I'm looking for some advice. I had a flat on my MCS last night on my way to the dealer to have the windshield washer and driver's door handle fixed (that's another story). The dealer is telling me that I must have hit a pothole because the wheel is cracked and both front tires (stock Goodyear 17" runflats) have bubbles on the sidewalls. They want $850 for two new tires and a new wheel. Now I know I didn't hit a pothole so a.) does this sound like something that can happen randomly? and b does this sound overly expensive to anyone else? and c anyone out there selling any 17" silver 5 spoke wheels with runflats? (I checked in the marketplace already).

 

I bought four 17" rims and four Yokohama AVS ES100 for $1,138.36 total mounted and ballanced with a lifetime ballance/rotation and Road hazard free replacement from Discount Tire/American Tire. So that price seems high. Mine are NOT runflats.

Earl;

 

Sounds very expensive. You can get a very nice set of 17" wheels and tires for that

 

It seems to me that the stock 17" are not worth the headaches.....rims scrape easily, tires blow out or bubble over potholes, etc.

I am glad I went with the standard 16" V-spoke wheels in my MCS. The bigger tires are mostly looks but little durability and high upkeep costs.

 

>>Sounds very expensive. You can get a very nice set of 17" wheels and tires for that

Got any suggestions? Even if I spent the $850 for the new wheel and tires with the dealer, I'd have 2 tires with 20000 miles on them. I think I'd rather have all new.

 

yes, talk to alex @ tirerack. very knowledgeable and great to deal with. good prices and excellant service.
good luck! :smile:

 

Talk to Alex @Tirerack... He's chock full of great info :smile:
He will give you choices and explain the ups & downs.
I'm personally not a fan of the runflats and there are many reasonably priced replacement tires out there to choose from.

Again... speak to Alex :smile:

Peace,
D

 

if you're looking for oe wheels, check the market place forum too.

 

>>>>Sounds very expensive. You can get a very nice set of 17" wheels and tires for that
>>
>>Got any suggestions? Even if I spent the $850 for the new wheel and tires with the dealer, I'd have 2 tires with 20000 miles on them. I think I'd rather have all new.

Currently on ebay there is a dude selling 17 r90's current price 9.50 and he said he can get the the other 2 for 400 each so their you go some great looking wheels for a person with patience ( brake dust) for 860 and change.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm torn now between the OE wheels and aftermarket. One more question. Shouldn't a cracked wheel be covered by warranty? Secondly, (actually that's two questions), being a suspicious person by nature, is it possible that the dealer cracked this wheel while trying to fix the runflat? I don't know much about tire repair technology so forgive my ignorance.

Here's another thought. I don't want to leave my car at the dealership for a week until I get other wheels/tires since I am definitely not buying them there. Can I drive this home (about 10miles) on the runflat with the cracked wheel? Or, alternatively, can I borrow a spare tire from a friend who has a Cooper with 15" wheels and get it home that way?

Would appreciate input on all of the above.

 

Check your local area wheel dealers. You should be able to find an attractive aftermarket wheel/tire combo set(4) for what the dealer is asking for 2 tires and a wheel.

If you can prove the damage was a manufacturers defect, it would be under warranty. But I have yet to see a camel threaded through an eye of a needle.

Goodluck

 

>>>>>>Sounds very expensive. You can get a very nice set of 17" wheels and tires for that
>>>>
>>>>Got any suggestions? Even if I spent the $850 for the new wheel and tires with the dealer, I'd have 2 tires with 20000 miles on them. I think I'd rather have all new.
>>
>>Currently on ebay there is a dude selling 17 r90's current price 9.50 and he said he can get the the other 2 for 400 each so their you go some great looking wheels for a person with patience ( brake dust) for 860 and change.
>>
>>
I couldn't find these but there are some others for sale on ebay. Do you have a link for these?

 

An SUV ran me off the road a few months back caused me to f-up two of my factory v-spoke 16" wheels. They're $250 a piece from the dealer and since I was in need of a set of 4 tires anyways, instead of replacing the factory wheels I bought a set of four 17" Rota Tarmacs and Goodyear F1s from Rspeed. Great deal - less than $850 including shipping. Pictures of the new wheels are on this page.

 

I currently have my S-lites on Ebay, and I see at least 4 other sets on there. From the average selling price it seems that you can get a set of rims/tires with low mileage for around $600-700 or so.

I went with 16" polished Rotas with Azenis from R-Speed, as they are better for SCCA solo II than 17"s.

Pic from R-Speed of the Rotas... right at $1020 delivered with tires mounted and balanced, though they do look better on my red/white baby:

 

Excellent ideas one and all. Thanks. I'll let you know how it all turns out.
Spoke to the service guy again this morning. He says that there's no way I could have broken that wheel and not know that I hit a pothole or curb. I'm going to have a heart to heart with my 16 and 19 year old sons tonight. :evil: