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Old 06-11-2011, 02:30 PM   #1
Bluegrass
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Default The Nevada Tire Scam

Two years ago I posted about they guys at the Chevron Station in Elko, Nevada telling me that I needed to replace a tire on my TM. The TM was less than a year old. When I asked him to point out the problem, he pointed to the little tabs of rubber sticking out on the sidewalls as if the tire were going to blow up. I respectfully told him I thought these were just tabs from the mold and that, no, I didn't want to replace the tires.

This is an old scam that was very common in Nevada when I was much younger. I thought it had gone away in these more enlightened times. But I was wrong.

Yesterday we stopped at the Shell station in Wells, Nevada and a guy came out, looked at my truck tires (which have about 20,000 miles on them) and told me he could see the steel threads and that I was in serious trouble. I looked and saw no steel or even the wear bars and plenty of tread. I declined his offer to put the truck on the rack, at which point he told me I would never make it across the desert. I was a bit less polite in my rejoinder. So he left me and went over to two women who were filling their car with gas. "You got real problems with this tire...."

I've half a mind to call Shell and complain but I doubt it would do any good. It appears to be a pervasive problem in the Silver State.

Keith
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Old 06-11-2011, 03:01 PM   #2
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In California, there is a state agency called the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) that licenses and regulates auto repair shops. When a shop was negligent in doing a brake job that resulted in the loss of braking power in one of the front wheels, they sent an investigator to my house to inspect my car.

Nevada may have a similar agency. If you are motivated to do something, you might check to see if they do, and give them a heads up about this place. The BAR at least has been known to send undercover folks to a shop to identify wrongdoing.

Dave
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Old 06-11-2011, 03:07 PM   #3
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In most states you can call your State Attorney's office and they can direct you to the best place to register a complaint. I would not ignore this, it's fraud.
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Old 06-11-2011, 03:12 PM   #4
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It's also dangerous. Think about how hard we work to get the right tires on our vehicles, and then think about the odds that this Bozo has them in stock. He will sell you what he has, and as likely as not, you will set off with an overloaded tire. This can't be legal anywhere.
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Old 06-11-2011, 06:20 PM   #5
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This thread reminds me of a guy who was kinda notorious in the tire circles (pre-internet days). He was located out in the west Texas area, similar to one of the last gas for 200 miles scenarios. I have to first give a little background info.

Tires have what is called mold-release chemicals inside them, that does as the name states, keeps the tire from sticking to the molds during the manufacturing process...it's usually some kind of silica based compound (if I remember correct). If you ever watch someone patch a tire, you will see them spray/pour what is known as a pre-buff cleaner on the spot before they grind the tire. This helps dissolve these mold release chemicals and let's the patch bond better with the rubber.

You may have noticed in your life before, that when your tire was dismounted, these little small beads inside the tire. This is just any dirt, and/or excess mold release stuff that kinds bonds together as the tire rolls. No big deal, and is just part of the nature of tires. Doesn't really hurt anything, as they are extremely little.

Well, this guy in Texas, anytime he would see these in a tire he was repairing/or replacing , would call the tire customer back into the shop and point these silica balls out. He would then explain to the customer that these balls were the feces of "rubber worms"......and he had seen it many times.

He would go on how these rubber worms were eating into the customers rubber tires, and their tire was going to blowout.......as evidenced by the rubber balls. He would also convince them that if the worms were in one tire, they were in all the tires. He'd start grabbing some kind of insecticide spray and start spraying the rubber worm infested tire. He'd also go thru the act of hurriedly trying to get the customers vehicle out of his shop before they contaminated his new tires.

He would then sell them a set of new tires.......and then sell their perfectly fine used tire pull-offs he just acquired (since no customer would take back a tire infested with rubber worms).

Sad but true......even though you know you're laughing at the absurdity of it
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Old 06-11-2011, 08:45 PM   #6
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Wow...the gas station people come outside to your car in Nevada? I haven't seen that since the 70's.
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Old 06-11-2011, 09:02 PM   #7
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Quote:
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Wow...the gas station people come outside to your car in Nevada? I haven't seen that since the 70's.
Only to check your tires, it would seem.

Keith
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Old 06-12-2011, 02:41 AM   #8
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A very pronounced undulation is another way an unscrupulous dealer could possibly get you to remove a perfectly fine tire from service......but I have never seen/heard of anyone doing it.............because most likely the replacement tire is going to have the same characteristic.

I have to explain undulations several times a week (even this morning) to concerned customers, who don't see the difference between an indentation and a bulge.

I always explain that with undulation, the same indentation will be in the same place on both sides of the tire........whereas a bulge (broke cord) will only be on one sidewall. You can just reach across the tire and feel it with your fingers.

I can find undulation on just about every tire....sometimes as many as in 6 different places. Here is a pdf link explaining undulation, so you can better arm yourself with knowledge........especially if you are in Nevada.

http://www.coopertire.com/html/pdf/S...Bulletin54.pdf
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Old 06-12-2011, 06:41 AM   #9
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Default Looks like your experience has company.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?um...ed=0CBwQqgUwAA

You might want to post a review, if nothing else. But it would be better to complain to Shell and to the state's auto repair licensing people or consumer fraud people.
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Old 06-12-2011, 10:03 AM   #10
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But it would be better to complain to Shell and to the state's auto repair licensing people or consumer fraud people.
I doubt it. That shop is probably a franchisee of Shell, and Shell probably wouldn't be concerned until things got "officially" very bad. When I contacted the franchise owner in my situation (also a large oil company) asking for action, I received zero response.

Dave
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