Hello!

i went to Mini of Baltimore, I noticed EVERY car has a $99.00 charge for Nitrogen in the tires, they claim, they remove the air and fill the tires with Nitrogen because it leaks out slower. They say they do it to EVERY car. I say TOTAL CRAP! What say ye?

Is it a good indicator that i am buying my car at the wrong dealer?

 

Do they do "paint protection" and "upholstery protection" too?

 

The entire concept of nitrogen in tires is a complete line of BS. I've heard that it retards the degradation of the rubber as well. Given my years of ownership, going back to bias ply tires that flat spotted when you parked too long, I never had tires degrade due to whatever was inflating them. Every tire failure I can remember over my almost 50 years of driving has been due to running over something, clipping a curb, hitting a pothole, or actually having tires on the car for 10 years. (Not my car, but I did see the failure). Nitrogen in your tires means you can run around with pretty green caps on your stems.

Golly, that sounds so cool!

 

The theory behind nitrogen in tires as I understand it, is that, since tires are porous, the air will leak out over time through the pores in the rubber. Nitrogen molecules are supposedly larger than regular air molecules, and as a result, allegedly will not leak out as fast. Unfortunately, once you have nitrogen in your tires, you cannot top them off at a gas station or with a regular compressor. You have to take them to a place that does nitrogen fills. If you do put regular air into a tire with nitrogen, you would then need to take the tire in to have it completely evacuated and filled again with nitrogen. I've never had nitrogen filled tires and don't really see the point. Sounds like snake oil to me.

 

Unless you specifically requested nitrogen in your tires, I would throw a fit and tell them you want your $99 back. Even if you wanted it for some strange reason, $99 is nuts!

They are ripping EVERYONE off!!

 

If your usage is similar to NASCAR there may be some small, theoretical benefit to N vs air (which is 78% N). Plus how do you KNOW that N was used to fill the tires? Nitrogen in tires is silly and a dealer/tire store rip off.

 

Yes, since nitrogen makes up 78% of the air we breath, I can't believe that replacing the rest of the 22% will make up for the inconvenience and expense of not being able to keep your tires at a proper inflation.

It's not all snake-oil though. To preserve opened fluids/chemicals/paints etc, having a blast of nitrogen into the container will evacuate the oxygen (et all) and keep the contents much more fresh (no oxidation).

I'm completely against it for automotive tire use. Waste of time and money.

 

as [SIZE=5]ASKtheteach[/SIZE] said
Some (albeit minor) truth to the theory.
Oxygen molecules are smaller than Nitrogen and can escape through the rubber molecules whereas, Nitrogen cannot.
Any surcharge for this is a waste of $ IMO

 

Where do I stand on this?

Well.. A N2 molecule is slightly larger than an O2 molecule, so it will leak out more slowly. (even though the O2 has a greater molecular weight).

Air is about 78% N2, and 21% O2, and the rest are trace gases and water vapor. If you are sure that all water vapor is removed, and the tire was completely purged of air, then You will see the benefit of less pressure leakage.

As a bonus, O2, does react with the rubber and will degrade it over time. But the O2 from the air is always working on the outside of the tire anyway.

A tire filled with N2 will actually have more pressure increase from temp change than a tire filled with air. So it may be more predictable. (useful on a race car or track car, but not so much for a street car.)

Unless you live close to a dealer where they will check and refill the tires for free for life, or have a N2 bottle and regulator in your garage, I'd pass and take the good old air.

I'd also make them remove the document and paperwork charges too. I mean it's their freaking job to sell cars and do paperwork.

 

Just tell them you don't want it. Tell them to take it back out and put in air. I fell for the scam when we bought my wife's CR-V and I regret it. It won't happen again.

 

I hope that you didn't pay for this BS if you did,you just got robbed 99.00 for nothing, total rip off, all of the car makers dealers are doing their prices vary from 69.00 to 99.00.

 

My daughter's Hyundai apparently had $1500 worth of magic invisible "paint and upholstery protection" preinstalled before it sat on the lot we were buying it from. We said,"That's very nice, but we don't want it and we won't pay for it" and the line item magically disappeared from the invoice... I suggest you do the same!

 

Yep, I agree. I would call up there service manager ASAP and told them that you did not request N2 in your tires, and you want a refund. That's no different than them deciding to change your wiper blades or any other parts on your car without your consent, and then charging you for the part.

Also, you should get online and give the dealer a bad review, and make sure others no that they are trying to rip off customers by giving them a bogus charge for N2 in their tires.

A perfect example of why I do all the worm myself on my car

 

The January 2014 issue of Consumer's Report (not positive of date, I read it in the library) had an article on nitrogen filled tires. They filled tires with air and nitrogen and let them sit for a year. The nitrogen filled tire lost slightly less pressure than the air filled tire, about 1.x PSI less.

Also, to add pressure to the nitrogen filled tire, you had to use nitrogen, which cost $$$. You couldn't use air.

Their conclusion: a slight benefit to filling with nitrogen, but not worth the $$$.

 

Correction. You don't have to use nitrogen to add pressure to your tires. Just use air as you normally would. No harm, no foul.

 

$99.00 for reals

Toyota was $20.00 and only after asked.....not before
I used it in my '08 Prius for 5 years
It's called peace of mind or personal preference
Costco, NTB, Firestone, all had it and a stop by if needed would get you a free top off without an appointment.
Not sure I saved the whole having to top it off lots, but seemed I almost never did......6 times maybe!
Course we were into LRR tire ratings and over inflated tires and the whole Hypermileing thingie.

Kind of like oil in these beasts, one guy swears by one brand, another swears by his fav, bottom line......personal pref

But adding $99.00 to the bill BEFORE you walk into the door.......tell them thanks, turn and walk away, I'd be willing to bet the fee disappears fast!

 

Correction to the correction. To keep your tires filled with nitrogen only, you have to fill only with nitrogen. Which means a dealer or tire store, which usually means $.

However if you do not care about nitrogen, feel free to fill the tires with normal air and ditch the green caps.

 

I bought both my MINIS from Baltimore and I had to tell them to NOT


fill my tires with nitrogen.

 

I think there's a little benefit to the fact that the N2 supplied is usually fairly water-vapor free,
and a tiny bit of benefit to N2 vs air's N2/O2 mix, but it's not really worth bothering with,
much less pay for.

 

Funny! You can keep the green caps. They'll never know.

 

But if you keep them on won't people try to charge you for a nitrogen top-up?

 

I did some tire testing for motorcycles on tracks years ago, and for a 20 lap race with slicks that are discarded after a race, there is a slight advantage to N2 being more predictable on pressure/heat. I cannot possibly believe the average driver would appreciate it unless they regularly drive from low altitude to above 7,000 feet in mountains. Commuting from your Rocky Mountain cabin into Denver? Still not enough altitude change to be significant even when hot from cornering on your own private racetrack down the mountain.

 

From NASCAR website:

"The reason NASCAR tires are inflated with nitrogen, rather than the normal air we pump into our tires, is due to the increased stability under hotter temperatures that the gas exhibits. It allows the tire pressure (50 pounds per square inch) to remain constant throughout the race regardless of the temperature, which can reach 200 degrees Fahrenheit."

Don't see that as a requirement for my needs. The only reason to use an inert gas or non oxidizing gas would be if the car was going to be on long term display like a museum or in long term storage. Just my opinion and YMMV.

 

actually you should fill them with helium so your car will weigh less . . .

my son the chemical engineer cracks up when he sees a place selling nitrogen tire fills . . .

next thing you know people will pay several dollars for a bottle of WATER

p.s.unless the tire is purged of ALL AIR b4 the pure nitrogen is introduced ... a vacuum .. then all that is happening is the normal nitrogen concentration is being increased but there are STILL the other gasses and water vapor present . . .

 

Rubbish. From the gas laws, pressure in a sealed system is proportional to absolute temperature, i.e. degrees Kelvin (K) above absolute zero. If your tyre temperature goes from 300K (warm day) to 350K (not hot enough to boil water, but uncomfortable to touch) then the pressure increases by at least 16% (350/300), no matter what gas you use.

The advantage of DRY nitrogen is the DRY part, not the nitrogen part. If you used dry air with the water removed it would be just the same as far as pressure changes with temperature are concerned. They even state that here on the nitrogen webpage.