idorky

so,.... the chief of staff took her 2019 x253 RWD to our local stealership for her first service maintenance, mid day she got a message from the service adviser saying, "their tech is recommending to replace the left rear tyre due to there's a nail in the tyre and since the tyre are runflats, it's not repairable. replacement tyre is $298.29." chief of staff called me and told me to call the stealership to find out more. I called the service adviser and asked what's going on, he said their tech found a nail on the shoulder of the runflat tyre, i asked, was it leaking? he said no, but the tech took the nail out and the tyre is off the vehicle. After hearing that, i just composed myself and said, if the nail is there, and there's no leak why would your tech take the nail out with out informing us first knowing we will be forced to purchase a new tyre. Service adviser says he'll consult with the tech and call me back for an update. (at this point i'm just keeping my cool). service adviser called back, sir you're in luck the nail did not fully penetrate and the tyre will be needing replacement soon. Games stealership plays, lucky we still have four more stealership around our area to try. it's just sad,.... we love the marque, she's our third one and the first brand new one. It's just unfortunate some that represent the marque leaves a sour taste that lives behind the throat.

BobbyT

To me, this sounds like an abundance of caution on the part of the dealership. Some nail punctures are not repairable, depending on the location. Impossible for them to tell the depth of penetration without withdrawing the nail. To do otherwise would be careless of them, expose you to a flat tire or blowout at speed or at a very inconvenient location. I think you are being a bit quick to throw this dealer under the bus. But that's just my two cents...

George in KG

Nails and car tires are a bad mix. Sounds to me like the dealership was providing good service. You can always go elsewhere to buy tires and avoid the MB markup.

kombifan

I'm with op.

Have had some phantom nails show up and disappear when questioned in the first year of ownership before I settled down with my trusted sa.

ajmtbm

had they notified you before they did anything and let you see it to decide i think would have been good service

doing half the job then asking for $300 to replace seems a little off to me. i would not have been happy and would likely take my subsequent business elsewhere

linus69

That scam is so old it has long white whiskers, in this day and age when everyone has a high resolution camera in their pocket the tech could have taken a series of pictures/videos as evidence of this dangerous "phantom" nail that only the tech (who likely gets a commission on all the business he produces for the service dept.) was witness to. But I bet you can get a good deal on some good used low-mileage run flats at this dealership.

Jetfuture

Was the nail on the inside or outside shoulder? If it was on the outside shoulder, why did you not notice it beforehand? I don't think a dealership/service tech is going to chance longterm business with a fake tire discrepancy for a service netting them about $75 in profit.

And if true, and I believe it was, a puncture on the shoulder of an extended-mobility tire is generally not fixable.

Honestly, I'd just switch the tire and go about my business. For those of us with 4Matic, it likely would have required replacement of all 4 tires.

idorky

Hello BobbyT, thanks for the thoughts, i appreciate the job they do but, the way they do things just as stated, one may very much think the intent is otherwise. Hello Jetfuture, the puncture is on the corner shoulders of the side wall, it's small for me to notice. i very much understand that it may be hazardous when left unmended, but at least give me a chance to decide and not put me in a situation. And yes, my original run-flats are halfway to be replace, i'm replacing the original pirelli 235-60-18 run-flats to a michelin X LT A/S 245-60-18, it's a bit wider and taller, (it's not drastic of a change that i believe it'll affect handling and create rubbing) as far as back up emergency plan, i'm still on a research on the best option. thanks for all the thoughts, and i really enjoy this MB community

mtberman

It's hard to please customers. If a nail is left in a tire and the owner finds it, the dealership is blamed for not doing anything about it. If a nail is found and they tell the customer, the dealership is blamed for not doing anything about it. If a nail is removed and a leak found, the dealership is blamed for not leaving the nail alone. If a nail is removed, there's no leak, the dealer doesn't recommend a new tire, and the tire later goes flat, the dealership is blamed. If a nail is removed and the dealership recommends a new tire (which would be the proper thing to do) they are blamed for that, too.

I think that no matter what they did the result would have been blaming the dealer. As mentioned above I think the best suggestion is to take it to a tire store.

VancityGLC

BMW and Mercedes dealers here don't repair run-flat tires under any circumstances. So when I found a nail in my run-flat tire and NOT on the side-wall/shoulder, I took the car to the nearest Fountain Tire and they fixed it for me for $70. So any any situation like this, always try your local tire shop instead

kombifan

The issue isn't that the dealership does or doesn't.
It's that this often happens when there is no way to verify if there is a nail or not over the phone.
And if there is something....the issue is don't perform work that requires immediate more paid work that the customer didn't authorize.
That's the whole premise of shops being required to have a written estimate before work is performed so a customer isn't taken aback by an updated even higher work order they didn't authorize.
Phantom nails are a real thing....

mtberman

I disagree. As so many others have already posted, the dealership was acting out of an abundance of caution, and trying to protect the OP.

The OP didn't say unauthorized work was performed. In fact it was the opposite: The dealership called to say a safety inspection (which is part of the service) revealed a problem. They explained it, quoted a repair price, and asked for authorization. This is an ethically sound practice and is a "must do" for the dealer from both a liability and a customer service standpoint.

The customer chose to characterize this as an attempt to "steal" from them. Based on the responses, it appears other people on this forum also believe car dealers put nails in customers' tires in order to sell more tires. If a person believe a business is willing to sabotage your car to sell you tires, my suggestion would be to go elsewhere. The men and women who work at the dealership are just trying to do their jobs. Most of them work hard every day and I don't think they need more drama in their lives.

My dealer's techs use a handheld camera and video the inspections. So does the BMW dealer who works on our BMW. The service writer at BMW told me they do it both for the convenience of their customers and to eliminate accusations like the ones being made here.

idorky

I am truly sorry, mtberman, i understand the frustration seeing both sides, i've seen both sides as well, and have stories that will make one cringe, (most working person sees their daily job as a job and just put their allotted tyme with no care) of course as they say, and it applies to all situation, one bad apple ....... , stereotyping ...... well,... it's just the society we're in, and you're on the difficult side. The question is moving forward, for an honest, straight person that values service and trust, what can one do to gain positive attitude without a doubtful feeling. Love and appreciate your purpose, master your craft, share with honesty and sincerity, and you will be rewarded in kind or otherwise. Hopefully the stealership mentality will change. Only a few good ambassadors of ones craft are left.