New all terrain tires for LR3...funny story

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mrsneakyz28

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So first off, this is my first post on the forum. Sorry for the long post to follow, but I think the background info is warranted...

Earlier this year I picked up an LR3 HSE Lux for my wife\family car. We are loving it so far, and have done some off roading already. The vehicle did great, and only had some trouble in some very deep mud ruts we probably shouldn't have gone through with street tires anyway :biggrin: But I knew what my first mod would be...decent all terrain's!

I was casually browsing around for a set of 18's to pick up since there are more tires available for that wheel size...but not much luck. I decided just to wait it out until our Michelin all seasons wore down a bit more, or until I found a good deal on local 18's.

Fast forward to this week...my wife was driving out of our neighborhood and got a flat. It was beyond repair and the tread depth on a new tire would have been too far off to not replace the whole set. Perfect excuse to get those all terrains! Luckily I had already done all my research and knew exactly what I wanted, Cooper LTZ's in 255/55R19. I quickly went to treaddepot.com and 3 days later the Coopers arrived. Now keep in mind, my wife had to drive the car a few miles back and forth to work on the spare (I wasn't thrilled about that, but I digress).

So the tires come in today while I'm at work, so I instruct her to load them up into the LR3 and head on over to the tire shop where I have conveniently scheduled an install. This was my mistake. You have a woman with two children driving up to a tire shop in a luxury suv (in one of the most yuppy areas in the country to boot). She lets the gentleman at the counter know she has an appointment to have 4 tires mounted on her Land Rover. About 10 minutes later I get a call from my wife and she asks me to call the tire shop because they told her we had the wrong tires for the vehicle...ok, so I give them a call. This is what transpired:

Tireshop: "Sir you are going from a v rated tire to an h rated tire, this isn't the right one for your land rover."

Me: "Sure it is, it's an all terrain tire. They don't make v rated all terrains with this size\load rating."

Tireshop: "It's unsafe to use anything less than the factory spec so we cannot install this tire"

Me: "This tire is designed for these vehicles and has been fully vetted and used for it's combination of on and offroad compatibility with these vehicles. I am an educated customer and I wouldn't have purchased these tires if they were unsafe."

Tireshop: "None of our other customers with LR's run tires like this, or with less than a v rating"

Me: "None of your other customers use LR's for what they are supposed to be used for..."

Tireshop: "That's right."

Me: "That's right."

Tireshop: Akward silence

Me: "So can you go ahead and install the tires please"

Tireshop: "No it's unsafe and a liability. We can sell you the correct Michelin's though."

Me: "Thanks we will go elsewhere."

What the hell? Have you ever heard of this **** before? Do you think he was just trying to get one over on us because we brought in tires that were bought elsewhere? Especially since it was a woman with kids that brought it in. Or are they really that nitpicky about the speed rating? As I said...they are A\T's...find me an A\T with a v speed rating...better yet, convince me LR's were not designed to run A\T's, and in fact are sport trucks that we should be driving over 130mph.:stupid:
 

CMGRover

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I run Nitto Terras on mine- never had an issue with the speed rating, not sure what it on them but it's safe. The tire shop here once I brought them and they put it on, other time I just had them order them. I'd find a new shop.
 

roverman

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Never heard of a policy like that with tires. Pretty silly, but maybe their insurance forces them to. Or they were hoping for an upwell. Anyway, they lose your business and there's more than likely another shop down the street. NBD.

It'd be even funnier (but make more sense) if they refused to sell anyone a V rated tire because "nobody should drive that fast anyway"
 

takeo81

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I have heard of it here in Arizona.. It is about liability due to the fact that if they put tires with a speed rating lower than the OEM tires you start driving 150mph and have a blow out they can be held liable.
 

mrsneakyz28

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Best part is, I cross referenced several sources as well as the manual and one of the factory tire sizes IS an H rated tire. It even says it on the door of the car. They were just looking at what I was running before. We went to sears and they took care of it no questions.
 

morrisdl

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HA - love it! I think they are just perterbed that you didnt buy the tires from them. I got a similar call from the shop when I sent the wife and kid to get tires installed and I had bought the "wrong tire". This shop thought the load rating was too high and the ride would be too harsh. I appreciated their concern, and they proceeded with my verbal confirmation.

h-rated is good <130mph - faster than that in an LR3 would be nuts!
 

mrsneakyz28

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Never heard of a policy like that with tires. Pretty silly, but maybe their insurance forces them to. Or they were hoping for an upwell. Anyway, they lose your business and there's more than likely another shop down the street. NBD.

It'd be even funnier (but make more sense) if they refused to sell anyone a V rated tire because "nobody should drive that fast anyway"

Haha I wouldn't put it past a place like that.
 

bbyer

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Door sticker say H rated OK.

As posted above, H rated is OK per the door tyre sticker pdf below.

Rather than trying to upsell you or being annoyed, I just think the guy in the tyre store does not know tyres. That is even worse.

It seems to me that one would first look at the door sticker prior to telling a vehicle owner they got it all wrong.

My snow tyres are the little known snowflake Pirelli Ice and Snow 235 65 R18 110H XL size as I like narrow for winter.

For summer, I run 255 55 R19 Dueler H/T Alenza 111V XL as I do not drive my 3 to its full capabilities, at least in the summer.
 

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Houm_WA

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Uh oh, my Nokians are only speed rated "R." I'd better slow it down!
 

PaulLR3

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Uh oh, my Nokians are only speed rated "R." I'd better slow it down!

LOL - I've got those same Nokian winter tires and they handle just fine at 80 mph when the winter roads are dry. What that tire idiot missed is the tire load rating is more important than the speed rating on our vehicles. The Nokian winter tires have that XL load rating.
 

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