Low Tire Pressure
By Morgan
@OneOfMany (12150)
United States
December 9, 2015 7:58am CST
Low tire pressure is a bad thing on any car. It can lead to distortion of a tire and possible blow outs under heavy loads. I had this happen to me a few years ago on a busy highway, so my memories of the experience are not good (added to that was I barely had any place to pull over thanks to the guardrail, so it was quite dangerous to change the tire as well).
Anyway, I have been shopping for a new car and found it on Friday. I noticed the light was on for low tire pressure and they said they'd take care of it and the car would be ready on Monday. On Monday I saw the light was still there and asked about it. They said that it was because of the cold weather and that they really did put the air in there. I wasn't sure about it, but the car had been in their garage so I took them at their word. I found out on Tuesday that one of the tires had less than half of the pressure it needed... I'm glad I made it back home!
I'm going to give them the message that I expected more from them and that lying about it being done was not the way to do things. If they didn't lie, then that means there is a leak in the tires, but I'm thinking they didn't check them (and I haven't been outside yet to check today that the air I put in is still there).
If that car lot wants me as a future customer they aren't approaching the situation correctly. Add to the fact that the paperwork was submitted to the registration company on Friday and still took hours on Monday... that was not fun.
3 people like this
3 responses
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
9 Dec 15
since you just paid, I would be demanding some things from them. Once you see if the air holds or not, if it does not, they would be replacing the tire. no Patching, no at this point you want a new one, or you will write negative reviews to both the papers and online that they put your life at risk. or something.
2 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
9 Dec 15
@OneOfMany ouch! Maybe a refund of enough to buy a tire.
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
9 Dec 15
@Jessicalynnt Fortunately they are holding air. At least they looked like it. I doubt all four of them would lost 1 psi of air, it's more likely they dropped pressure because of the temperature, after all: PV = nRT.
1 person likes this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
9 Dec 15
Unfortunately I'm almost two hours away from them, so replacing a tire would be the difficult route for me. 2 hours on a tire not holding air would be bad.
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
10 Dec 15
I already filled them up on the day of the rant. I don't drive around on problem tires.
1 person likes this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
9 Dec 15
If it's a newer car there is a way to turn that light out that you can do yourself. Usually it will come on after an oil and filter change also and the place you take the car should turn that light out. I would not trust that place again if your tire was left like that.
1 person likes this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
9 Dec 15
I was able to turn it off after I found out about it, but the tires really needed air, so I'm glad I checked it for myself. Already after doing so my mpg improved. It has an average mpg tracker since it is a hybrid. That makes it more fun to see how to adjust my driving style to maximize my fuel use.
1 person likes this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
9 Dec 15
@OneOfMany
Oh good so you will have a new driving experience with a hybrid. Good Luck with that. What type of car did you buy and what model?
1 person likes this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
9 Dec 15
@Marcyaz 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. It's a nice looking car, but the 71,000 miles on it and cosmetic issues (covered in lots of little scratches here and there, and two shopping lot dents), drove down the price. I'm okay with that stuff since it's fixable if I want to do it myself, and it's not as important as safety and function. My car I had for 10 years had 110,000 miles on it when I got it, so 71 seems like brand new!
1 person likes this
