I recently signed a deal for a demo 3 series. When I picked it up the car looked great and I didn’t see any curb rash or anything. Fast forward a week and I go to Costco tire center to get some Michelin pilot sports put in.
While I was on the phone outside I saw the tire center employee drive my car around the parking lot and gun it down the side street. A little annoying but I didn’t bring it up cus I didn’t want the guy to get in trouble and I was in a good mood. I went inside the costco and did some shopping for an hour when they called me and said the car was ready. The driver’s seat was in a completely different position too but I didn’t care because I didn’t see the rims and wasn’t pissed off yet.
Anyways, after getting the tires put in I drove home and when I get out of the car I see a ton of scraping on the rims (looks like curb rash). It was dark out so I didn’t notice it at costco. I don’t park on the street and I know I couldn’t have done it myself in such a short amount of time.
I called the tire center and they sent the pictures I took to the claims dept. Claims got back to me yesterday and told me they don’t believe the tire center caused the damage, so I asked them to take a look at the security footage to see if they can find anything. Now the claims dept will probably see that footage of the employee gunning it from the cameras around the the parking lot but I honestly care more about the rims than anything.
If the tire center didn’t cause the damage, could it be possible that the dealer hid the damage from me when I picked it up? I swear the car looked fine when I picked it up and I even asked the dealer whether there was any cosmetic damage such as curb rash before coming in and they said no.
I don’t know if they did hide it or whether I’m trippin but I know I didn’t mess up my rims and all of the sudden there’s damage after I get back from costco.
I’m a bit bummed out about these rims considering I just got the car. I don’t want to have to pay for wear and tear and drive with messed up rims for 3 years.
I have purchased tires from Costco many times, and I do not believe they ever drove my cars more than a few feet from the parking space to the bay. It seems much more likely the damage was done at Costco than at the dealer. For cosmetic damage like this, I doubt the dealer will do anything at this point. Hopefully Costco will step up.
To me, the last picture appears to show scratches to the tire as well as the rim. That would indicate the damage occurred after the new tires were installed.
I debated that as well, but it looks to me like that is the tire bead lubricant? There doesn’t seem to be the same type of visual reference on the rubber in the other photos, especially the one that shows the rubber of the tire sticking out significantly past the edge of the rim?
Unpopular opinion: a talented wheel repair can fix that for $150 or so. If it’s going to take more than 2-3 hours of your time to fight this with Costco, just do that.
That said, I’m willing to bet Costco steps up here.
Yea, the other pictures show no marks, and it is not clear what the last picture shows. Now that I noticed that this was a demo, and three rims are scratched, I am thinking this happened before the lease.
If costco steps up and offers some compensation, great! But otherwise, find yourself a good rim repair place and it’s about ~$100/rim. They come out looking brand spanking new.
Possible, but there’s no way this is the dealer’s fault now after 1 week of ownership and you having the tires changed out. This is between you and Costco now.
Could you please clarify what you mean by that? Does the rubber sticking out past the rim mean the tires aren’t properly fitted? I can take some other pictures today if that could clear things up or if there is anything specific I should look out for.
With the tire sticking out past the rim, the metal couldn’t hit the curb without the tire first hitting. One would expect to see wear evidence on the tire as well as the wheel.
Did you take any pictures at delivery? I know most people are pretty excited about their new car and they normally take a few pics to show it off. You can always try and zoom in and see if there was any curb rash or not. As most have said, looks like it’s on the tires as well as the rim so likely caused by the employee at Costco tire center.
If the phone support is not getting you anywhere, social media may be the next way to tackle it.
Unfortunately I only took pictures once I got home from the dealership and not right then on the spot. I zoomed in and I can’t see any curb rash but I don’t have any real close ups - if it’s there it wasn’t obvious to me at the time.
