Wasn't Aware Of The Secret Handshake

mitsu13gman · December 31, 2009

I know Tire Rack has a great reputation for accuracy of fitment, but I had to post up regarding my recent experience.

I ordered a set of 17's and tires for my car. Upon arrival, they didn't fit. When I called, I was told they had to check with their tech team and would get back to me. When they responded, I was told they would be removing that fitment and would issue a call tag for the wheel/tire package.

Since one of my factory wheels was damaged by a curb, I am left with extremely limited mobility from the vehicle until I either replace that one wheel (very expensive!) or replace the whole set. I elected to call back to see what my options might be at this point. After being redirected from customer service to sales, I asked if they had any additional information regarding known good fitments. I was directed to two specific wheels that were supposedly verified to fit.

This left me with two major questions:

1) Will either of these options actually fit?

2) Why wasn't I told when I ordered the first set that they had not verified the fitment and there might be issues.

In the first case, I really don't want to go through further trial-and error with shipping time in between waiting for a wheel to finally fit.

For the second, had I been made aware that my original choice was not a verified fit, I wouldn't have chosen that wheel and either would have elected a different option, or just come here to find a replacement factory wheel, or worst-case, just paid for the replacement factory wheel.

So as a warning to those looking to buy from Tire Rack, you need to ask the sales person EXPLICITLY whether or not the fitment for a given wheel has been verified, or else be prepared to be the guinea pig. I was not aware of this and now have to figure out a viable plan b...