About three years ago my wheels needed an alignment on my BMW. I let it go for a little bit, which, knowing me was likely months. Anyway, I finally took it in. One tire was toast and had completely worn out the toe. I didn’t notice it was that bad because is was on the inside edge. I took pics of them, verified they were factory OE tires and went to order some, they were about $350 EA Installed!!!
I was more than a little startled. I then find out my car does not include a spare tire, it does not include a tire repair kit or air compressor. No, my car relies on run-flat tires.
I was searching the web for any type of deal and came across two used run-flats and snatched them up. When they arrived I took them to Discount Tire and had them swap them out. I asked to keep the good tire since it was almost perfect with plenty of tread. When I picked up my car, they said they threw the tire in the trunk and I went about my merry way.
Fast forward to today, I’m dealing with some bad road noise. The noise that you get from a wheel loose. However, the wheels weren’t loose. I suspected the brake rotor since the noise was almost exclusive to low speed and changed with braking (also pretty noticeable brake shake). Anyway, I raised the car to verify my suspicion and just generally check everything.
The brake rotors were definitely warped, so problem solved. Brake pads were pretty low too, so I figured I needed to order both new rotors and shoes for the front. So how were the tires? Pretty good, but again, the toe was a little worn on one tire. I thought, huh, let me compare it against the tire I’ve been holding onto in my garage for three years.
I retrieve the tire and start comparing, but I kind of scratch my head because the tread doesn’t look the same. I just stared trying to figure out what was going on. I finally looked at the side wall and the tire brand said Arroyo, not Bridgestone. All this time, I had never inspected the tire after they gave it back to me. Since they are pretty low-profile, it’s not easy to read the markings so I completely missed it.
I’d never heard of Arroyo. The Arroyo new is an $80 tire while the Bridgestone is $285. Used, maybe $40 for the Arroyo and $175 for the Bridgestone. You do the math.
Maybe it was an honest mistake, two cars with similar tires next to each other? Maybe? But I think it’s incredibly unlikely. More interesting question is tech or manager. Oh well, what do you do?
By the way, I’ve got an Arroyo tire for sale. Great deal, $40! Like New!
