I bought a 2007 Hyundai Accent from Norman Frede Chevrolet in Clear Lake. I felt like ever since I bought the car that the tire/ road noise is louder than the Santa Fe I used to drive, but I thought it was due to the fact that the Accent's a smaller car, smaller tires, a hatchback etc.
I went in two weeks ago to get the oil changed for the first time since purchase, and also wanted the tires balanced and rotated (It was at an NTB). I wasn't prepared for what the tire tech had to say and show me. (I remember when I went to look at the car and test drive it, I mentioned to the car salesman that it looked like it needed new tires. He said something to the effect that the tires were good for a long time. Well... Not exactly.)
The front and rear driver side tires were horribly out of whack in terms of balance and the wear pattern. I saw and felt the bad wear on the tread of both tires with my hand when the car was in the lift... The NTB tire tech said that the severity of the wear had already started when I bought the car, as the tires wouldn't be this bad after only 2 - 3 months of my owning the car. He said that the tires had probably not been balanced or rotated much, if ever. Yikes!
So, I emailed my predicament to the General Manager of Frede Chevrolet (Joan McKinney), told her firmly that having to buy new tires after only 3 months of ownership was unacceptable (even if it was a used car) and politely asked what could be done to make things better... to my surprise, she emailed back saying they would call me that Monday and would take care of it. I had my appointment yesterday to see about the tires, not sure what to expect.
The Frede Chevy service tech, Amanda B., looked at the tires and after talking to the Service Manager, told me to have a seat in the waiting room while they put on a new set of tires... that's right folks, a *car dealership* gave me four brand new tires for FREE. And they are good quality tires too.
WOW!!! About an hour and half later, I was on my way home with four new balanced tires!
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