This was my experience with America's Tire Co on Hamilton (campbell)

I've patched a dozen tires or so (mine, family, friends) without any problems usually. My friends who track also do the same, and in some cases track the same tires. Once in awhile, the patch will not hold air. When this happened, I took it to AmTiCo, and they refused to repair because of the patch. So that forced us to buy a new tire.

So from now on, we take the tires, with bolt/nail to AmTiCo and let them repair it for free (no tire purchase necessary).

Why do they do this? I expect because they have strict policy on when they call it "unrepairable", and you are stuck there to buy a new tire.

 

I think they also do it because it is good business in addition to you likely needing a tire/tires on the spot if they can't repair it. It is also in good faith that if they do it for you, you will be more likely to come back and recommend them to others and that's potentially worth far more to them than just the repair.

 

They don't have to take the object out to determine if a puncture is repairable or not 95% of the time. So, if it's unrepairable, just tell them to leave the object in there, remount the tire, and be on your way. While you can easily do that, it does put them at the forefront to sell you a tire when it is unrepairable. Thus, they have the advantage when a tire is unrepairable. That's why I think they do it.

Plus, offering a service that literally takes <5 minutes for free puts them in a good light in terms of customer service. It's a great way to "steal" customers from other tire shops that will only repair for free if you buy it from them.

 

Another thing about AmTiCo: they follow a policy of 2mm difference. That is, if the front tire is more than 2mm in tread than the rear, then the more worn tire will be placed in front. I said, "this policy effectively gaurantees that from then on the customer will be replacing tires only 2 at a time." The sales guy who explained this to me said, "we will do what's best for the car" which is a load of bull****.

So I researched it. The reason why this is recommended, is because more worn in front, *in a WET environment*, will result in understeer while the opposite will be oversteer. And all car enthusiasts know that the average joe is safer in an understeer car. Ok fine.

Exept in my wife's car situation we had to replace the unrepairable front left tire with a new one and this is what AmTiCo did:
Front: Left 5mm, Right 6mm
Rear: Left 8mm, Right 5mm

So they replaced the original front left tire, saw that it was > 2mm over the rear, and swapped em. Except... they lazily saw that the right was 6mm to 5mm and DIDN'T swap them. This is what you get when you blindly follow a policy, without actually understanding what the goal of the policy is.

Lastly, this happened in the spring and we all know that for about 8 months in the south bay there ain't gonna be torrential rain. So I refused to be stuck in a "replace 2 at a time, twice as often" scenario.

 

I go to America's Tires and had them fix my tire I didn't buy from them. They're brilliant in marketing and I would purchase tires from them just because of this experience.

"We can fix the tire as long as it's not over 2 holes, just consider us the next time you buy tires."

Wait an hour, done.

 

A new set would be ~$800. The current tires are Star Specs which have been discontinued. So finding one replacement wouldn't be possible. On top of that, I would be shaving off most of the life of the tire anyway.

As long as the tire stays dry, I don't consider it a risk. If water gets to it, it can cause the tire to delaminate and fail.

I would like to keep these tires going as long as it stays dry. I would much rather buy new tires (for this set) in January so that they are fresh for the 2014 AutoX season.



Now you chime in! Gah... I was going to go to AI anyway until I found that America's Tire would do it for free.

 

Yeah, following a blanket policy blindly is stupid, especially if the customer knows what they're getting into. However, we need to remember this is for the average joe who will never look at their tires or check their air pressures until the next recommended service. From my experiences, most times I've talked with techs/managers at ATC, if you show them you're competent in tire knowledge, they'll do what you ask.

Each time a tire is patched, it supposedly loses 1 speed rating. After 2 punctures, the tire integrity is compromised to the point many reputable shops do not want to risk it.

If you're planning on getting tires from ATC, every so often they have $100 gift card rebates on a set of all 4 tires, and they're stackable with the manufacturer rebates every so often. Definitely gets you the best value for the tires. I normally get about $180 back on my tire purchases.

Just wanted to give you a warning. Water/rust isn't the only factor in damaging your steel belts further. Any grime/abrasives getting in the heart of the tire can start rubbing the belts causing further fraying/damage. Just my .02. Don't want your car's tires acting like a Pirelli on an F1, lol.