Selling Tire Road Hazard Warranty on an AWD or 4Wd

[Mike Walter]

I am thinking of selling Road Hazard Warranties to my customers.

 

The problem I am having with this program ( TechNet has a great program) is having my Advisors selling a Road Hazard warranty and seeing that 80% of the vehicles we service are AWD or 4WD, I don't feel comfortable selling the warranty when 9 times out of 10 , the other 3 tires will have to be replaced ( depending on tread depth ).

 

I researched this great site and the web in general and I don't see anyone discussing this.

 

Of course honesty and integrity comes into play here and I don't feel comfortable selling something that looks deceitful from the customers point of view if they ever have an issue with a tire that is covered by the Road Hazard warranty and then telling them that we will cover the one tire but because they are driving a Subie ( we service ALOT of Subies ) we will have to charge them for the other 3 tires because there is more than 2/32 difference in tread depth between the new tire and the other 3 tires.

 

We could inform the customer of this when selling the Road Hazard warranty, but would you buy a Road Hazard warranty when it only covers the one tire that is damaged, knowing you will probably have pay to replace the other 3 tires ?

 

Also, after my Advisors take the time to explain the whole tire circumference thing and how it could cause drivetrain damage, etc., chances are customers will just be confused and that wont help trying to upsell the Road Hazard warranty or for that matter the whole customer experience when purchasing tires.

 

Tire shaving is not available any where in Colorado that I have found after extensive research.

Its a lost art except for competitive racers at dirt or asphalt tracks, which Colorado has maybe a total of 5 tracks that I can think of.

 

Tire rack does it but they don't sell Cooper tires ( which is what we sell the most of ).

 

A little Quagmire going on here ?

 

Purchasing a new tire shaving machine ( $10k for a quality one ) would resolve this quagmire and could be a profit center all by itself if marketed correctly, seeing as no one in Denver ( we are 45 minutes from downtown, 20 minutes from the western suburbs ) is offering this service.

 

Any input from you great folks would be appreciated.

 

Thank you , Mike.

 

[Elon Block]

Mike,

 

There are two warranties available on tires.

 

There is the standard mfgrs warranty which covers workmanship and

material-related conditions only, meaning if something goes wrong with

that tire that's related to how it was built or the materials that were used,

the tire would be covered based on the warranty details.

 

Road hazard is a completely separate warranty and is meant to protect

the tire against road hazard only.

 

Which means the road hazard warranty is only meant to cover hazards, such

as pot hole damage, debris in the road, etc. (basically anything that falls

outside of the materials and workmanship mfgrs warranty).

 

The TechNet road hazard is written in pretty standard language, much the

same as every other road hazard warranty out there:
http://www.techauto.com/Road%20Hazard%20Tire%20Protection%20Plan_Terms%20and%20Conditions_final.pdf

 

When talking about a shaving machine...

TechNet clearly states in item #22 that the warranty is voided in the event the tire

has been modified. In addition, almost every tire manufacturer I'm aware of has

the same exclusion and will not cover the tire for workmanship or material-

related conditions because of the modification.

 

Another thing to consider when it comes to the tire shaving machine...
it's a good idea for the right application.

 

However, from a legal position, if that vehicle ever got into an accident and it
was discovered the tire had been shaved or modified by your shop, in any way,
they would come after you.

 

I'm not sure if you found these threads that discussed warranties:

http://www.autoshopowner.com/topic/10036-starting-to-sell-tires-and-looking-for-advice/
http://www.autoshopowner.com/topic/9790-selling-road-hazard-warranties/

[Mike Walter]

Good morning Elon and thanks for the reply.

I was wondering about the liability concerning shaving a tire.

If I went that way, I would definetly have the customer sign a release of liability.

My main concern is up selling the road hazard warranty and if there is problem with a tire, the road hazard warranty only covers one tire, when on most vehicles we service you cannot replace just one, you must replace all 4 because they are AWD or 4wd.

So it's like the customer would buy 3 and get 1 for free, even though they only really need one.

[Elon Block]

Mike,

 

If you're deciding to start using any kind of release of liability,

I would strongly recommend you run it by an attorney who
specializes in this subject matter because releases of liability
these days are not worth much and will give you a false sense
of security.

 

As for your other question...

When it comes to the public and their understanding of what

it costs to maintain a vehicle, they are usually not aware of

things such as AWD or 4WD or a high performance Z-rated

tire...

 

And how the manufacturers have certain requirements for

the vehicle to handle and operate properly.

 

Based on that... here's one way to look at it...

If that customer has a tire that is unrepairable due to a road

hazard, they would most likely have to purchase 4 tires.

If they had purchased the road hazard... at least they would

not have to pay full price for the damaged tire - just the

other three.

 

In the end, it's really important the customer understands

exactly what their options are, including the limitations of

how the road hazard coverage would work, in the event

of a damaged tire that can't be repaired.

[Elon Block]

buy 3 and get 1 for free, even though they only really need one.

 

Mike, I forgot to mention...

 

And as you're probably aware...

 

Road hazard plans are usually based on tread depth and how long

they've owned the tires, so the tire may or may not be free.

[Mike Walter]

Hi Elon, thanks again . Taking care of the customers is what its all about in any service oriented business.

 

Doing it honestly, explaining to them how things work on their vehicles if they don't know, explaining to them why they need to perform regular maintenance, etc. builds trust.

 

Without the trust factor you will not be in business very long.

 

I think this Road Hazard thing will erode the trust factor very quickly if not handled properly.

 

I think my particular situation with servicing many more AWD and 4WD than 2WD vehicles, is a lot of the problem I am having with the Road Hazard Warranty.

 

I talked with a Tech at Tire Rack on Thursday that shaves tires and he said they do ALOT of tire shaving.

 

That being said, I think the general public is starting to come around as far as having knowledge about just having to replace when one tire when they have an AWS or 4WD vehicle.

 

I will think more about this, but right now I am thinking if I want to do my very best to take care of my customers as far as offering a Road Hazard Warranty, investing in a tire shaver would be the way to go.

 

I am very curious to see what the future will bring ( especially after talking with the tech at Tire Rack ) with this whole tire shaving situation .

 

You never know, maybe tire shaving equipment will make a come back ( they were very popular in the days of bias ply tires ) and every shop will have one.

 

I will keep you and everybody else on ASO updated.

 

Thanks again Elon for input, I appreciate it very much.

 

Mike.

[Elon Block]

Mike,

 

I'm aware that Tire Rack is offering that service. Just because they're offering it,

doesn't mean that in the event of an accident, they would not be liable.

 

Here's something to consider...

 

All tire manufacturers have clear warranty guidelines and have a section that

say something, such as: What is not covered under this warranty?

http://www.goodyearautoservice.com/assets/images/img/warrantyicons/GoodyearTireRepWarranty.pdf

 

There's a reason it's worded that way. It's because In the event of an accident,
that family's attorney would be suing EVERYONE involved.

 

Then, what happens is: the tire manufacturer's attorneys (and labs) would look at

the condition of the tire, see modifications and then, that manufacturer would

be wiping their hands of the lawsuit, because modifications were done AFTER

it left their warehouse.

 

Because anything that's done to the tire, voids that warranty AND releases that
manufacturer from having to reach into their pockets.

[Mike Walter]

Hi Elon, I think the liability concern you have is a valid one but I doubt if Amermac would be selling tire shaving equipment if there was a problem. Heck if there was a problem, Amermac would be out of business by now.

[Mike Walter]

Yeh, I know a little bit about tire liability. Learned about it back a few years ago when I was peddling some Green Diamond tires.

 

Those tires were a real good lesson when it comes to liability, thats for sure.

[alfredauto]

We sell road hazard on awd cars all the time. On our main line tires the customers cost is zero for the 1st 2/32" which greatly benefits the customer. They really only care about road hazard in the 1st year anyway. Once one tire is worn past say 4 or 5 32nds we put a new set on and adjust all four, or give them a used one for nothing. I keep the 3 good ones in my used tire stacks. Its a wash for us, and keeps the customer happy.

 

I'm curious about the green diamond tires, once in a while I condemn them as garbage recaps when they come in flapping.

Edited October 4, 2015 by alfredauto

[Mike Walter]

Thanks for the input. The Green Diamonds were a hot item here in Colo back in 2012. We sold a lot and then stopped selling them when the weren't holding up to the mileage warranty ( 50k warranty, tread gone by 20k on most Trucks ) and when they came in flapping and the local rep was no where to be found. He reappeared 2 years later. He said they WERE NOT RECAPS BUT REMOLDS. Tell that to the customers with flappers.

We later found out it is ILLEGAL to put recaps ( remolds, flappers, etc ) on the front of a passenger vehicle in Colorado.

 

Havent heard anything about them since, good riddance.