JerryR

My 8 hit a giant pothole on the way from PA to MA, in New Haven, CT. It flattened a tire and dented the rim on that tire. Mazda roadside assistance was great at getting me a tow within 15 minutes, arranging for hotel reservation (this happened at 10pm on a Friday), and a cab from the dealer to the hotel.

But anyway, the dealer wants to charge me $266 for a new tire, which seems reasonable, and $471 for a the wheel. $471 seems excessive. Is this the actual Mazda part cost, or am I being overcharged? I really don't have too much bargaining power, since I'm in MA until Saturday, when I drive back to New Haven to pick up the car and continue on to PA, so I can't really arrange to have the work done somewhere else.

Note: the tires and rims on my 8 are those that originally came with the car.

Gord96BRG

$471 for the wheel is a huge ripoff. Rosenthal Mazda's online parts store ( www.finishlineperformance.com ) sells the chrome version of the wheel $357! I'm sure they'd sell the OEM wheel for less than $357 - check their website, then give Tommy (the online parts manager, Tommy Grimes) a call. They also have a forum section here, in the Vendors section. You can also check with Trussville Mazda ( www.trussvillemazda.com ), also a forum sponsor.

Regards,
Gordon

JerryR

Thanks for the links, Gordon. I called my dealer back at home, who said a replacement wheel would be $286. I also called back the dealer in New Haven and got the part number for the $471.50 wheel: 9965078080.

I guess I'll call back my dealer at home and see what they have for the cost of that part number. Something isn't adding up.

Napboy

if you can't a cheaper price in new haven, just stop in hartford (or wherever) to pick up a new one on your way.

JerryR

Ha ha, success! Apparently, the $471.50 wheel is a new part which supercedes the old $286.10 wheel. I talked to the New Haven service guy again and he transferred me to their parts department, where I was told that the 286.10 wheel is a discontinued part (#9965058080). I asked if he still had access to the old part, and he looked it up, and what do you know, he said in fact the place where they get their parts actually has more of the old part in stock than the new one, and yes, they'll use that one instead, thereby saving me $185.40.

So it doesn't look like they were trying to rip me off. It's just that Mazda decided why sell a $286 part when you can sell a $471 part.

Interestingly, my home dealer looked up the replacement wheel by my VIN number, and his computer spit out the cheaper part. He was surprised when I had him look up the other part number and it gave the $471.50 price.

robertdot

Do you know the difference between the two? Is there a difference? It doesn't make sens to sell the same thing for 400+ instead of 200- just because. I hope Mazda is smarter than that.

JerryR

The parts guy back in PA couldn't tell me what difference there was. He said according to the computer, they're interchangeable. I too would like to know what the difference is.

JerryR

Here's the final wrap-up on this mini-saga. I got my car back on Saturday and the bill ended up being $286.10 for the wheel and $232.95 for the tire, $20 labor. With tax and misc., the total was $573.09. The wheel was identical to the other three and looked good as new. I managed to drive the 200 miles home without further incident.

Unfortunately, with my $500 deductible on insurance, not really worth it to make a claim. I did call up the New Haven/CT department of transportation and they're sending me some forms to fill out as far as the pothole is concerned, but I won't get my hopes up about seeing any money from them.

Btw, the '8 handled extremely well when I originally hit the pothole and the tire blew. I didn't at any time feel like I was out of control of the car, and other than a pull to the left and the tire pressure sensor going off, it almost felt normal. This was my second road mishap in the last month or so. I hope these things don't come in threes. Actually, it was almost my third, but quick reflexes prevented what would have been #2. In that one, some accident happened on the highway moments before I got there - I know this because I was distracted by the sight of a car wheel merrily rolling along the side of the road opposite the flow of traffic, but not too distracted to look back at the road in time to see the bumper lying directly in my path, presumably from the same car, and do a quick swerve to avoid it.

Kel Rx8

wheres the bad rim?
if you have it and want to get it fixed call jeff @
USA WHEELS
973-227-7977
800-513-1399
or p.m me

Air Force RX8

$232.95 for a tire?? One tire? WTF??

JerryR

Kel - I didn't take it with me because they told me it was too bent to be repaired. You think that was a mistake?

Air Force - tire rack lists the Potenza RE040 for $211, so $232 isn't really out of line.

Kel Rx8

yes anything can be fixed
im sure someone will say the opposite.
but i will be the 1st and only time admit i had a bent rim on
one of my wheels.i had nightmares,i was so upset i didnt want to drive my car.but this guy does wheels all over the us.hint usa wheels.and he is a miracle man in my eyes.
my front wheel is about $975 each and there had to be another option.i got my rim back looking brnad new.he has a hre wheel in there that was bent by a manhole in nyc that looked like a letter c.
he said as long as it isnt cracked its fun for him to straighten out.
im still amazed at his skill.i cant praise him enough
he will be powdercoating all my brake caliper this yr and
polishing all my lips this winter.
a must for anyone here looking for a oem fix.