Wheel / tire bolt sizing

deadheadskier said:

Indeed.

I just visited the 'patient'. I with zero automotive mechanical aptitude would still be able to tell that these wheels were not the right fit for the hubs. The wheel was over a half an inch from being seated fully on the hub. Total case of square peg, round whole and their lack of simple common sense could've possibly resulted in the tire snapping off. How someone with ten years worth of experience could not tell this is beyond me.

The car is being finished up right now. They gave me a loaner to use and I'm about to enter the local district court to final my small claim. If it was questionable that the wheel wasn't right for the car and it was only an 1/8-1/4 inch off, I'd wouldn't bother, but it isn't even close. I think I have a strong case towards reclaiming the $890 it cost to repair the vehicle.

Click to expand...

Good luck...hopefully the stealership is providing you with a good amount of information to support your claim.

Also feels good to read about another male of the species who claims to have zero automotive mechanical aptitude. :beer:

p.s., please tell the dealer to save all the replaced parts for you. Pictures should be good enough in court, but by asserting that you "have the pieces in my car, would you like to see them?", give you far more credence.

hammer said:

Good luck...hopefully the stealership is providing you with a good amount of information to support your claim.

Also feels good to read about another male of the species who claims to have zero automotive mechanical aptitude. :beer:

Click to expand...

I have very little interest in auto mechanics and thus work hard to find good mechanics. I never ask to see under the hood when buying a car and only look when the salesperson insists. I understand generally the mechanics of an issue, but other than changing my own tires and refilling the wiper blades and washer fluid, I don't do much. I always grille them with a lot of questions about the risks of doing this or that and make decisions based on calculated risks. In my case, I would only consider having tire work done by a place that sells tires as a primary course of business.

billski said:

I have very little interest in auto mechanics and thus work hard to find good mechanics. I never ask to see under the hood when buying a car and only look when the salesperson insists. I understand generally the mechanics of an issue, but other than changing my own tires and refilling the wiper blades and washer fluid, I don't do much. I always grille them with a lot of questions about the risks of doing this or that and make decisions based on calculated risks. In my case, I would only consider having tire work done by a place that sells tires as a primary course of business.

Click to expand...

Sounds a lot like what I do...except I even stay away from the tire retailers unless I have a history or a personal recommendation.

The mechanic that I take my older car to charges almost as much for labor as a stealership...but he's quite knowledgeable, he doesn't do unnecessary work, and he lets me know if a repair can be delayed so I can plan for it financially.

That all said, I do wish I had the time to learn more about my cars so that I could do some work myself.

billski said:

p.s., please tell the dealer to save all the replaced parts for you. Pictures should be good enough in court, but by asserting that you "have the pieces in my car, would you like to see them?", give you far more credence.

Click to expand...

They have saved all of the damaged parts and my intention is to bring them into the courtroom and show the judge that they essentially tried to ram a square peg into a round whole.

deadheadskier said:

They have saved all of the damaged parts and my intention is to bring them into the courtroom and show the judge that they essentially tried to ram a square peg into a round whole.

Click to expand...

Good luck!

billski said:

I have very little interest in auto mechanics and thus work hard to find good mechanics. I never ask to see under the hood when buying a car and only look when the salesperson insists. I understand generally the mechanics of an issue, but other than changing my own tires and refilling the wiper blades and washer fluid, I don't do much. I always grille them with a lot of questions about the risks of doing this or that and make decisions based on calculated risks. In my case, I would only consider having tire work done by a place that sells tires as a primary course of business.

Click to expand...

I was a pretty fair backyard mechanic back in the much simpler 1970's when my car had a carburator and a mechanical ignitition system. No big deal to swap in new plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor, points, and condensor. Ignition timing was easy. No big deal to pull brake drums, have them turned, replace the shoes, and do the rebuild kit on the slave cylinders. I've replaced a couple of clutches. I always changed my own oil.

These days, I don't do much of anything beyond windshield washer fluid and wiper blades. I don't have the time and cars are way too complex these days. I own a floor jack and I've swapped snow tires on and off a few times in the last decade when I couldn't get a tire shop to do it in a hurry. I could probably put my hands on my torque wrench in less than 30 seconds but I haven't used it in a while. I have the USB diagnostic cable for my VW GTI and the software. I scan for fault codes when I think of it.... usually right before an oil change. The car is under warranty. I have the dealer do all my oil changes since the cartridge oil filter and oil drain in the GTI is kind of funky and I don't trust a Jiffy Lube to use VW-approved oil. I know in theory how to change my oil but I don't have a ramp or jack stands to get under the car, I don't have the torx tools to remove the spray shield under the engine to get at the oil filter, and I have nowhere to easiy dispose of waste motor oil.