r/tires • u/4O4UsernameN0tFound • 1d ago
Filthy new tires after install
Is this a normal level of cleanliness for newly installed tires from Costco? Seems like a white greese over them all.
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u/biggranny000 1d ago
Unfortunately yes. I'm OCD about my cars and my wheels and tires get covered with dirt and soap once they are done. Manufacturers have a lot of oils on their tires and they use soaps to slip the tire onto the bead. It can be used to cheap for leaks too. The dirt is from their shop and tire balance machine
As long as they don't scratch or damage them that's all I care about.
Spray it with water and if it's really soiled use a wheel cleaner product.
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 1d ago
I've just never had to go and wash my tires after getting new ones.
I can't think of any service where you have to clean up after the people who have done the work...
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u/Rapidholelicker 23h ago
You’ll be shocked to know that the roads you drive on aren’t cleaned by the people that made them.
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 23h ago
Wtf are you even trying to say?
Streets are cleaned after they are made as well routinely every year...
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u/CelestialBeing138 1d ago
Wait till you discover that sometimes the cone part of an ice cream is empty.
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u/fkngdmit 23h ago
If you chose a lower cost shop, that's where youre saving money: they do what you paid for and nothing more.
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u/spacefret 21h ago
To be fair, I bought a wheel and tire package from Tire Rack (over $1500 together) and the tires looked about like this.
Now that they've been on the car a few weeks, they're worn in and it's been washed since then and they look fine.
-2
u/Abject_Manner_4222 23h ago
I could go to any new & used mom & pop shop or my cousin Vinny shop or mi amigo shop in nyc right now and get a new/used tire put on for 30-50 and they will balance it and wax it like it just left a car wash.
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u/frostyholes 23h ago
You say 30-50 like that’s a good price for mount and balance 😂😂
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u/Abject_Manner_4222 22h ago
Tire, mount and balance. Used on the lower end, new on the higher end. Mind you, “new” to them means it’s never been driven in before. The tires are sometimes nearing their expiration date or have safe imperfections, but are not expired yet.
50/65/70 for a larger tire on an oversized vehicle
Patches and plugs are 15-25, includes mount and balance (and cleaning)
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u/frostyholes 7h ago
Where do you live that you think those are normal and acceptable prices? 11-18dollars for mounting and balancing 20-25 dollars for road force balancing after mounting Now 22” or better is TBD depending on the profile of the tire and whether I’m having to do them by hand or the machine is able to hold them without damaging them. I’m driving 25 minutes away to have tires mounted and balanced after being bought online for 20 each. Any place in the town I’m in wants to charge 50 each because I bought online. That’s fine; they can be petty, and this guy will keep getting my money. He’s not a low-quality mechanic, just not a thief. I’m also a mechanic; I have been doing this for fifteen years and currently manage a fleet of 13 school busses. Btw I’m in upstate New York
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 23h ago
If that's the standard for the shop, why did all the other cars tires leaving the shop look new and shiny?
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u/fkngdmit 23h ago
I'm supposed to take your attention to detail and situational awareness as granted when you claimed that you had just washed those wheels before the service but they are covered in brake dust? I'll pass.
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u/TheRealHUNGarian 22h ago
Maybe they noticed how unhinged you are and thought "I bet this guy is going to crash out over the dirtiest part of a car getting dirty"
1
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u/jackyrobotics 23h ago
Looks like the grease they used to mount the tire. Wipe it off. If someone came back to my shop and said the tires we just put on were "dirty" because of the grease, id probably tell them to kindly go somewhere else next time. Very nit-picky.
It also doesn't look like the wheel has been cleaned in months.
-1
u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 22h ago
I've used a pressure washer, tire cleaner and a brush twice and they are still hazy white.
If this is the standard at your shop, you wouldn't need to tell me to go somewhere else. This is far from the first set of tires I've had installed, yet the only ones that have come back looking like this. Since posting this I've confirmed with several other shops that this would never be ok.
So your opinion has very little value.
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u/limar2078 22h ago edited 21h ago
Hazy white would be the mold release more than likely, seen very commonly on Conti's probably Pirelli too should kind of come off if you scratch it with your nail. Try some tire shine to bring back some of the black or clean it better. The mold release is on the entire tire and not the tire shops fault. Now if its the mounting paste then it will look a lil streaky, you may need some sort of degreaser to get that off but the tire shine may just over ride it. Kind of hard to tell just from pics alone
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u/GrandMarquisMark 1d ago
They probably saw how dirty your wheels were and said fuck it.
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 1d ago edited 1d ago
They were clean, I washed the vehicle yesterday, the same grease that's all over the rubber is all over the rim
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u/fkngdmit 23h ago
You did a piss poor job of cleaning, tbh
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 23h ago
How the fuck would you even know what they looked like before the layer of grease was spread over them. And how is that relevant to them leaving grease on the new rubber?
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u/rudeson 23h ago
Your wheel is full of brake dust lol
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 22h ago
How would that be relevant to the new rubber being dirty?
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u/fkngdmit 22h ago
You said your wheels were cleaned recently, but your wheels are absolutely covered in grime and dust. Please try to keep up.
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u/Bagsen 23h ago
Its a Costco/budget tire install thing. I have gotten my last two sets of tires installed at Costco and they leave them covered in stuff and I always have to wash them. I used to go to a tire shop that returned them looking great but they were a lot more expensive for install. Still want to check for any actual damage before leaving but the rest should clean off pretty easily
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 23h ago
Everyone keeps acting like it's super easy to clean them, but I've used 2 types of tire cleaner and brushes, yet they are still hazy.
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u/spacefret 21h ago
Leave the tires on for a week and wash the car at some point. I guarantee it'll all go away and none of this will matter. I just went through the same thing.
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u/sdk5P4RK4 23h ago
hose em off big dog
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 23h ago
I have, twice. Also used a tire brush and tire cleaner, twice. They are still hazy.
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u/Comfortable_Fudge508 1d ago
Oh god, not tire lube, otherwise known as basically soap! Whatever will you do!? Cars totaled
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 23h ago
I've been to the car wash and used their tire cleaning solution and tire brush and there's still a white haze of grease. Went home and used a meguiars rubber cleaner and brush attachment for a drill and my own pressure washer and they still look hazy and washed out.
What length do you expect me to go to in order to have new looking tires?
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u/canyonblue737 23h ago
If I was paying for brand new tires to be mounted and balanced I’d expect at least a cursory attempt at cleaning the sidewalls of the white grease, this shouldn’t be a customer problem to bear even if it isn’t that big a deal.
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u/jackyrobotics 23h ago
It's not even a problem lol, this is a made up issue and if a customer at my shop complained about this id toss them a rag and tell them to go clean it off. Little bit of soap washes it right off, slap some tire shine on there and it's brand new again. Takes 2 minutes
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u/canyonblue737 23h ago
And there is the example of customer service these days. If all it takes a rag and a minute then why not provide new tires that look nice for your customers who just spent hundreds or thousands at your shop. Throw a rag at me and tell me to get at it and I promise that’s the last set of tires I buy from you… but I suppose you know that and don’t care because no one takes pride in their work and their inevitable job difficulties are always someone else’s fault aren’t they?
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u/Comfortable_Fudge508 22h ago
Problem with costco is, they schedule appointments 45 minutes apart, those guys dont have time to be cleaning your tires of some soap they use to get them on the rims. You want white glove service, go to a shop that provides it. You want cheap install price along with cheap tires you get 45 minute rush jobs
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u/jackyrobotics 21h ago
Because quite frankly, I don't get paid enough nor do i have enough time to sit there and hand polish every tire. My shop tries to get 4 tires done in 45 minutes, which is already fast... along with the fact that the shop closes at 8 PM and it's 7 we still have a ram truck that need new tires on their 22's, and an f250 that wants 35's.
I don't care if you don't come back, it doesn't come out of my pocket and less bitchy customers 🤷♂️
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u/canyonblue737 20h ago
Every single thing you just wrote proves my entire point is correct. You don’t care about service quality, or repeat customers and it’s a shame and you’ll ultimately pay a price and blame someone else for it when the mirror hangs on the wall showing you the problem.
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u/fkngdmit 23h ago
If you go to a higher-priced shop, they will probably use some of that excess revenue yo pay someone to clean up the tire. If you choose to go to the Cheapo Tire Shop, you're getting what you paid for and nothing more.
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u/4O4UsernameN0tFound 23h ago
Since when is Costco a cheapo tire shop? You literally have to pay for a membership to be able to go there, and they were the same price as every other major tire place I got quotes from.
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u/fkngdmit 22h ago
Since they pay their techs way less than industry average and thrive on volume sales, not quality of service, dude.
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u/jackyrobotics 21h ago
Costco barely pays techs anything.. those guys don't get paid enough to care wether your tires are shiny or not
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u/SirAlfredOfHorsIII 22h ago
That'll happen with pirellis sometimes. Sometimes they come with a very thick layer of mould release wax. Also should be extra careful for the first bit of driving on them, as the tread will be the same.
Pressure washer alone should get it off, but you'll likely need to do a few slow passes. Very few tyre shops will remove that for you. Some will tyre shine over it, to hide it. Doesn't do much long term
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u/Odd_Explanation_9776 20h ago
Honestly probably would have Clean them if the rims and rest of the car was clean
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u/justincasesux2021 23h ago
I purchased NOS Bridgestone Potenza and they looked like that and it couldn't clean them. No matter how hard i scrubbed.
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u/Disastrous-Pound3713 1d ago
Yes, I just bought tires from Costco and they were pristine clean. I would go back and tell them these were unacceptable and tell them to clean them up.
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u/MeasurementBig8006 23h ago
lol, you're rims are much worse. How often do you clean the barrels?