Pretty sure the Honda dealer damaged my rim

[zxcvbob]

While agonizing about whether I should buy a cheap tire machine and start installing/balancing my own tires, I took Wife's CRV to the dealer and had a new set of Michelins installed (she really wanted Michelin, and there was a rebate.)  About a week later, the tire pressure warning light came on.  She took it to the dealer and they looked at it, said nothing was wrong, and reset it.  Before she even got out of the parking lot it came on again.  She drove back around; I'm not sure what they did 'cuz I wasn't there, but they made an appointment for this morning to check it out.

She texted me from the dealer this morning and said (paraphrasing) "it needs a new wheel.  $216."  That didn't make any sense to me, so I went by there at lunch and talk to them.  They said the wheel is bent, and it didn't leak when up on a lift (that's why they didn't find it the first time) but it leaks when there's weight on it.  That also explains why it wasn't covered under warranty.  I hadn't seen the wheel yet, but I asked if I should keep it as a full-sized spare, and they said "there's a $50 core charge, so you'll have to pay that if you want to keep it"  

I got to thinking about it.  How the hell do you bend a steel rim badly enough that it won't hold air without knowing about it?  And without damaging the tire?  The most obvious answer is it was damaged while the wheel was off.  And that fits the timeline.  Either they crushed it with the bead breaker machine, or dropped it on the concrete floor while the tire was off.  When I got home and examined it, it looks like the latter.

I can't prove anything, but I'm pissed.  The core charge also pisses me off since they're going to sell me a new part rather than reconditioned, but after a little searching on the Internet that seems to be commonplace -- but it should be $15, not $50.

I'm going to go up there tomorrow and talk to a manager.  I don't think it will do any good, but I should let them know why they won't be getting any more of my tire business (and I need to buy a lot of tires in the near future) and when the warranty runs out on my Honda in a couple of months they won't be getting much of my service work on it either.

I'm not sure what it would take to make me happy.  Probably repair my wheel or replace it with a refurbished one, and remount and rebalance my tire.  I don't expect them to do that, in part because I still won't trust them with tires and they probably know they've lost that part of my business regardless.

[Hawkmoon]

$216 for a STEEL wheel? Plus a $50 "core" charge -- which is a term that's inapplicable to the purchase of new wheels?

www.car-part.com

[zxcvbob]

I checked the local salvage yard and they don't have any.  If I want to drive to place 65 miles away, they have 'em there.  Or I can order a reconditioned rim from http://www.stockwheels.com/Honda-CR-V-2012-2016-16x6-5-Steel-Silver-5-Spoke-64041-Wheel-Rim for $100 and pay $25 shipping, and keep my old one which I'm pretty sure is repairable.

[sumpnz]

They don't call them stealerships for nothing.

[griz]

I thought a core charge would be for something like an alternator that could be rebuilt.  I've never bough a new steel wheel so maybe it's an industry thing I've never heard of.

[Frank Castle]

When you got the new tires put on, they should have been balanced the tires.

They would have seen a bend rim at that time. 

[zxcvbob]

I went down there; the guy at the counter recognized me from yesterday.  He said managers don't work on Saturday, I can talk to Brad on Monday morning.  He also said dropping a steel rim on the concrete wouldn't damage it, and it looks to him like I hit a pothole.  (I'm not aware of any potholes in Rochester, they fix them here first thing in the summer before they get bad)  There are marks on the rim right where they should be from dropping it, and there are no scuffs on the tire.  He did agree that the installer could not have missed it when he balanced the tire.

So within a week after getting the tires installed, Wife or I hit an imaginary pothole with the left rear tire but not the front, hard enough to bend the rim (but not bruise the tire), and either didn't know we hit it or we're trying to pull a fast one. 

I told him that they've lost all my future tire business (I've had Tirerack tires mounted and balanced there before, and had them fix flats), and I need 8 more tires this year including an expensive set of truck tires.  How they handle my complaint determines whether they continue to get my Honda service.

[Hawkmoon]

I thought a core charge would be for something like an alternator that could be rebuilt.  I've never bough a new steel wheel so maybe it's an industry thing I've never heard of.

Sure you've heard of it. It's called a R-I-P-O-F-F, otherwise known as a S-C-A-M.

You are correct -- a core charge is for when you buy a rebuilt part. The price is set on the understanding that you hand over the old part so the store can then send that in to be rebuilt. A core charge is like a bottle deposit on soft drinks. If the dealership is doing the installation of the new wheel, even if they were going to send in the old wheel to be refurbished (which is HIGHLY unlikely), there is no reason to impose a core charge, because they already have the old wheel. They don't need to keep your deposit in escrow to ensure that you return the "core."

[Hawkmoon]

I went down there; the guy at the counter recognized me from yesterday.  He said managers don't work on Saturday, I can talk to Brad on Monday morning. 

At least you can talk to Brad on Monday.

Many years ago, in my racing days, I had a 4-speed transmission in a fairly new pony car blow reverse gear. First through fourth were fine, I just couldn't back up. Dealership fixed it, but they said the factory regional rep had declined to allow it as a warranty claim because I had damaged the "low-reverse sliding gear" by improper shifting.

Problem: In a Borg-Warner T-10, there was no "low-reverse sliding gear," and the gear that broke is a constant mesh gear. Shifting is accomplished by a sliding synchronizer collar -- which is not what broke. I took a day off from work and drove 75 miles to the factory's reguinal office, and asked to speak to the guy who denied my warranty claim. He came out, I explained how what he had said wasn't possible (complete with the cross-section of the transmission in the factory service manual to document it), and he refused to change his mind. He said he didn't know how a transmission works, he was only relaying what he had been told. He said the determination was made by an engineer. So I asked to speak with the engineer.

"Oh, no. Engineers don't talk to people."

Ooooooookay, then. It happened that the son of the company president was at the same university where I was studying, and I knew him slightly. So I wrote to the president, explained the circumstances of what had happened ... and dropped his son's name. A couple of weeks later I had a call from the dealer's service department, telling me that I could pick up a check for the cost of my repairs whenever it was convenient.

The next summer I went with my club to the Trans Am race at Watkins Glen in New York. All the manufacturers had hospitality tents for the fans who drove their cars and, as a club endorsed by the factory, we were admitted to the hospitality tent. Chatting with a factory guy, he mentioned that he was a factory service rep for my geographic area. I told him I thought [so and so] was my factory service rep.

"Well, he was, but he was fired. It had something to do with a warranty claim over a transmission, I think."

Me: "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the guy who owns that transmission."

From that day forward, I never had any more problems getting my car fixed. My great-grandfather, the law professor, always counseled "Go to the top," so whenever some minion tries to play hardball, I never hesitate to "escalate." You shouldn't hesitate, either.

[Hawkmoon]

I just re-read the OP and realized the stealership is only going to apply the "core" charge if you keep the bent rim. My other comments apply. Is the $216 price of a replacement wheel for a new wheel, or a refurbished (used) wheel? The only way a core charge would be appropriate is if you're buying a refurbished wheel. And if you're buying a refurbished wheel, $216 is an outrageous ripoff price. It's pretty outrageous even for a new wheel if it's steel rather than alloy, but for a USED wheel?

Words fail me.


www.car-part.com

Dunno where you live, so I made up a zip code and punched in a 2010 CRV. Found wheels ranging from close to $200 to as low as $35 before the listings switched to "Call" [for price].