Puncture repair rip off??

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Markbon

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Hello, I took a tyre in that had a small screw stuck in. They repaired it and the bill was £25 I thought to myself prices has gone up lately but paid it. Ive since noticed they also charged me for a valve, wheel balance and nitrogen inflation to my suprise. The wheel wasnt on the car so I dont see how they can balance it, or am I wrong about that? also the valve was only 9 months old as was the tyre. And I wouldnt have wanted the nitrogen as as far as im aware unless you have more nitrogen to top it up its useless.
Anyone think They are taking libs or is this standard practice? Cheers.
 
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You can't balance a wheel whilst its on the car. As for the rest you should have asked about their prices beforehand.
 
They don't balance wheels on a car it's placed on a balancing machine.
As for the nitrogen you should of been asked and i think it's pointless in the average family car.
As for the new valve, easier to fit a new one rather than you coming back tomorrow with a flat tyre just cause of the old valve maybe faulty.

As for the price i payed £10 for a van tyre puncture to be done last month.
 
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I cant really complain then. The nitrogen thing is a psstake though. Not that it cost much.
 
I think they've took the p*ss out of you abit.
As for the nitrogen don't know what they are charging nowdays but i payed £2 a wheel about 10 yr ago.
 
Yeah definate liberty taking. I wont be going back there so they will loose out in the long run. It was the ones who "you cant get quicker than" by the way.
 
I think everyone's pretty much said it now but just to add weight to the numbers:

Almost all tyres are now balanced OFF the car, but yes, years ago, there were a few machines that did it ON the car (though they weren't that good). It wasn't quite so much of an issue back then because cars were slower and had narrower tyres (and were more rattly and shuddery anyway).

Nitrogen filling. Hmmmm... yeah, right. Just remember the air we breathe is mostly nitrogen to start with!

New valve will just be company policy as a matter of course. They won't even have thought about it. Valves are pennies (for them!) and the potential for a lawsuit is just too great if anything were to have gone wrong with it, so they just won't bother.
 
Actually, there lots of places that balance tyres on the car. A friend of mine had his done that way only last week.
 
It's still very much in the minority though. The vast majority of balancing is done off the car. It's true that (in theory at least) balancing on the car means you balance all the rotating parts, but to be honest, when you see the job being done, it looks pretty hit-and-miss. For a start, the wheel is off the ground with the suspension dangling at an angle that the driveshafts would rarely (if ever) be running at in normal use. I can remember my dad used to get his old Citroen DS wheels balanced on the car (in retrospect, I think he had a bent driveshaft), but I've never found it necessary on a modern car.
 
I've said it before...the popular tyre outlets are salespeople first, and tyre fitters second!
My own independant guy doesn't fit new valves unless they look degraded, and doesn't rebalance....he marks the position of the tyre before removing it and replaces it at the same spot. I've never needed to return for a rebalance, and he doesn't use nitrogen. Cost - £10.
John :)
 
My local tyre place charges £12 including balancing, or when slack they do a special offer at £5.
 
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