I have gone to 4 repitable tire stores and all 4 have refused to put 215/45-17 tires on my Mini because of liability on their part. They say they exceed a 3% increase in size than the original equipment requirements.
Has anyone else had this problem?

 

Buy the tires from somewhere and take it somewhere else to have them installed? lol I dunno. Never heard of that

 

Did you get the tires from Tire Rack?

They have a list of installers here here Even if you didn't one of those shops should be able to help you.

 

215/45/17 is only 1.5% larger diameter than 205/45/17.
They are F.O.S.

 

2 of the dealers were Tire Rack installers

 

Where did you buy the tires?? I would call tire rack customer service and complain if you bought them there.

 

Wierd. I've never heard of anything like that.

I have heard lots of bellyaching from the various people I've used to mount my autocross tires over the years, but never for "liability", just for, "these things are a PITA"

 

I have not bought tires yet. But both places told me that they didn't care where I bought the tires that if they were not the size that the manufacture says should be on the car they would not install them.
Because they are still liable.
So I guess I will have to order them and just take the wheels to an installer, what a pain.

 

My 1st recomendation would be to get 215/40/17 tires not "45". I just got some 45's myself & personally I think they sit up too high. I swear I feel like I am sitting higher in the Mini

That said I dunno if you have a Goodyear near you but that's where I got mine installed & they didn't say a word.

 

I never heard that. I took my stock 17" runflats into Big O near my house coz they were worn out. The guy there didn't have the same size in a reasonable priced tire and sold me 215/45-17s. I much prefer them as they have significantly more grip and a very slightly cushier ride. They are slightly taller than the stock tires, but with the softer sidewalls, they actually look lower.

 

I ran into this problem with Sam's Club, they refused to put 215/45 tires on my Mazda3 (OEM size=205-50-17). I eventually convinced them that if they voided my road hazard warranty, it would be fine for them to put them on, but I had to go up the manager chain several levels to finally get that approval.

 

roll the wheels into the same shop and tell them it's for a Subaru Legacy (which runs on 215/45/17).