Prologue: I love my MINI dealer and so won't name it here.

MINI was due for the 30,000 mile inspection, so I asked the dealer if I could drop-ship tires from the Tire Rack for them to install. They said yes.

Service treated me well, found a few problems with the car I did not know about, and even gave me a Works MC40 as a loaner car. All very good things.

I picked up the car late on Friday and had no time then to question the bill for mounting and balancing four tires. Here it is:

Labor: $266
Environmental Disposal Fee: $12.40
Valve stems: $8.68
Tire Storage 10% Storage Fee: $35.40 (Note 1)
Tax: $2.82
SUBTOTAL: $325.30
Less Insurance: $86.00 (Note 2)
TOTAL: $239.30

Note 1: I paid the Tire Rack $354 for four Yokohama ES100s. The tires were stored by the dealer for about two days prior to installation.

Note 2: I have no idea what this means. I do not have any insurance that pays for installing tires.

Question to all: How loudly would you complain about this bill? What is a proper charge?

Phil

 

You have been punked Can you say READ HOT POKER

 

A reasonable fee would have been $25 per tire to mount and spin balance the new tires, the new valve stems, cost, and the disposal fee. The rest is pure (unreasonable) profit for the dealer.

Did you ask what it would cost when you originally made the arrangements for the service & tire change?

Shoot a "cold call" into the dealer and ask what the cost would be to have them mount and balance a set of new tires, and see what they say.

It's worth a call/visit to the Service Manager to resolve this

 

That's a bit much just for tire removal and installation, but I'm sure that you were paying standard dealer labor fees. And, you did get a loaner car. I assume that they removed runflat tires? If so, they're a pain in the butt to take off the wheel. The place I brought my car to (Kearney Enterprises, Inc., in Captial Hts, MD), let me watch the whole removal & install process, and it did take a couple of hours to do.

(BTW, he charged me $110 for removal and install! )

So, in other words, you paid what I would expect a dealer to charge.

-Paul!

Edit: Actually, that storage fee is a bit of BS!

 

That seems expensive in terms of tires - but it does seem on par with what a dealer would charge, dealer labor is expensive.

I also think the storage fee is BS though, especially if they didn't tell you about it ahead of time.

 

Since most area dealers charge at least $100 an hour for labor your stuck with that. But, personally I think this was where you really overpaid. Dealer labour is insanely priced...

Can't get around that one...
don't think you can get around that but not sure...
This chage stinks... but I think they have a right to charge you this if the tires sat at the dealership for more than a day. I may get flamed for saying this, but you didn't buy the tires from the dealer, yet they had to hold onto them until you came down for them to be installed. If they want to charge you for those tires taking up space in their shop, I think they're well within their right to do so... HOWEVER if they were to do so, they sure as heck should have told you about it when you called them. That's definately a charge they should have told you about in advance...



Don't know what the deal is with the insurance... However are you a DCMM member? You could have saved 10% on the labor charges if you are a member...

 

The car was in for a regularly scheduled inspection. That is why I got the loaner car. Sure was nice though!

When I asked what the job would cost, he said he was not sure, but that he thought it would be around $130 to put on a set of runflats. I did not follow up, but assumed that since they were installing non-runflats, it would be less.

I am DCMM member, but was not aware the discount extended to labor charges as well. Didn't carry my membership card with me either...

The tires sat at the dealership for about 48 hours. I was not told about a tire storage charge in advance. Heck, I was not told about the charge when I picked the car up. I learned about it when I read the bill later.

 

Yes, That is the proverbial reaming. In my locale, it is typical to pay only $15 - $20 per wheel for a tire exchange, balance, valve stem, disposal. In any event, you shouldn't have paid any more than $35 - $40 per. I'd contest anything over the $160 amount. That is really sticking it to the customer.

 

I actually think the storage fee is somewhat understandable. Doesn't mean its right... but I can see why its there. Its the actual labor fee that I'm shocked about. Thats just absurd.

 

If you take a bottle of wine to a restaurant, you can expect to pay a corkage fee. I suppose some sort of charge for not buying the dealer's tires makes some sort of sense. Call it a "treadage fee." Of course, last time I checked, the dealer did not sell Yoko's and the parts department all but suggested I try Tire Rack.

 

I just had my new Yoko's bought from Tire Rack & installed by Dobb's here in St Louis.They were recommended by Tire Rack. They stored the tires overnight & charged $25 per tire. I think you got "hoodwinked"

Lois

 

Can you spell H-O-S-E-D ? St Louis Mini also gets $2000 over MSRP on any Mini convertible and $500 on coupes ... great place to bidness - right !

 

I paid $40 per wheel to have the tires changed at MINI Peabody on GBMINI. Somewhat expensive but not as expensive as you paid.

If you go to a non MINI dealership, be sure they have the correct procedures for handling stiff runflat tires without damaging rims.

 

My Dad bought a run flat tire from tirerack cause the BMW dealer didn't have the tire and had them install it. Pricetag $60 at the BMW dealer for install.