Changing Only 2 Tires On Rx 400H Awd

[europat55]

I was planning on buying a pair of Michelin tires from COSTCO to fit my RX 400h, but they say that they won't sell me only 2 since this is an AWD vehicule... they will sell me only 4! Even though 2 of my tires are still almost brand new...!

Has anyone experienced this and managed to convince COSTCO to sell them only 2 tires for an RX 400h AWD?

[1990LS400]

Ask Costco to allow you to sign a release. I was required to do that last year at Costco when I bought a set of H-rated (130 mph) tires for my 00 LS400 which came with V-rated (149 mph) tires - and I didn't even have them install the tires ... I had the Lexus dealer do it instead. It shouldn't be a big deal. If the Costco tire guy does not sell you the tires with a release, contact the store manager. Maybe they don't understand the concept of modern AWD. I found that the Costco tire techs where I live are not very knowledgeable. Even though they have their nice tire tech school diplomas on the wall, none of them understood the concept of road force balancing which the Costco here is not equipped to do.

[lenore]

I was not able to get Costco to budge on their policy, I even offered A Lexus release...They are lacking...

One way around it is to take wheels off and take them to Costco and have them put tires on them. Their policy is rediculous, I try to go eleswhere now...

[1990LS400]

I was not able to get Costco to budge on their policy, I even offered A Lexus release...They are lacking...

Even with your extraordinary diplomatic skills?

[lenore]

My skills went out the door after trying to explain to them that the AWD on the RX300 only gets about 10% all of the time to the rear...I have been a Costco member for over 25years and dealing with stupidity is not one of the customer requirements that I wish to experience...They would not accept a waiver....So Sams club or American tires, or Tirerack.com with the help of Goodyear are my prefrences now.

[SW03ES]

In my experience TireRack is cheaper than Costco anyways...so I'd just order the tires from them and avoid the hassle...

[lenore]

Agreed and I found a great Goodyear through their site that treats the tirerack purchase like one of their own.. for the installation....

[katzjamr]

Lenore i had the same issue when i saw a nail in my Costco Michelin tire and quickly drove there to have it repaired. It was an inch from the edge on the tread not the sidewall, however they would not repair it. Then they said they could not sell me one tire, only 4 with the same speech they gave you. I almost had the guy convinced that it was a front wheel drive but his supervisor still wouldnt do it. What they would do was put the spare on, and sell me a new tire for the spare as long as the tire they worked on did not touch the road. This is in seattle at store number one where Costco started. Since the punctured tire had half its useful life left they did give me half off on the new spare they were selling me. The whole thing is bizarre. Les Schwab has been much more helpful at times when i had not even purchased anything from them. I wish Schwab had nitrogen available for their tires i dont know what their problem is with that, although i am done purchasing tires from costco. Furthermore, if you go to have them (Costco) fix a flat, you get in line with all the people who purchased tires ahead of you, and it will take hours for the repair.

[lenore]

Agreed, I actually had them repair a nail in tire on a virtually new tire...That same day i WAS GOING to my son's house and that repair blew out completely destroying the tire. When I went back to get the tire replaced the Michelin Cross Terrains that I had purchased just 2 months prior had been discontinued and they informed me I would have to buy four new tires...I told them they were crazy..I called Michelin while standing there and they said the Latitude was the replacement and would not cause any problems even though the tread pattern is different...They finally sold me under warranty the one Latitude tire....But their customer service and knowledge is completely rediculous..I also refused to pay for the tire as their repair failed and caused my blowout.. I had to raise a stink with the store manager to get this done...As far as I am concerned Costco Tire centers are the no service dealer....

[SW03ES]

Lenore i had the same issue when i saw a nail in my Costco Michelin tire and quickly drove there to have it repaired. It was an inch from the edge on the tread not the sidewall, however they would not repair it. Then they said they could not sell me one tire, only 4 with the same speech they gave you. I almost had the guy convinced that it was a front wheel drive but his supervisor still wouldnt do it. What they would do was put the spare on, and sell me a new tire for the spare as long as the tire they worked on did not touch the road. This is in seattle at store number one where Costco started. Since the punctured tire had half its useful life left they did give me half off on the new spare they were selling me. The whole thing is bizarre. Les Schwab has been much more helpful at times when i had not even purchased anything from them. I wish Schwab had nitrogen available for their tires i dont know what their problem is with that, although i am done purchasing tires from costco. Furthermore, if you go to have them (Costco) fix a flat, you get in line with all the people who purchased tires ahead of you, and it will take hours for the repair.

LOL, this goes to show you its not your safety they care about...its their liability.

For the record, with half the life gone from the tires you shouldn't just buy one tire, you need to buy two. However, putting the unused spare on created the same danger replacing the tire would have created!

Nitrogen is just a gimmick...I wouldn't even consider that when choosing a place to buy tires from.

[katzjamr]

Well i was considering putting a nail in the opposite tire so i could get half off on that one and have a set but it was just too much to deal with them again, just kidding. Yes you get the feeling that its more about liability with the Costco tires than service, which is a little odd since the rest of the operation is pretty easy to deal with, i.e. return policy and they are known as a good company to work for, as corporations go. Honestly i did buy into the nitrogen that costco uses on all tires and it probably is only beneficial in climates with large temperature swings. It is also not as convenient if you need to add more to the tire.

[SW03ES]

Think about it this way...air is 78% nitrogen already...so you are paying for the other 22%...how big a difference could it possibly be?

[LEXIRX330]

22% ? Just a guess? :)

[pauljcl]

22% ? Just a guess? :)

.. or maybe 22/78 = 28.2%

(lol)!

[SW03ES]

Could be!