Sears Automotive
Tires are sub-standard and caused a blow out on the interstate

Imajica
09-08-2008
19

My wife and I bought a new set of tires from the Sears Automotive in Tallahassee, Florida and it was a big mistake. The tires were ok for a while but we noticed that they started causing the car to shake. We took our car in for regular checkups and such and the tires were supposedly rotated when we took it in.

This all changed when the tires were about 2.5 years old and one of them would run flat constantly. We took it in and they replaced the stem valve. No problem. The car shook more and more. Then the front tire blew out. We took the car in and they said that it was a "Manufacture's defect and that the tire was not under warranty" because they don't have those tires any longer. We had to replace the tire. Great. They did not check the other tires at all because on our way down to Lakeland for Labor Day we had the rear tire lose it's tread as though it was a recap. It exploded while we were in the middle lane and I was able to get us safely to the side of the road. We had to be towed for about $120 to Lake City and another $450 to have all the tires replaced. Why? When the guys put the car on the rack he said "Well it is not unusual to have tires look like this when they get as old as these are." We told him they were less than 3 years old and his jaw dropped. You could see where the remaining tires, excluding the "new" one that we had previously bought, were separating.

Sears not only did not replace the "Manufacture defect" tires, the did not even check. The alignment we had them do was not correct, the tires could have killed my whole family since we were all in the car at the same time.

We have spent years trying to get the car serviced correctly. Often having to take the car back the next day to get the alignment redone, tires balanced again, battery replaced again, etc. After spending the money in Lake City for a new set of tires and alignment, the car rode like new. It was like night and day. Sears could never do this.

We have all the documentation and are going to pursue this with the BBB. I hope they get sued to the stone age.