was driving alon on the NJ Turnpike, middle lane about 65-70mph, and my passenger side tire just blows out...I pulled over and drove on the wheel until I could get to a safe place to inspect, of course damaging the wheel in the process a little. the sidewall completely blew out on one particular spot. So i changed the tire, and got back on the road.

Yesterday I called up Ray Catena Infiniti in Edison NJ, explained the situation, told them of the documented complaints about the tire wear, then they had me bring the car in for inspection. So i get there and they gave me a loaner for free, which was pretty cool, and I was on my way.

By about 4pm they called and said that they were going to replace the damaged flat tire, but that I would have to replace the other and pay full price for it. Im not 100% sure if them replacing the damaged one was conditional upon me purchasing a new one from them which would have cost $360 installed!!! wtf!!! So I decide to do some research on pricing then call them back to confirm....After thinking about it for a little while I was like f that! I have documented complaints about the uneven wear on the tires, and I could have been in an accident if there was anybody on the road next to me, I want both replaced for free!

So I call them back and speak with the service secretary. I informed her that I was not satisfied with paying $360 for a tire, thats a damn payment for me, and that I will be contacting Infiniti Usa consumer affairs. She said she understood and the message was passed along.

So this morning at 9:15am I get a call from the dealerships service manager saying that he "pulled some strings" and they are replacing both front tires for free! I was amazed that an threat to call corporate changed thier minds...maybe somebody from thier legal department advised them to replace the tire because I could have had a negligence case against them, especially since at no time were replacement tires offered as a possible purchase...IDK what the reason was, but all i can say is that they outdid themselves with the customer service in a extremely fast manner! I would recommend the Ray Catena family of dealerships to anybody, and honestly now I am considering purchasing another car from them...

Thanks

kieranlavin

What tire pressures are you running? Under-inflation can cause extreme wear on the outside shoulder like you're mentioning. Just a thought

TopTech

so they blew you off 4 times on uneven tread wear then try to bully you into buying a new tire and don't let up until you threaten to escalate the problem? you think his is good service?

zesus-G

I have to explain a few other details....They didnt quite blow me off, each time I asked about the tire wear, they immediately had me bring the car in, and they provided a free loaner car...In that sense, they serviced the customers request....

Also, my tires were always inflated at manufacturers recommended PSI, I never put air in my tires personally, only the dealership did.

Lastly, for arguments sake, the wear caused my flat..... but nobody can know for sure if that was the main reason....

So yes, I will stick by my original thought about Ray Catena, and give them credit for providing pretty good customer service in this situation....Although I could have tittled this read a bit better...

Mike

iTrader: (1)

Extreme wear on the inner and outer edges is usually caused by:

1. bad alignment + driving habits

or

2. (more likely), underinflated tires.

Has your TPMS ever come on? Has the dealership previously recommended replacing the tires? Blowouts are pretty hard to come by; typically they require EXTREMELY worn tires, damaged tires, or severely under-inflated tires. Do you have a camber kit? Have you ever had an alignment?

Regardless, I'm glad to see that the issue was warrantied. How are the two rear tires?

zesus-G

Mike, absolutely my thoughts as well....TPMS never came on, pressure was always perfect....dealership said I DO NOT have to replace tires yet....(during all consultations about the wear, up to about 22k on my car)

No camber kit, never had an alignment, car is babied daily. I really wish I took pics of the wear on the tires to explain the crazy looking "treadless" shoulder...Im an idiot for not doing so...

I am going to call infiniti USA and try to get rear tires for free...I dont see any unusual wear on them at this point but who knows, I have 6k and 5 months left on my lease...so you never know, they may replace them if I complain loud enough...I am also going to make Infiniti pay for the damageto my wheel that happened when I caught the flat...the lipp of the rim looks horrible now..

The dealer initially said that our tires last only about 12k! How is that possible? I had so many sets of 19's and even 20's where tires lasted into the 30k range....cheaper garbage tires too...

Mike

iTrader: (1)

Seems like you're a pretty conservative driver, as most people WILL go through rear tires in 10-15k miles, and rears between 10-25k miles.

Tire change interval is really subjective on driving habits, but the OEM RE050A are not made for longetivity.


I doubt they'd replace the rears for free unless you can show something was definitely wrong with them like the fronts. However, you could always replace them with a used tire to save yourself some $$$ on lease return if the tread is low. Any equal or higher spec tire is acceptable, as well as 4/32" tread or more at time of inspection.

demarco5

whats wrong with putting 5k down and paying 525 a month?
pretty good deal if you ask me, since when was this car a POS?

da mayor

iTrader: (2)

bridgestone has some type of warranty on the tire so it wasn't hard for any service department to warranty them fully if it was due to the tires. im' glad you had a great experience though