I just paid $700 for a tire change

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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Went to my hangar and my tire was flat.
I Aired it up and in about 20 min, it lost ~20 PSI so I didn't want to fly it to my normal guy.

There's a shop next door. I go over and ask can you get me on your schedule? My tire is flat.

He calls me and says Tire is 299 tube is 99. I don't have a lot of choice so i say go for it.
He calls me that evening and says it's fixed.

I go to the shop to write him a check and he says its $690 Tire, Tube, and 2.5 hours labor.
I am like F**K but whatever.

THEN the dude says do you want your old tire? I say sure. He says "I would hang on to that, it is in really good shape"

I asked "What was the issue causing the leak?

He says we didn't want to waste time digging into why it was leaking so we just replaced the tire and tube.

I found the tire online and he marked it up 100% but that last bit about getting me a tire to replace a perfectly good tire at a 100% mark up has me a little ****ed.

What the hell just happened?
 
But this is ******** right?
Or is this normal? I don't recall ever getting a tire replaced and feeling like I got screwed.
 
Last one I had done was a little over 400, so yeah. Of course there's $150 tires and there's $300 tires. Tubes same story. Should only take about an hour unless comanches are way harder than '32s. It was done by the shop that does all my work, so there's a relationship there, which I'm sure helps.

He certainly missed an opportunity to earn your future business. Seems like a lot of mechanics don't care though... they're already as busy as they want to be.
 
can't seem to find my receipt for when I had mine changed but yes, it sounds pretty high. like crack smoking high.
 
Oh ya, you got screwed.
 
I’m guessing the total bill could have cost no more than half that. Order the tire yourself, install yourself, or with a more reasonable labor cost. You traded less down time and convenience (from a gouger) vs less cost. I would not hesitate to have a conversation with the shop.
 
bflynn said:
More so because changing a tire isn’t that difficult and is in the list of owner maintenance.
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What equipment/tools do you need? I assume you need special jacks at least.
Don’t you need to balance it?

I’ve only changed a bicycle tire, how much harder than that?
 
bflynn said:
More so because changing a tire isn’t that difficult and is in the list of owner maintenance.
Click to expand...
I just bought two $400 wing jacks, so I could replace a flat tire myself....well that and so I could swing my gear myself to double check my mechanic's work. This thread makes me happy of my purchase, and I'll show it to my S.O. because she couldn't see the logic in paying $800 to replace a $100 tube...maybe now she will.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
What equipment/tools do you need? I assume you need special jacks at least.
Don’t you need to balance it?

I’ve only changed a bicycle tire, how much harder than that?
Click to expand...
Mine are waaaaay easier than bike tires (due to split rims). And no balance necessary.
 
Country Flier said:
Mine are waaaaay easier than bike tires (due to split rims). And no balance necessary.
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It’s also waaaaay easier to screw it up and pinch a tube and have another flat later. At least get someone with experience to show you how to do it right.


On the other topic, I don’t believe splitting rims and replacing tubes fits the description “Changing a tire”
 
I smell a YouTube in the offing...
 
Not sure how one could change a tire without splitting the rim.

Agree with above post regarding tire change as simple to do owner maintenance.
 
Well....you got's what you axe for. ;)

surprised you didn't get two new tires....so they balance each other. :D
 
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The mechanic did you no favors. I'd be looking for a different one - one who is out to help you - the customer. Worst case, he should have just replaced the leaky tube and reinstalled the used, but good tire.
 
Did you go talk to him again? He may refund you some if he realizes his ****-ery has been recognized. I "100 %" markup is only a 50% margin which is a little high for a mechanic and a tire, but not total ****- ery imo, he could be a ****ty businessman and getting screwed himself
paying retail instead of wholesale. Still steep though. You have a spare now, you should probably get a spare nose tire and tubes to avoid this in the future.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Went to my hangar and my tire was flat.
I Aired it up and in about 20 min, it lost ~20 PSI so I didn't want to fly it to my normal guy.

There's a shop next door. I go over and ask can you get me on your schedule? My tire is flat.

He calls me and says Tire is 299 tube is 99. I don't have a lot of choice so i say go for it.
He calls me that evening and says it's fixed.

I go to the shop to write him a check and he says its $690 Tire, Tube, and 2.5 hours labor.
I am like F**K but whatever.

THEN the dude says do you want your old tire? I say sure. He says "I would hang on to that, it is in really good shape"

I asked "What was the issue causing the leak?

He says we didn't want to waste time digging into why it was leaking so we just replaced the tire and tube.

I found the tire online and he marked it up 100% but that last bit about getting me a tire to replace a perfectly good tire at a 100% mark up has me a little ****ed.

What the hell just happened?
Click to expand...
Tire. Tube. The tube is the thing what holds the air in. Without going into how to find leaks in a tube, just replace the effin tube. Yeah, ya should check the tire to make sure there ain’t sumpin’ poking through it to eff’ with the tube. The time taken to do this is measured in seconds, not hours. I’d consider maybe going back and calling them on this.
 
I just paid $502.50 for a main on a Bonanza and I thought I got screwed.
$142.50 for 1.5 hours labor.
$225.00 for a new 7" 8 ply tire.
$135 for a new tube.

But that was right after reading the "A&Ps don't get paid enough" thread so I didn't complain.
 
Doubt anything good would come from "calling him" on it. Vote with your feet. Once enough people go elsewhere, he will go away.

The takeaway is you should prepare and be capable of changing it yourself (or take @eman1200 recommendation above). I would recommend Leakguard tubes by Aeroclassic. Get a tube, the tire, figure out what tools you require to jack the wheel, remove the wheel from the axle, split the rim, separate the tire from the rim halves, reassemble and inflate. Keep those tools in the plane.
 
Last summer, $400, 182 w/pants. They helped me off the runway with a dolly and dropped everything to save me. So ya, shoulda included the lube.
 
FORANE said:
Doubt anything good would come from "calling him" on it. Vote with your feet. Once enough people go elsewhere, he will go away.

The takeaway is you should prepare and be capable of changing it yourself (or take @eman1200 recommendation above). I would recommend Leakguard tubes by Aeroclassic. Get a tube, the tire, figure out what tools you require to jack the wheel, remove the wheel from the axle, split the rim, separate the tire from the rim halves, reassemble and inflate. Keep those tools in the plane.
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I get your point. But ‘feet’ wasn’t at issue here. His choices were flying, not pushing, the plane to his regular guy. Yeah he coulda pumped it up and flew. But I applaud his ADM in not doing so. Do you really know how slow the leak is still, right now.
 
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luvflyin said:
I get your point. But ‘feet’ wasn’t at issue here. His choices were flying, not pushing, the plane to his regular guy. Yeah he coulda pumped it up and flew. But I applaud his ADM in not doing so. Do you really know how slow the leak is right now.
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By voting with feet I was referring to not returning to the guy again, the next time this happens or for any other maintenance issues.
 
JOhnH said:
I've got one of those tools. It only weighs a few grams and fits nicely in my billfold.
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Ah, I believe I have that same tool. It edge also works nicely for frost removal from the wings.
 
FORANE said:
Doubt anything good would come from "calling him" on it. Vote with your feet. Once enough people go elsewhere, he will go away.

The takeaway is you should prepare and be capable of changing it yourself (or take @eman1200 recommendation above). I would recommend Leakguard tubes by Aeroclassic. Get a tube, the tire, figure out what tools you require to jack the wheel, remove the wheel from the axle, split the rim, separate the tire from the rim halves, reassemble and inflate. Keep those tools in the plane.
Click to expand...
I suspect you are right about calling him, I would do it in person. At least let him know, he may have a good reason for charging what he did. Still probably cheaper than having someone travel to do it. Maybe not.
 
kyleb said:
The mechanic did you no favors. I'd be looking for a different one - one who is out to help you - the customer. Worst case, he should have just replaced the leaky tube and reinstalled the used, but good tire.
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Well, at least he has a spare for when one gets worn out or dry rotted.
 
Yes, you need a Special jack to raise it from the lift point.
I did a flat repair on a Comanche 250 last spring. All done couldn’t have been more than 1.5 hours. Check the tire, replace the tube, reinstall. Easy job.
 
On a related topic, what’s the limit of tire tread to be considered airworthy? Top of Lincoln’s head like with cars?
 
Had a tire go flat on a friend's airplane just last week when I flew it to a nearby airport for a transponder check. I replaced the tube with a used one the owner of the avionics shop rounded up from someone he knew. I fixed it myself, took less than an hour. Avionics guy had all the tools and a jack. And I was grumbling over the $75 I paid for a used tube.

upload_2022-9-18_6-18-17.png

Here was the cause:

upload_2022-9-18_6-26-33.png
 
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I had a main go flat on rollout at my home field. They fixed it on the taxiway, jacked up the wing, took the wheel to the shop, new tire, tube. Cost me $350.
 
+1

Although I still can't believe what a new tire and tube costs even to change it myself on my -7A...
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Went to my hangar and my tire was flat.
I Aired it up and in about 20 min, it lost ~20 PSI so I didn't want to fly it to my normal guy.

There's a shop next door. I go over and ask can you get me on your schedule? My tire is flat.
Click to expand...
Just a couple of questions:

If this guy is next door, why do you fly it elsewhere to your "normal guy". Is he better? Cheaper? Faster turn around? If you used this guy more regularly, perhaps he would be less aggressive with his charges.

There is an absolutely fantastic Bonanza shop about a 20 minute flight from me.

But there is also a very competent A&P/IA on my home field. If my nose gear is low he runs over and pumps it up. Same with almost any other minor problem I don't want to deal with, and he often doesn't even charge for these little things. And otherwise it would require me to make an appointment and fly out. That would be a real pain.

Also the local guy is not near as busy since this is a smaller airport, and his turn around time is usually quite good. And I have never had a problem with his work.

Also, I know he has problems hiring people and dealing with rising expenses, so I like giving him my business to help assure that he will be around as long as possible.
 
JOhnH said:
Just a couple of questions:

If this guy is next door, why do you fly it elsewhere to your "normal guy". Is he better? Cheaper? Faster turn around? If you used this guy more regularly, perhaps he would be less aggressive with his charges.
Click to expand...

More familiar with the Make / Model. The guy I use was recommended by a fellow Comanche 250 owner who has used him for years.
He did my annual and it was a good experience.

He used to be on my field and was like you mentioned. He re set my landing gear after I had to do the emergency procedure. He came over, jacked it up, reconnected it and said "no charge, just remember me next time you need something" He needed a bigger shop so he moved to the airport north of mine.
 
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