tiresome

I think I have mentioned this before, but I do not have very good luck with tires. I go through tires like the octo-mom goes through diapers. Seriously, it's bad.

So I really shouldn't have been surprised yesterday when my running partner pointed out that the metal tread was showing on one of my tires, which meant that it needed to be replaced immediately.

But when I started to think about it, things didn't add up. Because I'd had so many flats and mishaps, I knew that none of the tires on my car were original, and all had been replaced in the last couple of years. Should they really be wearing out that quickly?

So I dug through all of the receipts in my glove box and found the ones for the tires currently on the car. The oldest tire had been replaced in Dec. 2007 when there were 36,000 miles on the car. I checked the odometer, which showed 68,000 miles. So the tire had 32,000 miles on it--definitely less than the 50,000 mile warranty.

I buy all of my tires from American Tire in Rivergate, so I gathered the receipts and drove there to make my case. I showed all of the info to the clerk, and he went out to investigate the tires. He confirmed that I needed a new tire--actually two new tires, because the other front tire was worn pretty badly as well.

But about that warranty....ahh, it's always that word "limited" in the limited warranty that screws you, isn't it?

He said that based on the wear on the tires, my car was probably out of alignment, and it also looked like the tires had not been rotated regularly. So, warranty voided.

Ok. Hold up. So I referred again to the multiple receipts, which showed a timeline of all the tires I had purchased over the last 3 years (I have bought 7 tires from American Tire in 3 years. Seven, people--and I only own one car). And I asked--"Wouldn't you all have rotated the tires each time I got a new one? Isn't that part of your responsibility?" And I even pointed out on one receipt where they checked the alignment last summer when a tire was replaced.

Was that good enough? Oh honey, of course not. So if you ever hope to redeem a warranty on your tires, take it from me---you better be documenting that you rotate your tires every 5,000 miles and that you have your alignment checked regularly. Of course, then they would probably find some other reason to exclude you, like "Have you taken a road trip out of state? Too bad. VOID." Or "It looks like you've parked in grass at some point. VOID." Or "Have you every carried more than 200 pounds in your car? VOID."

Come on, American Tire. Seven tires. Regular customer. You'd think I'd at least get a free smoothie at this point. Sigh.

UPDATE: I did a little research on the Goodyear Integrity tire (the tires that were in question) and apparently, they are just crap tires--even though they are supposed to be the "mid-range" option (in "Good. Better. Best." they would be the "Better"). Oh well. Now I've got 2 new ones on my car. Next time, I'm going with Kellys.