Picked up a screw in a tire, went to a Tire Kingdom to have it removed & fix the tire.

I told the shop manager how the car needs to be jacked up carefully, because of the coolant tubes. He said he understood.

I waited for awhile, then asked the manager when they would be able to start working on the car, as I was on my lunch break. He replied, oh their pulling it in now. I said I wonder how there are doing that, as I'm still holding on to the keys.

He took the keys, gave them to a kid that looked to be barely working age. I followed the kid to the car, he proceeded to tell me he was going to take the car for a test drive. I said, no, it's here it have the screw removed from the tire. He said, Oh, we test drive all the cars to see if their are any others problems. Again I said no, that's not going to happen, just need the tire fixed.

He pulled it in, then lined up the four post lift to pick the car up, I was horrified to see he place the lifts on the plastic black trim. I yelled STOP !! Told the young man, you can not lift this car like that. I went to the manager, said I told you how this car needs to be lifted, he's doing it wrong. He response was, oh we do this all the time with out and trouble.

I was about ready to smack the crap out of him. I pulled up a screen shot on my phone showing the lifting points. He told the kid, grab a floor jack & lift it that way. The kid starts jacking it up right on the edge on top of the coolant tube. Again, I said STOP. I brought the manager over to the car, told him to feel where the jack is lifting, he promptly tells me he feels the frame. I told him that is the coolant tube, not the frame, you can not lift it that way.

How I didn't grab a tire iron and wrap it around his head I don't know. They realigned the jack, again lifting from the same point, the manager looked at the passenger door, noticed how the top was out of alignment, I told him look at the drivers side, that is because of how the jack is positioned. He had the balls to tell me, look sir, we can put the tire back on and you can go somewhere else to get your tire repaired.

I told him just fix the fricken tire. They finished the job, lost two of the plastic lug covers. Oh god, I'm never going back to that shop.

I was so pissed over the whole thing, I was thinking about contacting the companies area manager to complain how I was treated & how my car was lifted.

[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 09-18-2016).]

quote Originally posted by CoolBlue87GT: I was so pissed over the whole thing, I was thinking about contacting the companies area manager to complain how I was treated & how my car was lifted.

Thinking about it? I'd be raising unholy hell. If you have any contacts with area car clubs, I'd also spread the word and make sure the area manager knows that.

What a collection of jackasses!

Because of stories/experiences like this, I never take my whole car into a shop for anything to do with replacing/fixing tires. I take the tires/wheels in while they're off the car.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: What a collection of jackasses! Because of stories/experiences like this, I never take my whole car into a shop for anything to do with replacing/fixing tires. I take the tires/wheels in while they're off the car.

Ditto.

Maybe next time jack the car up, take the tire off yourself, and take it to be repaired.

Next time, tell him to use his head....as in, use his head as padding between the frame and jack....Although, considering how moronic and hard-headed he was, his head wouldn't be very good padding......I swear we need to change the law to allow us to use a taser on people who are this dang stu-pid!

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Because of stories/experiences like this, I never take my whole car into a shop for anything to do with replacing/fixing tires. I take the tires/wheels in while they're off the car.

This is exactly what I do.

quote Originally posted by mrfiero: This is exactly what I do.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Because of stories/experiences like this, I never take my whole car into a shop for anything to do with replacing/fixing tires. I take the tires/wheels in while they're off the car.

This. Long ago, I learned how to plug holes with those rubber plugs and glue they sell at the parts store, which when working in construction is a necessity when you get about 20 flats a year due to nails and screws. Driving a truck, there was usually enough ground clearance to do it without having to jack up and remove the wheel.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Because of stories/experiences like this, I never take my whole car into a shop for anything to do with replacing/fixing tires. I take the tires/wheels in while they're off the car.

Same here. I do this for all my cars, not just the Fiero. Better safe than sorry.

And it's not just about lifting the car properly. There's also the risk of them improperly tightening the lug nuts.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 09-19-2016).]

quote Originally posted by css9450: This. Long ago, I learned how to plug holes with those rubber plugs and glue they sell at the parts store, which when working in construction is a necessity when you get about 20 flats a year due to nails and screws. Driving a truck, there was usually enough ground clearance to do it without having to jack up and remove the wheel.

Yup... I have used them on my truck. Great temp solution (or in my case... perm).

quote Originally posted by jaskispyder: Yup... I have used them on my truck. Great temp solution (or in my case... perm).

I too leave them in there until the tire eventually wears out. No complaints here.

That said however, I don't think I'd use them in a high-performance tire, but I don't have of those kind of tires anyway. LOL

I would definitely contact the area manager and put word out to local owners - this is unacceptable and some other poor Fiero owner might not be as educated and have their car ruined.

~ Jen