Costco and tyres, what a palaver

[Pizzaeatingking]

I've been meaning to get some new tyres for a while but since I'm not using the car much I was waiting winter out. Unluckily I got a screw in one of the rears so I looked about and for the first time ever Costco were cheapest and by a decent margin too. Ordered them online, I have a 3 series with genuine M3 wheels fitted so the rears are 275/35/19. They arrived when they should and I get a call to book in for fitting, all good at this point.

Arrive, drop the car off and wait outside, after they take it in and get the wheels off they come out to tell me they can't fit the tyres because they're the wrong size. I said they're wider wheels so need wider tyres to suit, the guy tells me it doesn't matter, they can only fit the tyres the computer tells them. I thought they were just unsure/misunderstanding me at this point, so I explained again and they said no, the only option I had was to have the size fitted that the computer suggests, 255/35/19!

Worse still, because they were ordered (and paid for!) online I couldn't even take them with me to be fitted elsewhere, they just had to send them back. I asked what the logic was behind fitting tyres too skinny for the 10J rear wheels vs the correct size that are on there but they couldn't give me an answer. Seriously unimpressed but I couldn't take it out on the guys, they're only doing what they're told to.

I looked elsewhere but ended up going back there to order the same pair of tyres again for collection, if it was only a few quid difference I wouldn't have bothered but it was a decent chunk of cash. Frustratingly my mate went to order a set for his Evo later in the day and was told about the problem and if he'd come in with the wheels loose they'd fit them. If I'd known that I'd have just ran them up in the van.

Pain in the arse!

[dvs_dave]

To underwrite the warranty Costco includes, they will only install factory fit sizes for your particular model/VIN. You’ve bunged some “em free” wheels on aftermarket which your car wasn’t originally fitted with, hence why their computer says no.

Just one of those Costco nuances.

[CS Garth]

I paid 12 quid to plug the last screw I had in a tyre - reduce, reuse, recycle

[rigga]

CS Garth said:

I paid 12 quid to plug the last screw I had in a tyre - reduce, reuse, recycle

That's great, but a repair is obviously not always possible

[CS Garth]

rigga said:

CS Garth said:

I paid 12 quid to plug the last screw I had in a tyre - reduce, reuse, recycle

That's great, but a repair is obviously not always possible

Agreed but I have been surprised how few people know that punctures can be repaired. Certainly lots of non car folk think puncture = replace (and of course the tyre shops promote this mentality by using the safety angle etc)

[The_Nugget]

Worst place ever for tyres.

I bought tyres there once.
Can’t exactly remember what happened but I had to return several times to have them fitted and they had a weird queuing system that involved me waiting for ages.

They refused to fit the new tyres to the front, and insisted they had to go on the rear and they had to move the rears to the front.
It was just a faff for a few quid saving - compared to a normal place where you book a slot, Chuck them the keys and have a wander for half an hour.

[plenty]

Just for balance I had a very good experience recently at local Costco. Fitters were careful and polite and fitting costs were less than half what I’d have to pay an independent shop in my area.

[Exige77]

We’ve been buying tyres from Costco for many years and never had any issues.

Good price and quick service.

There will always be a few outliers.

I’ve been a member since 93.

[syl]

I suspect like a great many places, the local staff (and even the specific member you get on the day) can make a big difference.

I always had a great experience, other than the time it took, at my local KwikFit. Haven’t had to use them for 4 years now (changed cars) so things might have changed. Think I’d be tempted by their mobile service now, hoping they send their more experienced fitters out alone.

[Deranged Rover]

Used Costco twice myself for tyres with no problems - their service has been excellent.

The_Nugget said:

They refused to fit the new tyres to the front, and insisted they had to go on the rear and they had to move the rears to the front.

This is largely standard procedure now and is as recommended by tyre manufacturers.

[donkmeister]

I had a similar rigmarole; my car had been fitted with the wrong tyres by the previous owner, speed rating was lower than Vmax. So Costco threw a wobbly that the new tyre labels weren't the same as the old ones.

They fitted them but I think I had to sign a waiver.

The fitting itself was top notch. They even used a torque wrench on the fasteners.

[shtu]

Deranged Rover said:

The_Nugget said:

They refused to fit the new tyres to the front, and insisted they had to go on the rear and they had to move the rears to the front.

This is largely standard procedure now and is as recommended by tyre manufacturers.

So much so, Costco have a film on loop at the tyre bay showing why.

As they're US-owned, they're sticklers for following the procedures, and stuff like "wrong-sized" tyres will be a definite no for them. Years back they wouldn't even touch wheels that weren't fitted to the car, so they must have relaxed a bit recently.

TBH, I've not found them all that competitive on price in recent years, but the fitters are pretty good.

[Sheepshanks]

The_Nugget said:

They refused to fit the new tyres to the front, and insisted they had to go on the rear and they had to move the rears to the front.

I had that on Merc, like the OPs car, with a staggered setup.

They'd already changed the tyres on the front wheels and when I stopped them removing the rear wheels they wanted to take the new tyres off and put the old ones back on.

I know, and understand, the "best tyres on the back" thing but the manual on my car says: "Fit new tyres on the front wheels first if tyres of the same size are required on the front and rear wheels." Costco guys wouldn't have that and it took the intervention the the store manager, and me signing a waiver, before they'd leave the new tyres on the front.


As for following US procedures - it's standard practice there to rotate tyres front and rear every few K miles, it's a condition of tyre guarantees in the US. Costco US does it free if you bought the tyres there. I like to do it on wife's 4Motion Tiguan to keep the tyres even. Costco here won't do it, even if you offer to pay.

[vikingaero]

shtu said:

So much so, Costco have a film on loop at the tyre bay showing why.

As they're US-owned, they're sticklers for following the procedures, and stuff like "wrong-sized" tyres will be a definite no for them. Years back they wouldn't even touch wheels that weren't fitted to the car, so they must have relaxed a bit recently.

TBH, I've not found them all that competitive on price in recent years, but the fitters are pretty good.

The only time they are competitive is when they do tyres in the booklet offers.

Sometimes there are long waits and a lot of faffing around that I don't go there anymore. Easier and cheaper to go online, have it delivered and pop around to my mechanic for £10 a pop.

[Sheepshanks]

plenty said:

.... and fitting costs were less than half what I’d have to pay an independent shop in my area.

I suppose if the independent shops in your area quote stupid prices then that could happen, but for years I've found Costco to be about the same as other places (for Michelin).

Where they used to win was if you specifically wanted Michelin then their 20% discount offers were unbeatable - but they haven't done that for a long time.

Now they discount by the same offers that Michelin make widely available as cashback.

Costco do a bunch of other makes too now so clearly the relationship with Michelin has broken down somewhat.

[AJB88]

I've used Costco a few times but had an issue last time where they knackered my locking wheel nut. They paid Porsche for a new set which was fine,

when they come to remove the old one they couldn't do it, 3 lads tried. In the end a small girl came along and did it for them, was quite funny.

[stevemcs]

Moving tyres around is all very well but if you do it then with most cars you need to reprogram the Tpms to tell it the new location of the tyres.

[Hackney]

Pizzaeatingking said:

I've been meaning to get some new tyres for a while but since I'm not using the car much I was waiting winter out. Unluckily I got a screw in one of the rears so I looked about and for the first time ever Costco were cheapest and by a decent margin too. Ordered them online, I have a 3 series with genuine M3 wheels fitted so the rears are 275/35/19. They arrived when they should and I get a call to book in for fitting, all good at this point.

Arrive, drop the car off and wait outside, after they take it in and get the wheels off they come out to tell me they can't fit the tyres because they're the wrong size. I said they're wider wheels so need wider tyres to suit, the guy tells me it doesn't matter, they can only fit the tyres the computer tells them. I thought they were just unsure/misunderstanding me at this point, so I explained again and they said no, the only option I had was to have the size fitted that the computer suggests, 255/35/19!

Worse still, because they were ordered (and paid for!) online I couldn't even take them with me to be fitted elsewhere, they just had to send them back. I asked what the logic was behind fitting tyres too skinny for the 10J rear wheels vs the correct size that are on there but they couldn't give me an answer. Seriously unimpressed but I couldn't take it out on the guys, they're only doing what they're told to.

I looked elsewhere but ended up going back there to order the same pair of tyres again for collection, if it was only a few quid difference I wouldn't have bothered but it was a decent chunk of cash. Frustratingly my mate went to order a set for his Evo later in the day and was told about the problem and if he'd come in with the wheels loose they'd fit them. If I'd known that I'd have just ran them up in the van.

Pain in the arse!

So why'd you order the wrong tyres? How come "the computer" says one size when your wheels are a different size.
You said "they arrived when they should" which sounds like they weren't taken from stock, so were the tyres wrong at this point?

[Buzz84]

Hackney said:

Pizzaeatingking said:

I've been meaning to get some new tyres for a while but since I'm not using the car much I was waiting winter out. Unluckily I got a screw in one of the rears so I looked about and for the first time ever Costco were cheapest and by a decent margin too. Ordered them online, I have a 3 series with genuine M3 wheels fitted so the rears are 275/35/19. They arrived when they should and I get a call to book in for fitting, all good at this point.

Arrive, drop the car off and wait outside, after they take it in and get the wheels off they come out to tell me they can't fit the tyres because they're the wrong size. I said they're wider wheels so need wider tyres to suit, the guy tells me it doesn't matter, they can only fit the tyres the computer tells them. I thought they were just unsure/misunderstanding me at this point, so I explained again and they said no, the only option I had was to have the size fitted that the computer suggests, 255/35/19!

Worse still, because they were ordered (and paid for!) online I couldn't even take them with me to be fitted elsewhere, they just had to send them back. I asked what the logic was behind fitting tyres too skinny for the 10J rear wheels vs the correct size that are on there but they couldn't give me an answer. Seriously unimpressed but I couldn't take it out on the guys, they're only doing what they're told to.

I looked elsewhere but ended up going back there to order the same pair of tyres again for collection, if it was only a few quid difference I wouldn't have bothered but it was a decent chunk of cash. Frustratingly my mate went to order a set for his Evo later in the day and was told about the problem and if he'd come in with the wheels loose they'd fit them. If I'd known that I'd have just ran them up in the van.

Pain in the arse!

So why'd you order the wrong tyres? How come "the computer" says one size when your wheels are a different size.
You said "they arrived when they should" which sounds like they weren't taken from stock, so were the tyres wrong at this point?

The way I read it:

The OP has a 3 series to which he has fitted different alloys (which happen to be genuine BMW, but not standard for his car), these alloys are made for a different tyre size (again not standard for his car), which is what he ordered. so they tyres are correct for the car as he drives...

But when given the cars reg the Costco computer says "error - tyre size does not compute: do not fit" which the staff obey.

[MDMA .]

Hackney said:

Pizzaeatingking said:

I've been meaning to get some new tyres for a while but since I'm not using the car much I was waiting winter out. Unluckily I got a screw in one of the rears so I looked about and for the first time ever Costco were cheapest and by a decent margin too. Ordered them online, I have a 3 series with genuine M3 wheels fitted so the rears are 275/35/19. They arrived when they should and I get a call to book in for fitting, all good at this point.

Arrive, drop the car off and wait outside, after they take it in and get the wheels off they come out to tell me they can't fit the tyres because they're the wrong size. I said they're wider wheels so need wider tyres to suit, the guy tells me it doesn't matter, they can only fit the tyres the computer tells them. I thought they were just unsure/misunderstanding me at this point, so I explained again and they said no, the only option I had was to have the size fitted that the computer suggests, 255/35/19!

Worse still, because they were ordered (and paid for!) online I couldn't even take them with me to be fitted elsewhere, they just had to send them back. I asked what the logic was behind fitting tyres too skinny for the 10J rear wheels vs the correct size that are on there but they couldn't give me an answer. Seriously unimpressed but I couldn't take it out on the guys, they're only doing what they're told to.

I looked elsewhere but ended up going back there to order the same pair of tyres again for collection, if it was only a few quid difference I wouldn't have bothered but it was a decent chunk of cash. Frustratingly my mate went to order a set for his Evo later in the day and was told about the problem and if he'd come in with the wheels loose they'd fit them. If I'd known that I'd have just ran them up in the van.

Pain in the arse!

So why'd you order the wrong tyres? How come "the computer" says one size when your wheels are a different size.
You said "they arrived when they should" which sounds like they weren't taken from stock, so were the tyres wrong at this point?

As above. Bit confused. Did you order 275/35/19 tyres or not? The drop down menu is pretty easy to use. Select size, add to cart, pick location. Or did you order via your registration which would be the standard size on your 340i?