First off, it cost me $100 to mount 4 avon 550's....not happy about that. got the tires from tirerack and dropped shipped to a place in town.

Secondly, the tire place asked if I had pressure monitors and told them so, they said $25/ tire to check them....? well....ok i guess. They had this handheld gimmick, as they said could test magnetic or electrical sensors. As it turned out, their little test set didn't work for any of the tires. I never heard of the sensors being tested on this board so I called a mazda dealership and they never heard of such a thing to begin with. stating they don't test them or check them if there are no indications of discrepancy. all the while the tire guy kept trying to check them, I passed the info to them, but they still tried to test them.

I told them I found it hard to believe that all 4 were bad, that the sensors are actually transmiters and that their tester probably isn't designed to detect such a thing, they said it sounded like it was electrical and said it should work. (of course they're not going to listen to someone with almost 20 years of electrical/electronic experience).

in any case, they went ahead and changed them out. took 2-3 guys per tire to change them saying it's tougher to change with such a low profile tire. Took them just short of 2 hours to get all four done.

then at pay time, they said $100, i told them I didn't want to pay for the sensor check since it couldn't be done, the guy then told me it costs $25 for each 18" rim....supposedly that's what they charge for 18" rims.

thoughts/opinions

 

Sounds about right. It's a drop ship. If you buy the tire from the installer the tires are more expensive but the install is cheaper.

 

When I had my H&R drop, rubbing was very visible on the rears.
After the Tein basics, had the rear rotated.
Took them about 20 minutes to do so.
(Tire is a 275/30/19) with pricy Volks rims.
Slipped the installer a 20$ bill and came out the store for an extra 35 $ (55$ total)
Tip was well spend and no damage or marks where done to the wheels and tires.

 

but has anyone ever heard of testing the TPMS?

 

Not me....

 

did they check your muffler bearings also. what is the name of the store.

beers

 

they probably use one of those expensive metric adjustable wrenches. i can't see to find them anywhere...