by "bobbe17" (rob-runte)
Published 02/27/2017 at 19:12
by "bobbe17" (rob-runte)
Published 02/27/2017 at 19:12
No Tags
STARS: 6
This is probably preaching to the choir here on Oppo, but just a friendly reminder.
I went on a week’s vacation to Colorado Springs, Breckenridge, then back to Denver with my wife. Last year we rented a Silver Car A4 and it was a great experience so we did it again this year. When we got the car, I walked along the driver’s side and just noted that they were all-seasons and had decent tread. While loading up the trunk I glanced at the rear passenger’s and saw it too was an all-season with decent tread on it. We then proceeded to drive to Colorado Springs without incident.
We made it out to the Breckenridge area a few days later and stayed at a house about 20 minutes south of town. The first few days were warm and clear so we were only driving a little packed snow in the neighborhood and the rest of the roads were good. One morning I was taking an icy/snowy corner very slow and still almost put it into a snow bank. I figured I just wasn’t being careful enough and that the all-seasons just weren’t that great.
The final day we were out there, we got a few inches of snow. The handling was awful. So when we got back that night I took a closer look at the tires and noticed that only the driver’s side had Pirelli P7 all-seasons.
The passenger rear had a Winrun R330 on it. Some Googling revealed these are cheap Chinese tires with varying reviews.
The passenger front had a Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 tire on it. This is a cheap summer tire. They sent us into the mountains with three different tires, one of which was a summer tire. We and they are extremely lucky that I didn’t put it into a snow bank or worse.
I did make a complaint to the guy when we returned the car, and they gave us $50 back. I’m not sure how I feel about Silver Car any more. It’s one thing that they missed that the tires were mismatched, but I’m also bothered that they’re trying to be a premium alternative and they’re sticking the cheapest tires they can find on the cars.
"McMike" (mcmike)
02/27/2017 at 19:46, STARS: 7
"bobbe17" (rob-runte)
02/27/2017 at 19:59, STARS: 1
That’s perfect
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
02/27/2017 at 23:09, STARS: 1
There is a chance that a previous renter was ungentle with tires and replaced them in such a way as to avoid incurring excessive personal costs or a real or imagined penalty from the renting agency. But yes, it’s unacceptable for any rental car in a wintery area to not be equipped with winter tires.
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
02/28/2017 at 07:25, STARS: 0
make it a Skoda, front first and i know exactly what it’s like
"ateamfan42" (ateamfan42)
02/28/2017 at 08:37, STARS: 0
But yes, it’s unacceptable for any rental car in a wintery area to not be equipped with winter tires.
Unacceptable, yet standard practice. I guess it is acceptable to customers that think tires are just black circles that keep the wheels from touching the ground.
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
02/28/2017 at 08:42, STARS: 2
It’s a tragedy people can’t make that short jump from “keeps the wheels off the ground” to “only thing holding the car on the road”.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
03/12/2017 at 14:25, STARS: 0
Every rental car always has crap tires on it. I am almost always fearful to look at the tires. I am just glad most of my rentals are in Socal where it precipitates like twice a year and you just dont drive those days!