Do you trust Walmart to put your tires on?

Question

I hear people scoff at the idea, but what do you think of these two considerations:
1) Being such a large company, would they really not care about their repuation?
2) When you go elsewhere, are you really getting a guy putting on your tires who's being paid anymore? I just don't see a master mechanic putting on tires all day long.

What is your opinion?

Answer 1

I have in the past up until they broke the stud (no sure on the term) its where you place the tire on there is usually 5 of them the tire gets screwed to that.....anyway they broke one of them I had to drive 45 miles to get it fixed because that was where the dealership was with this tire not completely secured to specs. Not only that my rims always got scratches when i took it to walmart. I was pissed never went back.
Do they care about their reputation? I'm sure the company owners do but unhappy employees tend to think differently most that work at walmart don't care about their job. We're talking about walmart it would take alot to take them down were talking about millions of people that work for them so alot of the little stuff gets ignored.
When you go elsewhere, well it would depend on where you go majority of the techs are certified so yeah I have more trust in those than any other. All mechanics in the dealerships have training and have education in what they do that is comforting so I only take my vehicle to dealer.
Note: Matters what you drive too
At the time of the issue 2001 Mitusubishi Eclipse
Currenly drive 2006 Dodge Charger w/Hemi

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Personally, I would not have them put them on any of my cars, or even just mounts tires for me. However, the reasons for this are specific, and I think they are probably fine for most uses.

In my case, about 70% of my yearly tire purchases are for racing tires, which I will often have mounted to extra sets of wheels. I've found many shops I go to are not adept at handling tires with very stiff sidewalls (and high performance street tires will generally have stiffer and lower sidewalls than the R-Compounds I have mounted). I would worry too much about my rims leaving them in the hands of a Wal Mart tech and prefer to pay more to have someone I trust doing this.

As for getting them on the car, I would want them to be hand torqued to the correct specs. I would imagine that incidents of stripped threads are rare, but for me, I don't intend to take that chance with any production line like environment where it's 100% air tools.

That said, I think they probably provide a decent base level of service. The fact that they service so many cars will mean they will also have a high number of complaints, even if this is a very small percentage. Clearly it works for many people, and Walmart likely would do what's needed in the event of a problem because they do care about their reputation. Though is it something you would still want to deal with? How often do you buy tires and does the cost difference mean that much? If the answer is yes, then you should use them. Otherwise, seek out a specialty shop that has experience with more than just generic passenger tires and will guarantee specific concerns (like hand torquing the lug nuts).

Answer 4

I work for a tire manufacture, First you must realize they have a tool that actually puts the tire on the rim, the tech really doesn't do anything, just make sure they get balance, and they offer road hazard, this is a must its a warranty for anytime you get a leak or a flat, it will be repaired or replaced free. We supply walmart with thousands of tire every month. Your pretty safe going to walmart because the stand behind their service. Its probably a little cheaper too.

Answer 5

1st Putting tires on is not a rocket science. I even can do it myself. Most important part is balance the wheel which is computerized now a days and then tight the lugs as per specification.
I have change tires many many times in all different season, I never had issue with it.
Most chain store mechanic are trained or has gone to school and so does walmart.
All tho I don't trust quality of walmart in general. and walmart do not believe in service!
I personally like discount tires. their road hazard warranty gives you free replacement is best I have seen so far. most other offers prorated and they also charge mounting, balancing fee.

Answer 6

For tires I do use Walmart. It's the only automotive service I use from Walmart.

I always verify my tire pressure after they have placed the tires on my vehicle to be sure they have pumped my tires to the proper pressure. Once they only pumped up the tire pressure to 30psi on a 44max psi tire.

After paying, I take it for a drive on the freeway to verify I don't feel any vibrations in my vehicle to ensure that at least the tires seem balanced enough to not pass the vibrations to the passenger compartment.

It's not rocket science, and they offer high mileage warranty tires for a much lower price than other tire chains.

Answer 7

I have had tires installed at Wal-Mart twice. I have had problems both times. These problems were with the TIRES both times, not the fault of Wal-Mart installation. Both sets of tires were Goodyear brand tires, and both sets failed prematurely. The set that is currently on my wife's car have been on for 2 years. We currently are on the 10th tire of a set of four. Wal- Mart did not give us any trouble about replacing the tires. The most annoying thing that Wal-Mart is doing is that they refuse to up size tires on any car, so if You want to have larger tires than stock from the factory, they won't do it unless you carry the wheels in without the car. Their excuse is liability. I chose to go elsewhere and buy at a local tire shop. I got as good a deal as the tires I considered from Wal-Mart.

Answer 8

IMHO, absolutely not!
1) It may not be difficult to install tires, but it is really important that when installed, they stay on the vehicle.
2) Working at a dealer, we get a lot of business here from walmarts mess ups.
However, I wouldn't be afraid to buy tires at walmart and have them installed elswhere.

Answer 9

I dont trust walmart on any auto repairs. Walmart is a great retail store I just dont think you are going to get a good job for $6.00 a hour.

Answer 10

Hell no. I was at a prison this summer and i drove there and to pass some time i went to wallmart and got an oil change because i figured i would walk around. it took like 3 hours!!! it was in terra houte indiana...i couldnt image them putting tires on.