Jaguar 1994 XJS tires

I think most of the places online that will ship you a set of tires have relationships with some local tire shops that can install them for you.

1 Like

While my car is hibernating, I bought a set of BFG T/A radials for it. I removed the wheels and the new tires were mounted and balanced by the only tire/alignment place I trust. One of the tires had so much runout that the installer drew my attention to it. The tire warranty stated that "Once a tire has been mounted - you own it, " basically. I searched around my area and found a BFG dealer and a new tire was ordered, which I had to pay for. No more online tire buying for me- first and last time.

1 Like

I’m pretty sure that’d be the last time I bought BFG. If tires are leaving the factory with unacceptable runout, there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark.

2 Likes

Well, in a way I kind of brain fahted there … :blush: In my 'burb we have a lot of “mom and pop” tire (& wheel) shops … They are generally Hispanic-owned, which is neither here nor there. In fact, one of them my bro used to always use to get his good used tires for Harlem, the ‘00 XJ8 I “gave” to him. In fact, that shop would probably do me right if I went to them with tires I purchased elsewhere to put on. The thing that has me "nervous’" is going to a shop that doesn’t know me and asking same. :grimacing: Seems like whenever someone drives into a shop with a Jaguar, esp. a home-owned one, suddenly the price to do anything magically doubles (or even triples) vs. driving in with, say, a Ford Taurus … :money_mouth_face:

Well, again, Palmdude … that’s very true with Tire Rack. In fact, TR even lists on their website not only the names and contact info. for each of same in your locale, but also how much they charge for each of their tire-related services (e.g. balancing, mounting, new valve stems, etc.), itemized out. Very fair and easy way to do it. :+1: However, when I tried to do that on Performance Plus Tires website it did not provide any such location service, at least for the DFW area. :frowning_face: That raises the question that if I bought tires off their website and they sent them to me, could I approach the same shops that are “approved” by TR to do installation for them, or are they going to tell me to take a hike (or jack the price up)? (esp. if they have a “business relationship” with TR) … :thinking:

True, but also Davey you can get soaked by a major chain, such as D.T… I have posted before on how many years ago I bought a new pair of top-of-the-line :moneybag: Michelin “Mickey V’s” (MXVs, or some such name) from my local D.T. for the rears of Layla, my '88 XJ40 VDP. I thought it kind of odd that the day I drove in they claimed that they did not even have any of them in stock in the DFW area (i.e. district warehouse). :open_mouth: They ended up having them sent from their Houston warehouse, like 250 miles away., so I had to come back a couple of days later to have them installed. I had them put on and not long afterward I was driving on the service/outer road of the freeway here (fortunately I was not on the freeway itself :relieved:) going under 40 MPH when I suddenly heard a muffled “WUFFFFF” sound from the rear of the car immediately followed by the left wheel going wumpa wumpa wumpa as if on almost the bare wheel rim … :open_mouth: I was able to get Layla to the shoulder of the road and got out to look at wth happened. It looked to me like the tire had just come apart at the “seams” and slowly unraveled down the roadway, kinda like re-treads sometimes did back in the day. :angry:

I put my spare on and went on to D.T., which was less than 3 miles away down the same service road. When they took the wheel off and looked at what was left of the tire, they tried to convince me it was “road hazard damage” (I didn’t have R.H. coverage) and therefore weren’t going to replace it. I pointed out to them that I saw no foreign object in the roadway, didn’t feel going over any such object, and that they found no such critter embedded in the remaining tire tread. Moreover, the tire did not go with a loud “BANG” like with a blow out from a puncture, but the sound I mentioned earlier. Even if it had been punctured, it should not have suffered the degree and type of damage it did, esp. since I was going slowly at the time, given it was brand new, V-rated, $$ tire, etc. :triumph:

The manager of the shop finally came out and we dickered some more over the matter. I made it clear I was NOT going to pay another $150.00 for another tire, and, frankly was nervous about the other Michelin they had insatlled now. I wanted to take it off and throw it through their window, like that little old lady in their co. ads. :rage: If I had been traveling on the freeway when that incident happened, I could have even been killed. I suspect what happened was that D.T. sold me an old pair of tires, ones that were past the 6-year industry standard (and now D.T.'s standard as well) for tire replacement. Sitting that long in a non-a.c.ed Houston warehouse would definitely have not helped things in that regard (e.g. “tire rot”). :hot_face: Or, possibly there was an inherent defect in that particular tire. Back then, I didn’t know about exp. dates, date coding on tires, or the “browning” caused by tire rot (which it would be easy for a shop to cover up unscrupulously with a little “tire black” product applied).

The manager and I reached a compromise, where they gave me a pro rata rating on the tire of about 90% remaining tire life at the time of the incident (IIRC), so I only had to pay around $15 or so for a new replacement. :triumph:

Agreed, Kirby. Although, it’s “what ya gonna do” . being that BFGs are now the top-of-the-line (at least pricewise) 15"ers, w. Pirelli having dropped out of the picture. :confused:

I’ve had great luck with BFGs.

Every tire maker out there has some duds from time to time.

Cheers
DD

So don’t drive in with the Jaguar. Take the wheels off the car, load them in the pickup along with the new tires, and drive the load to the tire store.

1 Like

The shops’ itemized lists on the Tire Rack website are, in fact, the shops’ normal price for this kind of work. I have checked this out before, and basically what each shop is advertising for mounting, balancing, stems, etc, is the same set of prices listed on their own website…there’s no Tire Rack discount for those services.

This is what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna call one of the shops, ask to confirm their add-on pricing, and they’ll confirm it…AND THEN…they’re gonna ask you what tires are you getting from TR, and that they can beat those prices. It won’t be by much, but they can and will.

Getting back to the add-on prices, there’s no TR discount on those. Roll in from tires from anywhere and they’ll charge you the same, whether its a Jag or a Rolls Royce, or a Yugo.

This sounds like Black Circles in the UK. You nominate your home, or a tyre shop for delivery. They will offer a list of local places and prices, up to you to choose. There is no difference in the fitting fee from the standard tyre shop price. But in the couple of times I have done this, when I’ve contacted the type shop and asked them if they could match the Black Circles price, they have said they cannot. Too much buying power wielded by Black Circles, and low margins, make local places uncompetitive.

I haven’t seen a yogo around here since the big 80’s .

Don’t know how it’s done now but I installed tires for several months in my youth. People would come in with mail order tires that they got cheap, “factory blems”. Many were name brand tires. Supposedly these tires had cosmetic issues. Many of these tires required an insane amount of wheel weight to balance. I remember 4 oz. not uncommon. We did have a high speed balancer that would run them up to 90 mph and can only recall one with a lot of runout.

Ah, I like the way you think, Palmdude! ^5 :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Interesting, VK … thanks for the info. :smiley:

That brings up another interesting, potential “issue”, BJ … I’m sure the installers won’t vouch for the tires themselves (i.e. they don’t give any warranty on same, only on their “installation services”). So, if the tire later on (allegedly) proves to be defective in some manner, is the seller/manuf. going to point a finger at the installer as having somehow installed it incorrectly, while the installer points the finger at the seller for selling a bum tire? :thinking: That potential conundrum shouldn’t come up, by contrast, with a shop that is putting on tires they sell (and therefore stand behind, at least impliedly) to the customer.

btw, you mentioned a “toolmaker in Indiana” in one of your earlier posts. That brought to mind my dad’s - who grew up on a farm in LaPorte - humble beginnings as a general machinist and apprentice toolmaker at the Anderson Company (now “ANCO” - the windshield wiper co.) in Hammond. :triumph:

1 Like

I use Tire Rack, and an independent wheel refurbishing shop close to me that doesn’t sell tires. They are an installer for Tire Rack. They have the proper equipment for high end wheels and tires, plus can let me know if I have any wheel issues. Most tire shops don’t have a clue. Many “tire” issues are really wheel issues with bent rims or excessive wheel runout. The shop I use has done right by me, and their pricing is very competitive for mounting and balancing. They also don’t tack on useless fees that tire shops like to, like charging for TPMS on cars that don’t have it.

I remember going thru LaPorte, Hammond, Whiting, Gary, taking the South Shore Railroad from South Bend to Chicago when I was a kid. Anyone who thinks The Clean Air Act didn’t work never went that route in the '60s.

We always had a disclaimer on tires. Warranty from manufacturer only. They had to sign an additional waiver on the tires they brought in.