The pictures you just posted seem pretty clear to me that there wasn’t any curb rash then. I also agree that it appears that the tires appear to have curb rash on them
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Those seem pretty cut and clear that there wasn’t any curb damage at the time of pick up. I think you can easily prove your case that it was done at Costco. The picture you posted above contains meta data that will show what time, (location), etc. which can be further used to prove it.
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The tires look clean. Are you saying they drove it before they installed the new tires?
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Yeah, they drove it before installing the new tires and possibly after as well.
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Good to know. Thanks for mentioning meta data.
The rash didn’t necessarily have to be from a curb or even driving.
I had similar damage on the rims of my commuter car after having tires installed at a Walmart tire center recently. The car never moved from its place. I was annoyed but it’s an old car and I was being cheap, so it’s my own fault.
I think a careless tech and/or beat up tire changing machine (missing rubber protectors, misaligned parts, etc.) can do as much damage to aluminum rims as a poor driver can.
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Yeah I mean the rims look noticeably bad now, even from 10 ft away. I’ve generally heard good things about costco tire center. At the worst, I thought there might be a light thin white scratch from the maching but not something to this extent.
Even more unpopular opinions:
- ALWAYS inspect the car at delivery (in person, but especially if it’s shipped). Take detailed photos immediately of any issues
- if you are taking a brand new car in for (in this case tire work): ALWAYS take photos of before and after
It’s impossible for Costco to know if, for instance, you curbed them at the drive thru right after you had the tires replaced. I trust you didn’t, but imagine what people try and pull off that we don’t know (because there is plenty of nonsense we do know).
And if you saw something,
And didn’t say something then, it didn’t happen. Maybe they can pull surveillance, but don’t rely on it.
+
Good luck!
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Correct, if they had the tire machine incorrectly adjusted the guide which forces the tire onto the rim itself can flex and rub on the edge/face of the wheel. The tire machines have accessory nylon covers to try and guard against this, however most guys don’t use them. They simply snap on and come off easily which can be a hassle.
At this point it’s hard to prove because of the lapse of time. I would still approach the manager of the tire department. If they’re honest, they’ll recognize this as being caused by improper setup of the machine.
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Any reason why you changed the tires on a (relatively) brand new car ?
They could’ve had all season tires or run flats and he didn’t want those so got new ones
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The OEM tires on that car are all season run flats. Some folks prefer to buy better non run flat tires, and keep the OEM tires for reinstallation upon return of the car.
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Is your time to fight this worth 150? Maybe it is, and maybe not. Only you can decide that
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Same thing happened to my LR4 rims when I purchased new tires from Firestone. Luckily I had the tire/rim package and didn’t have to pay anything for the fix, but I am 100% sure it was from whatever machine they use to remove and reinstall the tires.
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the rash predates the new tires
Yeah…it look that way to me with the below. The tire in the area of this rash shows no similar signs.
Its hard to be 100% sure in the delivery pics, but 3 rims getting damaged by Costco by driving in the lot seems hard to fathom.
It seems a possibility that the damage might have been done between the time the wheels were taken off the car and put back on, either by careless handling or tire mounting/balancing.
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That’s curb rash not nicking from a tire changer. You’re not going to get grinding spots like that from a tire changer even if it was their first time with no protection.
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Same thoughts here…I was trying to be open minded on all the possibilities, but this looks like concrete gouging against metal…if the wheels were handled with zero care and thrown around it seems possible this could happen when they were off the car, but even this seems hard to imagine.
@Kleeskey …did they by chance drive this car onto a platform of some sort with wheel guide rails?
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The wheel rash also looks oxidized/dirty. I would expect fresh wheel rash to be shiny for a bit immediately after it happened.
Has anyone else drove the car between when you got it and taking it to Costco?