benz4asc

Is Tire and Wheel Protection insurance worth the cost especiall for those with AMG sports wheels and low profile tires? On average, how much does the insurance cost? Thanks.

LaicepsYdobon

I got mine at my dealer at the inception of the car. It cost me $8xx USD and it lasts the lifetime of the car. If the roads by you are bad then I would advise you to get it. Especially if you have AMG wheels or other low profile wheels. It just give you a piece of mind.

highroller550

how does it really work? how many times can you claim

LaicepsYdobon

If you get a puncture, bubble or tear they will replace the tire (only the damaged tire, not the entire set) for free for unlimited number of times; or course this means that your tires have to be in satisfactory condition to get a new one. So if you hit a pot hole and get a tear/bubble in your tire or run over a nail and get a puncture you will get a free tire replacement. If you have curb rash of your rims they will polish it out for you. If you have a cracked rim (OEM rim only) they will replace the rim for you. Fortunately I never had to use this before but I was speaking to someone who hit a pothole pretty hard and had a bubble in their tire and cracked a rim and they gave him a new tire and rim free of charge. I also believe that free tire balancing is also part of this insurance package but you want to check with your sales person or service adviser on that.

sosh

Personally I did not buy this protection and feel that at least for me its not necessary. Have been driving MB's exclusively since 1998 and always had and have 2 in my garage. I live in a very pot hole prevalent area and I have never damaged a tire or a wheel on one. I average about 1 flat per car every 2 years and all have been easilly repairable.Its quite a profit center for the dealer. There are lots of risks in life and this is one of them, albeit a very minor risk.

amdeutsch

This is all dependent on how the policy is written. It pays to read prior to purchase. Not every stealer is going to carry the same policy or have the same pricing.

YMMV. $0.02

And the statement above in red.



Curb rash means loss of metal in most cases. Polishing will still leave a gap/imperfection.

Nothing special of course.

Misinformation verboten.

mvpjeffmvp

Don't I feel stupid! I denied the coverage. Long story short last week hit a pothole and damged two passenger side tires AND rims. I have the AMG Rims on my W212. $2,965 later!!!!!!!!

aeggroup

I had the policy with my last 2008 E and changed 4 tires during my 2 year lease. Now with my 2010 E - I did not buy it at delivery 3 months ago.
I hit pothole 2 weeks ago in NJ, damaged the rim, next day went to my MB dealer and bought the policy for $9xx.00 ....
Now I'm waiting couple weeks to go back and file a claim to change the rim. I live in NYC and tire insurance "a must option" in our area. Totally worth it.

RickP330

No brainer - you should get it. I paid 1K for mine I've already made that back. over 50K on my 204 I have gotten multiple flats - 2 tires replaced, one tire and rim and 4 wheel alignment and suspension damage from a pothole. Only downside is that they only cover up to 35 bucks for a flat and when mercedes removes the tire and patches and remounts and balances it's like $40 or so. so it costs you a few bucks to get it done right

lynnally1

If you get this package,which I did, please know that you will lose a day or two waiting for the service department to fix it. I had a flat on Sunday (service dept closed) and on Monday, service dept needed a full day to change the tire. So, I'm unable to go into the office. Had I used a tire center for this, it would have been done on Sunday, IN A FEW HOURS. Personally, I will never buy a tire package again because it takes too long to get serviced.

VegasE

Although most posters that have it seem to love it, it is expensive and redundant insurance. In most areas of the US you can take your car to a tire store and get full road hazard tire replacement insurance, even if you did not buy the tires there, for about $25 a tire. Discount Tire and Americas Tire does this in the Southwest, among many others. Tire chains are more easily accessible for flats, etc than MB dealerships. Damage to your car from a pothole is already covered by your car insurance. That leaves curb rash which can be repaired in my area for about $100 per wheel.

Rogue Leader

I declined this in buying my car this weekend. My car does have the 18" AMG wheels. I also live in NY. My first main reason is I have been driving cars with low profile wheels and tires for well over 10 years and I have only bent 1 rim ever, a 20" rim on my camaro and I know how I did it (the curb by my driveway that I used to drive over a bit too quickly). Never damaged or bubbled a tire and I've owned Corvettes and other cars like that.

Now theres a first time for everything of course. So lets say the worst happens, broken rim, bad tire. I priced it out

$229 - 1 Continental on Tire Rack
$350 - 1 AMG RIM on Ebay (Hell you can buy a whole set for $850!)
$50 - Mount and balance at a reputable tire shop

So for $629 (say $700 after tax) you're all set to go. Yes the one bad thing is you may be without a car for a couple days (tirerack usually gets you the tires next day or day after), but I just don't see this happening often enough to be worth it.

Now as a modifier to that, if you damage the wheel and its NOT destroyed, there are a number of local wheel places that will refinish the wheel as new for $150. I've done this before (on my damaged camaro wheel mentioned before) and its perfect, better than new. So say the wheel isn't shot, $150 plus $229 for the tire, and the wheel place will mount the new tire for you in that price, $380 and you're done.

Someone mentioned paying only $800 for lifetime, that may be worth it (based on the price I mentioned above). But $1895 for 5 years (which is what my dealer wanted)? no way.