Just a heads up to anyone thinking of getting tires at Discount Tire. While doing my once a year truck waxing where I sat on the ground to reach the lower panel, I found sheet metal damage at each of the 4 locations they used a floor jack to lift the truck.

Emailed corporate and they had local store manager call me. I bring it by Monday to show them the damage.

Passenger rear in front of the wheel with the bracket bent as the sheet metal curled under the truck


Driver front under door behind the wheel


Driver rear in front of the tire crushed upwards causing the bow outwards.

 

If you could lift the vehicle and get more pictures that would be good. What you need to show is the damage was caused from a force coming straight up, and not from running over something. Take pictures of underside components not damaged; oil pan, crossmember, rear diff, etc. The lack of damage on surrounding parts goes to substantiate it wasn’t done while driving.if bare metal is showing take pictures how it’s not rusted yet.
I’d go to a body shop of your choice (not theirs) and get estimate prior to meeting with Discount.
Don’t let them handle the repair if they offer.
That kind of damage was common with the old in-ground lifts if you didn’t take the time to rack properly. The newer racks have round rubber pads that spread the load to prevent this.

Maybe they’ll take ownership of the damage and be great about it. Just be prepared. Hey, all service depts have bad days. I did. 80-100 vehicles getting serviced per day things were bound to happen. You just own it, make it as convenient as possible for the customer, and move on. Hell, I even fixed damage I knew we didn’t do, but I never wanted my customer to have lingering doubt. Don’t get me wrong, every now and then I told a few to go pound sand🙃

in California, the regulations require every vehicle have paperwork generated before inspection or work is done. Not sure about your state, but I’d strongly request documentation showing you came in, the reason, etc. so if you end up in small claims you have paperwork. Good chance their insurance requires paperwork on all vehicles.

 

Thanks for the information. I have more pictures from all angles, but only posted a few.

In 37 years this was the 1st tire shop to use 4 floor jacks instead of any kind of lift. Saw the truck up on 4 jacks at the same time as I sat by the 1st bay window where my truck was being serviced. Didn't get there in time to see them doing the placing of the jacks They lifted the front on the pinch welds as if it was a unibody that is structural. The rear just on the sheet metal. The angle support bar that secure that rear sheet metal took a lot of the load, exept the passenger side one curled under. The 4 places are exactly where the jacks were placed. I will take video at the shop showing how all the vehicles are typically lifted that way.

I will work with their insurance agent. In VA we can select the shop of our choice and do not have to go where they say.

So far they have not denied it and have been cooperative. I don't foresee any problems. Monday will tell though. I just hate grossly incompetent workers

 

4 floor jacks? Yikes. That’s doing it the hard way
bad thing about that is you don’t jack all four at the same time. So all the weight is focused on the one jack being lifted.

 

Saved money on the new building by not putting in lifts. They were huge, like semi-truck size floor jacks.
I drove it into the bay and they had me back it out as they had no one who could drive a manual.
The truck has some small rust holes that are easily fixed, but see 4 areas of sheet metal damage is a gut punch

 

Oh GAWD, I’m sorry…….

 

Thanks. It's not major damage, but you don't expect a a tire shop to be this in competent. A rip-off for work not needed yes, but sheet metal damage, no. These were my 9th set of replacement tires and never even had a scratch before as the all used lifts.

 

Could someone post a picture of the bed side wall support that is just in front of the rear wheel. I know the passenger side support is curled under, but not sure the driver side. There is a curve at the base where it is welded to the panel so not sure how high up it goes. I think the driver side is slightly bent just above the curve. Would like to see what an undamaged support looks like. Thanks all.

Passenger damaged support



Driver side support that may have slight bend. The bottom does have a factory pressed in curve. Just not sure if the support above that looks bowed out is normal. Don't think so as panel is pushed in a bit.

 

I'm also in VA and have taken my 90 Pickup to them on more than one occasion. I've never had any damage but like you I drove it in and was a hawk when they did anything to it.

I bet they'll take care of you. Their customer service has always been really great compared to other places I've used. Keep us posted.

 

Did they use one of their lifts or 4 floor jacks? I've had 8 sets of tires on that truck by numerous tire shops and never had body damage, as they all used a lift on the frame, so never occurred to me to check this 9th time. That's my fault for trusting them to do it right.

They sent it in to their insurance as a "We cant say we did it damage." Technically, as soon as I drive off the lot they can make that claim. It's up to the/her investigator to decide. Seen many others on the internet stating they had lifting damage caused by the 4 jack lifting. Not expecting her to side with me as she did make it slip saying she has to work with their client. I understand from a business, legal, and no accountability point they would deny it.

It's not the money as I can afford to pay a shop or buy $200 worth of body shop tools to do the work myself. There is no scratched paint except on pinch weld, so there is no paint cost. It's the principle.

 

This is why I said if the paint fractured to the point where bare metal is exposed take pictures showing it’s not rusted/oxidized. That would show that it was recent.
take pictures showing the location of the damage. Having 4 dents in that arrangement wouldn’t be consistent with road damage. The lack of damage to other parts of the undercarriage would reaffirm that it wasn’t road damage.

cruise by the shop and take pictures of vehicles being lifted by multiple floor jacks. Get written estimates to repair from a body shop.
file a small claims suit. The more documentation you have the better off you’ll be. I assume all this happened fairly recently.

 

Thanks for the good advice.
Sent pictures of 4 damage locations and wrote notes on them explaining the damage.
Took picture of Bay 1 jacking a car with 4 floor jacks
Sent copies of various online pics of D.T, using 4 jacks to lift various vehicles at other locations. Seems to be a SOP for DT.
Sent copies of online blogs of others who had car damage from DT 4 jacking and denying damage.
Just got some body shop references.
Waiting for insurance "investigator" to say yea or ney before preceding.
Have a friend whose husband is a career Toyota Mechanic who saw the pics and said improper jacking (court expert)
Will wait for the investigators decision, but already looking into procedures for filing small claims. My city in VA has a $5000 limit which this will fall under

The investigator knows this is a jacking damage, but who did it is the question.
D.T. is pulling the Plausible Deniability.
It's the classic they say / I say and they are her clients.
The saga goes on.

 

They’re just banking on the fact that when they deny responsibility 90% of the time the claimant just says, “wow, that sucks” and go away.
In Calif a business needs to designate an agent for service. Essentially who receives all the court stuff. I assume your state is similar. I’d start researching that, along with downloading the court forms.

 

I am working on my "I do not accept you investigation findings, do not accept the resolution of this case, and now going forward" letter.

 

Nah, when they denied your claim they knew at that point two things were going to happen. Dead silence or court paperwork. I'd just streamline the process and let the paperwork from court speak for itself. Discount Tire's insurance company denied the claim, but the beauty (for you) is they don't go to court. Not for a dollar amount this small. Discount Tire will have to send their own people.
Yes, most courts would want to see where an attempt was made by the plaintiff to give the defendant notice of what happened, and a chance to remedy. Once Discount got their insurance involved it's clear they were given an opportunity.

The age and condition shouldn't be a factor, but taking photos of the interior/exterior (just 1-2 each) to show the vehicle was taken care of would help take that off the table. I'd also stress that as much as you'd like to just ignore the damage you can't. The damage is in an area that left unrepaired, will quickly become rust points, especially after winter. This should strike home with any judge that's dealt with salt damage on their own vehicle.
Put all your paperwork in a binder. Use tabs so judges can find documents quickly as you reference them. Have an identical binder for yourself.
In Calif you have to give the defendant a few minutes before your case starts to review any documents you plan to present to the judge. I had a set just for that, but no binder. Same documents the judge got, but no semblance of order. Makes it harder for them to figure out your plan of attack.

 

They have't yet denied it.
I've been a cost analyst for 25 years audited by 4 US Navy agencies, so documenting everything is not a problem.
Just have to make sure I get all the filing paper and dates understood.
Three copies- them, me, and the judge.

 

Keep us posted for sure, I love it when the little people win, problem is 90% of the sheep look at our trucks and don’t see what we see……..

Good luck!!!!!

 

One last possibility before court is the Bureau of Automotive Repair in your state. You could file a complaint. They may not be able to order a shop to repair your vehicle, but their report, if in your favor, would pretty make your small claims visit a lock. I've never, ever seen a judge make a ruling in opposition to a BAR finding.
Make Discount Tire start to sweat, too. This customer isn't taking "no" lightly.

 

Thanks again.
Thought some organization like that might exist in Virginia. I have been searching for such sites in Virginia.
Maybe even a consumer advocate site that could add their voice to apply pressure
Have to look at the BBB to see what they offer. If just advice doesn't hurt

 

Businesses fear a bad Yelp review more than a BBB slap. AAA isn’t far from irrelevant, either. Not your go-to for maps these days.
Try your Bureau of Auto Repair. The field staff here in Calif have to have all their ASEs, and I believe a smog license. They know their ˟˟˟˟ when it comes to vehicles.