My Big Fat Costco fail

[Davidinseattle]

Went to Costco last week to buy new tires for the LR4. Paid for the Michelin Premier LTX's and set my appointment for the following Thursday. Costco tire shop called me a day later and told me my tires were in and to set an appointment. So, I'm all set.

I called Costco tire on the day of my appointment to confirm my 1:00 pm time. Yes, we have your Land Rover scheduled for 1:00 pm today". Great see you then I say.

I get there and hand the guy my keys. He says it will be done in 90 minutes. Takes two steps towards the tire bays, looks at the paperwork and says, "Is this a Land Rover?". What does it say on the paperwork, I ask? "Land Rover", he replies. Then, yes, it's a land rover..."Oh, we can't work on Land Rovers". AYFKMRN? I say. "no, we don't have the right lifts for LR air suspension.

You're a tire shop, right? "Yes". Your website sold me tires for my LR and charged me for install on a LR, right? "Yes" and the receipt for the tires I bought last week clearly says Land Rover LR4 at the top, right? Total $h!t show folks.

The net net of the whole deal is that these people at the Costco on 4th in Seattle are idiots. The "manager" blamed it on Land Rover for making vehicles that are hard to work on. Yes, i am serious. I told him he was an idiot, well, because he was. i ended up calling Discount Tire in Bellevue who set 4 Michelin Premiers aside for me and squeezed me in that afternoon matching the Costco price. The Discount Tire guys were the only ones to apologize for my experience at Costco.

Bottom line, if they don't have the right equipment, they probably don't have the right personnel either and they are probably going to screw up your car. Best to go somewhere where roasted chicken and bulk canned goods aren't sold along with a tire change.

 

[Ric in Richmond]

Wait....are you not allowed to lift a LR4 on a lift? Seriously?

 

[cperez]

That's really something and thanks for sharing. Mind if I ask what they were going to charge for the mounting portion of the purchase? It's probably because I've learned enough to be dangerous on this forum, but I think I'll stick with my indy shop for this kind of thing. This is because they will know how to lift my vehicle and also because of the lugnut torquing specs and all-around better knowledge base. Glad it worked out for you in the end.

 

[Davidinseattle]

mounting/balancing with $15 a tire.

 

[Davidinseattle]

Wait....are you not allowed to lift a LR4 on a lift? Seriously?

yes, you can. You just need to have the special pegs to hit the proper lift points. Discount Tire had the proper lift for it.

 

[ryanjl]

I haven't seen a Costco vehicle lift, but it's plausible that they are only as tall as needed for a normal tire swap and do not go up high enough to accommodate an LR4 that thinks its high centered and puts itself into extended mode.

The solution would be to lock the suspension into a service mode, or access height. If they are still afraid it will extend the suspension, they can disconnect the battery before they lift it.

Still, I wonder how they change tires on a full-size, "heavy duty" truck? Surely the frames on those needs to be lifted higher than an LR4's, even when in extended height.

 

[Davidinseattle]

I haven't seen a Costco vehicle lift, but it's plausible that they are only as tall as needed for a normal tire swap and do not go up high enough to accommodate an LR4 that thinks its high centered and puts itself into extended mode.

The solution would be to lock the suspension into a service mode, or access height. If they are still afraid it will extend the suspension, they can disconnect the battery before they lift it.

Still, I wonder how they change tires on a full-size, "heavy duty" truck? Surely the frames on those needs to be lifted higher than an LR4's, even when in extended height.

ryan,

they pulled out a book with all the lift points for land rovers and it showed the four lift points and the the spot where the tabs met the frame. I checked how Discount tire lifted it and it resembles the diagram I saw in the book at costco. That's all I know.

 

[mbw]

I love my local discount tire place, but even they are freaked out by land rovers. They were really scared of the air suspension. I think some older models, P38, etc had the risk of blowing up the air bags if you didnt handle things correctly. Im not sure of the details.

 

[Ric in Richmond]

I threw mine up on my dad's lift. Just used some common sense as to where to pick it up....and yes even my dad had the high lift pegs to get the pads up where they needed to be.

 

[ryanjl]

ryan,

they pulled out a book with all the lift points for land rovers and it showed the four lift points and the the spot where the tabs met the frame. I checked how Discount tire lifted it and it resembles the diagram I saw in the book at costco. That's all I know.

I'm not talking about the lift points. I'm talking about how the LR4 will extend the suspension down when it thinks it's high-centered. Maybe Costco doesn't think their lifts go high enough to accommodate?

But, re-reading what you wrote, maybe their lift can't reach the proper lift points? Who knows. Either way, they sound like morons.