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Tire & Auto Service — Fact vs. Fiction
Can you really buy a tire for $19?
Free mounting?
Free front wheel alignment with new
tires?
Can I really have my brakes replaced for $69?
Buy 2 tires, get 2 free?
"FREE" loaner cars?
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Sometimes it's hard to tell
fact from fiction. While most companies in the automotive business
are reputable, some choose questionable offers to gain a customer's
attention. As one might suspect, many of these offers
turn out to be more fiction than fact. At Hogan Tire, a 3rd
generation family owned and operated business, we believe in candid
advice, up-front pricing and straight forward offers that
provide a true value for our customer. It's how Hogan keeps you rolling... |
Fiction?
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Fact
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Comparing brands
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Some tires stores like to advertise low prices on name brand tires and
then sell you a lesser known, more profitable tire, once you come
into the store. Watch out for someone trying to talk you into a
"better" tire, you've never heard of, for a little less money.
What you might be getting is a tire which lacks the technology or
manufacturing quality of a well established brand that may cost a little
less and be worth a lot less. |
Hidden Installation Charges
Hidden Shop Fees
"Free Mounting"
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When quoting you a price over the phone some dealers will intentionally
leave out all or some of the installation charges or say that mounting
is free to imply that there are no additional charges. The fact
is most all dealers offer "free mounting", but this is only a small part
of the installation process.
Our installation
charges are all inclusive and there are no additional or hidden fees.
Our advice... If you talk to another tire dealer ask for a
total price. Then ask, does that price include balancing, valve stems, tire
disposal, and shop fees. If the answer is no, it might be time
to re-consider if that's the company you want to do business with. |
The $19 tire
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You can buy the tire advertised for
$19. But, as you may have guessed, the odds of that particular
tire fitting your car are very small. If fact, a popular $19
tire you might see advertised is a size P155/80R13 which represents
less than .1% of the replacement market. That means the
odds of that tire fitting your car are about 1000 to 1! While not
technically untrue, it is certainly misleading and that is why you will
not find the "$19 tire" in Hogan Tire advertisement. |
Free front wheel alignment
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While it may be true that you can get a free
"front wheel alignment", you might be better off doing
nothing. A front wheel alignment does not reference the rear
wheels. Results can lead to a crooked steering wheel, "dog
tracking", or a pull to one side. Front wheel alignments are not
recommended by most dealers. In all likelihood you would be sold
what your vehicle really needs once you are "in the door". Over
80% of today's cars require a
four-wheel alignment. With any tire purchase, Hogan Tire will
install sensors on all four wheel positions and provide you with a
printout of your vehicles current alignment condition along with the
manufacturers recommended specifications FREE of charge.
If the vehicle is out of alignment, at your
option, our technician will reference and adjust all four wheels to the
proper settings for only $49.95. Nobody does it for less!
($30 discount off of our everyday price with
any tire purchase.) |
Free snow tire changeovers
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Those that use snow tires with a single set
of wheels would assume this means the
complete process of re-installing your snow tires or summer tires on your wheels.
In fact, it normally does not. The offer may only refer to the
mounting process. To have the tires balanced, which is
necessary for proper performance, there is a substantial extra charge.
Hogan Tire offers our special discounted changeover prices and
will swap over tires mounted on a separate set of wheels for free. |
Buy 2 get 2 FREE
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The answer is in the fine print. While the tires will be
billed at no charge, you will be required to purchase additional "premium services" to
take advantage of the offer at substantially higher prices than the cost
of a normal installation package. Additional "shop fees" may be
added to the invoice too. |
The $69 brake job
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This is a case of "you get what you pay
for". A $69 brake job would most likely include installing a set
of brake pads only. Other important parts of a complete brake job,
such as resurfacing the brake rotors or installing new brake hardware,
would not be included. The fact is, most customers buying a $69
brake job end up paying much more for all the extras that are required,
but not included. |
"FREE" loaner cars
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We all know there is a cost to have and maintain
loaner cars. Companies that supply "FREE" loaner cars have to
incorporate those costs into the prices they charge for products and
services. At Hogan Tire, we do not maintain our own fleet of loaner
cars to keep our prices low. However, we have arrangements with several
rental car companies to provide cars to those customers that can't be
without transportation. Hogan Tire pays part of the cost of this
service and the customer is billed at $19.99/day. Even with
a rental charge, most customers find that their total invoice is less
than it would have been with the "FREE" loaner car. Customers
that do not need alternate transportation save even more. |
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