[memememe]

:evil:

I am SOOOO ticked, the car doesn't even have 536 miles on it and gee.. a nail in the tire, from where ? Who knows.. we keep it in the garage.

Now for the rest of the story, WE take it off and to the tire shop, they patch it but our wheel cover /hubcap? whatever has DEEP scratches on it and around it, at first they tried to blame us.. NO WAY!! You should see it.. my camera is on the fritz or I take a photo.

THEY claim they will replace it, ANYWAY how long should we drive with the spare? We brought the damaged but patched one home.

Did I mention the guy calls and says he is working on getting it replaced and wanted to know what year our MATRIX was????

 

[Phish Phood]

HAHAHA MATRIX. Sorry, yea, I have to laugh Piece of advise.. never go back to that place if you can help it. Secondly, the tire probably didn't come from someone sticking it behind your tire and waiting for you to back into it, I doubt that parking in a garage helps that much.. probably a stray nail from who knows where lying in a road you drove through. One night in Anaheim, California.. some people went around slashing tires.. did every other block for a couple blocks.. that was terrible (I'm nowhere near there.. just heard about it from a friend).. so any cars parked outside that night were screwed.. but I heard the local tire shop was plenty happy..

 

[memememe]

Oh I know, we probably ran over the darn nail somewhere.. but the guy even came out and took the VIN , so he SAW the car.. what a piece of work he was. My question is why all the deep scratches on the cap and around the cap.. did they not take it off? Is that possible?.. Real mess.

Oh yes, NEVER again to that shop.. I BBB complaint to them, with the added if fixed properly I will drop it.

Insane, the guy who brought out the tire to put it in the back brought it out with the scratches NOT facing us.. we found them when we went to put it on.

Well they claimed when we brought it back "That we didn't do that" Note: A customer was in the store.

Well explain the machine marks? The oil around the outside scratches, the spoke scratches are awful. He said he wasn't going to argue.. well no he lost.. but he did add "My employee has no reason to lie".. Hmm, Christmas time, job security, he is perhaps your son, blackmail? Who knows.

But boy I tell ya I sure like to be KISSED first.

So AAA next time, and you KNOW I told my hubby to call them first, but no, "I'll change it and get it patched". 14 years and he hasn't listened to me yet.. I've always been right .. ok except for that one time I was wrong

Can't wait for the cluster that will follow because the touring are different than the regular Prius.. SIGH. Oh, the reason for NOT calling AAA? "It will take to much time" God I love him but he has got to listen to me !!

 

[Hep]

Oh, the reason for NOT calling AAA? "It will take to much time" God I love him but he has got to listen to me !!

Don't count on it. We never do. 'Listening' is on the missing arm of the Y chromosone.

 

[sub3marathonman]

I thought the touring edition wheels were alloy wheels without hubcaps/trim rings like the regular Prius has. So if it is scratched then it seems that the rim will need to be replaced. Of course, then you have to transfer the Tire Pressure Monitor in the one rim to the new rim.

Your husband did the right thing. He did things himself. But for others' incompetance, everything would have turned out fine. Remember, if you had called AAA the same guys might have come out, snapped the lugs trying to take the tire off, dropped the car off the lift, and made a claim to your insurance company for a totaled Prius. (I know of a perfectly restored '57 Chevy that needed extensive repair because it was dropped off a lift.)

The correct response is to purchase a tire changing machine for your husband for his birthday. Yes, it is very expensive, I think about $2000, but think of all the friends he'll have as the only guy with this fancy machine. Even if he never repairs one tire, at least he'll know that he could.

 

[DanT]

touring edition does have alloy wheels.....but it also has a wheel cover over the alloy wheel....

More than likely they tried to remove the tire from the wheel without removing the wheel cover first....

They look very good and match the contours of the underlying alloy wheel very well....most folks think it is the wheel.

The part I like about is it is that if the wheel cover gets curbed you ony have to replace the plastic cover....not the entire wheel.

At first I did not like the idea but now I have gotten used to it.

If I get tired of the wheel covers I am going to get a center cap and just run the alloys with no cover.
They are a darker "gunmetal" grey...kind of "ricey"

 

[memememe]

We think that's what they did by the looks of it, just left the center cap on and yanked.

Oh the humanity!! :shock:

 

[DanMan32]

The wheel and the cap can't be reversed, so I don't see how it could have been hidden from you.

All AAA would have done was put the spare on the car. Taking the regular tire still mounted to the wheel to a place to have it fixed would have been your responsibility, so you wouldn't have had a different outcome if the damage occured AFTER the wheel was taken off the car, as it seems you are saying.

 

[barefootmatt]

The wheel and the cap can't be reversed, so I don't see how it could have been hidden from you.

She's saying the guy carried the wheel out to them with the side that attaches to the car facing outwards, and the side with the scratches facing his body. The wheel wasn't on the car at the time, it was just facing the other way.

 

[DanMan32]

Ah, I see.

 

[sub3marathonman]

That reminds me of the time I drove 800 miles to New Orleans to see a restored '57 Chevy. As I looked the car over I thought it looked pretty nice. It was a bit of a warm day, so the windows were rolled down. Somehow I casually thought to roll up the windows to see the date code on them. The glass was cracked on both doors. By the time I got the second one rolled up he had lost any chance of selling the car to me. If he had just said that he hadn't been able to replace the glass I might have still been interested. But he proved he wasn't honest.

 

[memememe]

Thanks to everyone for all the answers.. tomorrow we shall see If the replacement has arrived or if I should ask for that kiss first

 

[mrv]

Just a reminder about Toyota Roadside Assistance:

US 2001-2005 Prius came with 3 years/36,000 miles of Toyota Roadside Assistance, which includes tire and wheel road hazard warranty/insurance. (Note that the complimentary Toyota Roadside Assistance was discontinued starting with the 2006 US Prius, but you can still get it if you purchase the a Toyota Prepaid Maintenance package or if you have an "Extra Mile" program from Southeast/Gulf States Toyota. Although some US 2006 owners can complain and get the Roadside Assistance if they have the right documents, see: http://www.priusonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=9408 )

Tire/wheel info from my 2004's Toyota Prius Roadside Assistance Program brochure:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Pri ... sage/12711
I'm not sure if the phone numbers there are still correct, though.

Some independent tire shops will do flat repair for free, on any tire (not just ones you bought there). If you're in New England, see:
http://www.townfairtire.com/about_freemaintenance.shtml


Also, this is exactly why you should check the tire pressure of your spare tire every so often! Nothing worse than having a flat tire, and then discovering that your spare tire is flat as well.

The tire pressure of the temporary compact spare tire (donut) should be 60psi.

Note that the temporary compact spare tire (donut) is just that - temporary. The 2004 Owner's Manual states that it only has tread life of about 3000 miles (depending on road conditions and your driving habits). The Owner's Manual also warns to not exceed 50mph and to avoid sudden acceleration/deceleration and sharp turns when driving on the compact spare tire (donut).

 

[memememe]

Good info to have. The guy dodged me when I called today SIGH.. so I guess a personal visit is in order then, to REMIND him. All I want is my touring hubcap.

 

[memememe]

UPDATE..................

Ok, so did I BBB them, BUT I also said via the BBB that the issue was resolved.. I think the following day when the guy called to say they'd replace it.

GET THIS.... My husband just called there to check the status, "We called and our General Manager left you a message" Really, when? We have not only caller ID but Vonage, NO call ever came in from a "strange" number.. we have called them all.. so again LIED to.

Anyway, they claim that it came in on Friday... but they had this "problem" with me complaining about it.... well you should SEE it!!

Who wouldn't complain, note they are not putting it on as it wasn't their fault.. my ARSE... I don't want them touching the car anyway. Plus why replace it if it wasn't your fault?

Ok hubby home.. Wheel cover in plastic, genuine Toyota part.. the center cap does not come off so I was.. Right.

Now we have to put it on, which I believe we will have our Dealer do.

 

[sub3marathonman]

Why not have your husband put the wheel back on instead of paying a dealer? He took it off without any problems. Also, if you do it yourself you can torque the lug nuts in the proper pattern and at the proper torque with your torque wrench. You should tighten them in a criss-cross pattern in three steps, which the dealers usually don't do. Most of the places just slap them on and tighten them down.

If he doesn't have a torque wrench that would be a great Christmas gift. I got one a few years ago from Sears that is great. So now I have one torque wrench that I use for loosening and the Sears one I just use for tightening.

 

[memememe]

Oh, no he put the wheel back on days ago, we just aren't to sure about the cap.. I guess we can take off the old one, I mean how much damage can it do right? That way we can maybe just pop on the new one.

 

[sub3marathonman]

Oh, I didn't understand that.

I guess though that it might be easier to get that center cap out by removing the wheel and pushing from the back, instead of prying from the front and gouging the rim.

If I was memememe's husband I would hand her the screwdriver and let her try first. There's a difference between being brave and foolhardy.

 

[memememe]

Oh I gotcha... they DO have to take off the tire to put it on.. thus the destroyed old one we have.

My mistake.

 

[memememe]

Update....

Picked up the hubcap it was, a nice still in Toyota plactic so the correct part, went on without taking the tire off, sweet