toddjb122
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2006
- Posts
- 1,951
- Reaction score
- 267
...if you care about your vehicle. Seriously, it is not worth it. For the price you may save on tires and a service contract you will *more* that pay for that in your time wasted and damage to your vehicle.
I'll give a specific example below, but basically, when I decided to upgrade my GY tires to the Michelin Synchrones I inquired if anyone should be able to work on a LR and was told, "sure, take it to anyone." I'll now say from experience that if you have paid a good chunk of change for your vehicle, you probably care about it enough that it is worth paying for someone to service it who will also work on it with care. Some care, anyway...
Since the initial tire install with them I have been back for a couple allignments and a recent flat repair which turned into a catastrophe. Some bad NTB service examples;
Next time I buy tires, they will be installed at the dealer or a privately owned automotive shop I trust.
Here is my recent experience. Its long, but this is a draft of a letter I'm going to send off to NTB when all this is finished.
Two initial questions,
(1) Should I be concerned that a non-LR shop is replacing my wheel hub? Anything special about this work?
(2) Is it safe to drive around on 4 lug nuts (5th one cross threaded and almost off)?
12/4 - Took tire in for flat (slow leak over 2 days). Nobody could look at it, so I asked to at least top off the air until I come back. Pumped up air and told me to come back tomorrow. No appointments are taken so just come by anytime and they'll take care of me!
12/5 - Came by at 11:00, was told by Kevin that it would be a 2-3 hour wait. Waited for a bit then went home. Called at 4:00, they had done the allignment, but had not yet looked at the tire repair, rotate or balancing. They said it'd be 30 minutes. I told them I'd be there by 4:30. I came in and nothing had been done and at 5:00 they looked at the tire and said it can't be repaired because the nail was too close to the side of the tire. I'd have to buy a new tire. At this point I'm pretty annoyed because obviously, someone could have glanced at the tire when I dropped off the car to do a quick assessment. I had a piece of tape on the wheel pointing to the nail!!!
- I reminded them that these tires should have damage protection, he looked, said it was covered, but since it was after 5:00 he couldn't order a tire until tomorrow (Thursday) which he would do first thing in the morning. New tire mounting and balancing would cost me $40.
12/6 - I called in the afternoon to see if the tire was ordered and was told that the tech from yesterday, who was going to order it as soon as he got in, was off today. So another guy called but since it was late in the day he didn't figure it would make it out on a truck for delivery.
12/10 - Tire is in. I go to get the new tire installed, along with the rotation and balance. I remind them as I do every time that the front tire pressure is 33 and the rear pressure is 42. They never adjust the pressure even though the F/R tire pressure is printed at the top of their work order form.
New tire is installed, rotation and balancing complete. They know I am in a rush and that I had to wait 6 hours last week to get nothing done. Still, work is completed in an hour and the truck sits for 30 minutes before someone pulls it out of the garage only after I ask about it.
12/11 - Upon checking the air pressure I realize that one front is at 42, one is at 38 and the rears are at 34. The tech (*****) did not adjust tire pressures as directed. I had also left a large note inside the vehicle and the tech is the one who drove it in and out. In short, he clearly did not give a sh*t about the quality of his work. While I am adding air to my tires I realize that one of the lug nuts is barely on the stud.
I drive back to NTB and the desk manager, John, realizes that it is cross threaded. The mechanic is gone for the day and they'll have to order a new nut from Land Rover and probably a new stud as well as it will likely break off when they remove it. John says he will order a new stud first thing tomorrow and will call me with status.
12/12 John has the service manager Pete order the part and is told by LR that this repair will entail an entire new hub assembly, (not just a stud). Therefore, the part is on order and should be received by 12/14 at which time a mechanic will be on hand to complete the work....
..as much as you would expect, I have not "gone off" on them during this experience. The desk people are friendly, the place just continues to f*ck up. Every time they screw up they apologize and I feel like nothing I shout would improve the situation anyway, so why be an asshole just for the sake of yelling. ?
I would much rather have LR complete the hub replacement work and bill NTB, but I think that will be a hard argument on my part. I'm open to suggestions on how to do this, but when another shop f'd up something on my car they argued for doing the repair with their own techs for obvious reasons (its cheaper for them).
I'm open to suggestions, but more importantly, just don't use NTB!
This particular NTB is located in Germantown, MD.
-todd
I'll give a specific example below, but basically, when I decided to upgrade my GY tires to the Michelin Synchrones I inquired if anyone should be able to work on a LR and was told, "sure, take it to anyone." I'll now say from experience that if you have paid a good chunk of change for your vehicle, you probably care about it enough that it is worth paying for someone to service it who will also work on it with care. Some care, anyway...
Since the initial tire install with them I have been back for a couple allignments and a recent flat repair which turned into a catastrophe. Some bad NTB service examples;
- Whatever time estimate I was given they always blew away by at least doubling the amount of time (a 2 hour visit will always be 4 hours...30 minutes never means less than 90 minutes, etc.)
- My car is always returned with grease all over the steering wheel, seat, and carpet. (no carpet covers)
- My wheel is scratched both where they put on the lugnuts, and around the rim where equipment is used to remove the old tire (again, no care to protect your investment).
- Tire pressures are NEVER adjusted properly, tire caps are lost, and your vehicle may be backed out of the garage, at high speed, at night, with no lights, into the parking lot where there is other traffic.
- In short, the entire operation is an accident waiting to happen.
- There is clearly no management structure to train anybody here on even a remotely acceptable quality process.
Next time I buy tires, they will be installed at the dealer or a privately owned automotive shop I trust.
Here is my recent experience. Its long, but this is a draft of a letter I'm going to send off to NTB when all this is finished.
Two initial questions,
(1) Should I be concerned that a non-LR shop is replacing my wheel hub? Anything special about this work?
(2) Is it safe to drive around on 4 lug nuts (5th one cross threaded and almost off)?
12/4 - Took tire in for flat (slow leak over 2 days). Nobody could look at it, so I asked to at least top off the air until I come back. Pumped up air and told me to come back tomorrow. No appointments are taken so just come by anytime and they'll take care of me!
12/5 - Came by at 11:00, was told by Kevin that it would be a 2-3 hour wait. Waited for a bit then went home. Called at 4:00, they had done the allignment, but had not yet looked at the tire repair, rotate or balancing. They said it'd be 30 minutes. I told them I'd be there by 4:30. I came in and nothing had been done and at 5:00 they looked at the tire and said it can't be repaired because the nail was too close to the side of the tire. I'd have to buy a new tire. At this point I'm pretty annoyed because obviously, someone could have glanced at the tire when I dropped off the car to do a quick assessment. I had a piece of tape on the wheel pointing to the nail!!!
- I reminded them that these tires should have damage protection, he looked, said it was covered, but since it was after 5:00 he couldn't order a tire until tomorrow (Thursday) which he would do first thing in the morning. New tire mounting and balancing would cost me $40.
12/6 - I called in the afternoon to see if the tire was ordered and was told that the tech from yesterday, who was going to order it as soon as he got in, was off today. So another guy called but since it was late in the day he didn't figure it would make it out on a truck for delivery.
12/10 - Tire is in. I go to get the new tire installed, along with the rotation and balance. I remind them as I do every time that the front tire pressure is 33 and the rear pressure is 42. They never adjust the pressure even though the F/R tire pressure is printed at the top of their work order form.
New tire is installed, rotation and balancing complete. They know I am in a rush and that I had to wait 6 hours last week to get nothing done. Still, work is completed in an hour and the truck sits for 30 minutes before someone pulls it out of the garage only after I ask about it.
12/11 - Upon checking the air pressure I realize that one front is at 42, one is at 38 and the rears are at 34. The tech (*****) did not adjust tire pressures as directed. I had also left a large note inside the vehicle and the tech is the one who drove it in and out. In short, he clearly did not give a sh*t about the quality of his work. While I am adding air to my tires I realize that one of the lug nuts is barely on the stud.
I drive back to NTB and the desk manager, John, realizes that it is cross threaded. The mechanic is gone for the day and they'll have to order a new nut from Land Rover and probably a new stud as well as it will likely break off when they remove it. John says he will order a new stud first thing tomorrow and will call me with status.
12/12 John has the service manager Pete order the part and is told by LR that this repair will entail an entire new hub assembly, (not just a stud). Therefore, the part is on order and should be received by 12/14 at which time a mechanic will be on hand to complete the work....
..as much as you would expect, I have not "gone off" on them during this experience. The desk people are friendly, the place just continues to f*ck up. Every time they screw up they apologize and I feel like nothing I shout would improve the situation anyway, so why be an asshole just for the sake of yelling. ?
I would much rather have LR complete the hub replacement work and bill NTB, but I think that will be a hard argument on my part. I'm open to suggestions on how to do this, but when another shop f'd up something on my car they argued for doing the repair with their own techs for obvious reasons (its cheaper for them).
I'm open to suggestions, but more importantly, just don't use NTB!
This particular NTB is located in Germantown, MD.
-todd
