Wheels-Tires Tpms Swap Cost - Same Size Wheels

BlueBeast14GT

New Member
Sep 5, 2013
24
0
2
St. Louis
So I have a '14 with the 19" x 8.5" luster nickel aluminum wheels. I just bought a guy's take-off 19" x 8.5" black with machined aluminum wheels from his '13. They're the exact same size, my car only has 2k miles, and I'm pretty sure the dealership is screwing me.

Dealership 1: Wants to replace all 4 valve stems because they get brittle over time and the mechanics are likely to scratch the rims getting them in. Told him it only has 2k miles, he said they can get brittle fast. So $50 mount/balance + $21 per valve stem + tax = about $150.

Dealership 2: $25 per wheel, not including any new parts = about $100. Guy told me if it was him he'd replace all 4 sensors. He didn't seem to know the sensors can detach from the valve stem or that they haven't used the belt style on the Mustang in years. He seemed rather offended when I called him out on it. He also told me they don't cost that much when I said that's nearly an extra $200, pretty sure he's wrong.

I'm afraid if I take it to a tire place they're more likely to scratch my wheels, and if I miss some damage when I pick it up, they would just deny it later on.​

What do you guys think?
 
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It is very cheap! Dont let them screw you over. The tire shop by my house swapped all the tpms sensors out of my wheels and into new ones for $10 total. They can just break the seal of the tire, unscrew the tpms sensor, leave the valve stem in there and fill the old tire back up with air. Then do the same in reverse on the new wheels. Just put the new valve stems in anyway because they are cheap like 3 bucks each. Then ask the tire shop if they warranty their work. If yes, then when they are finished with the job, carefully examine each wheel and tell them if they messed anything up. If you ask them if they warranty their work, they will be much more careful doing the job.
 
Wow that's way cheaper. I called a few tires places, and the cheapest was Firestone at $104 with tax (includes new valve stems). I get a discount there through my employer but it's still in the 70s. A couple places told me the valve stems are more expensive because they use special ones for the TPMS sensors. I guess that was BS too. I'll try to find a non-corporate place that'll do it. I know of one good place, but they told me before their machine can only do up to 15 or 16 inch wheels, and mine are 19. Thanks man!
 
Yea Firestone where I am sucks! They over price for everything so I went to Discount tire. The valve stems are more expensive than non tpms ones but they are still dirt cheap. The reason I know all this is because I just went through the entire process last week and the week before with mine and my wifes mustang. They charge $16 to mount and balance each wheel and tire but if you are just swapping sensors you shouldnt need all that. Maybe the shops you are talking to want to take the tire off to put in the sensor. that would make the price go up for sure.
 
Ok, I think maybe I wasn't clear haha. The take-off wheels have pretty bald tires on them. I want to take those off, take the good tires off my current wheels, switch the tpms sensors to the take-off wheels, then mount and balance my good tires on the take-off wheels.

I just called a bunch of places, independent and not, and they all quoted me between 100 and 150, with the exception of NTB which was 170. I called Firestone back to ask them about the discount and set up an appointment, and the manager told me they won't even do it because the tires are used. Corporate bulls***.
 
This is nuts...

I thought that seemed odd that the guy only told me Firestone won't touch used tires (and yes he knows I want to keep my tires, not the used ones that came on the new wheels) AFTER I mentioned my discount (the guy yesterday was very clear about the procedure I wanted and said nothing), so I did some digging...

They offer tire repair services, which their site explicitly states must involve removing the tire to inspect the damage. I would think patching would be more of a liability than swapping the tires. Then I saw some discussions about Firestone swapping out their winter tires for their regular tires (the same set they had before winter) at the end of the season. If it was corporate policy, as the guy I talked to claimed, then this service would be unavailable due to the same issue.

So I decided to stage a test. I just had a co-worker of mine call the very same Firestone. She talked to the same guy, the service manager. She told him she had winter tires on her car and wanted to have them swapped for the regular tires she had on before. She did not mention a discount. The manager told her the price without hesitation. She then asked him if it mattered that her old tires were not purchased at Firestone, just to be sure there was no policy against that, and he said it wasn't a problem.

So I'm pretty furious.
 
Well I called back just to confirm with the manager that the policy is on all used tires, and that he did not just mean I cannot use the discount on used tires. He said that they do not work on used tires at all. So I told him about the other phone call, the people in forums who got winter tires switched out, the fact they patch used tires which contradicts the policy of not servicing used tires. He said that the policy doesn't apply if the tires were bought at Firestone. Nope, co-worker asked that explicitly. I told him it was interesting that this didn't become an issue until I mentioned the discount. He got really defensive, and then goes "What do you want man? You want me to service your wheels? You want me to make an exception. Fine, bring them in, and bring your little discount card, and I'll do it." I go "No, I'm not giving you my business. Goodbye."
 
Yeah, I swore them off years ago after they continually screwed me on tires (I kept going back because they would throw coupons at me and I was broke) that would last less than a year, then tell me it's my alignment so the warranty doesn't apply. Thought since I get a discount through my employer I'd give em another chance. Wow was that stupid.
 
I didn't read all the replies, but what I can add is, the valve stems for tpms sensors are NOT as cheap as a standard valve stem, if I remember correctly I paid over $60 for four of them from the stealership, and when I checked ebay, they weren't much cheaper.........
 
I didn't read all the replies, but what I can add is, the valve stems for tpms sensors are NOT as cheap as a standard valve stem, if I remember correctly I paid over $60 for four of them from the stealership, and when I checked ebay, they weren't much cheaper.........
Yeah they are more expensive, but the prices on the valve stems seem to vary wildly from garage to garage. This whole thing is a PITA lol. I called another Firestone that quoted me 12-13 per wheel without any discount. I was like "Are you sure?" They were, so I guess I'll be going there haha.
 
I'm going to polish the wheels and apply a layer of Opti-Coat before I put them on. That'll probably be a lot easier if I just take the old tires off first, but having that done separately means even more money, so yesterday I came up with an idea. I'm building my own tire remover!

The tires are bald as hell, so I just need to get the bead off, then I can cut through it rather than prying them off with a crowbar, which would most likely damage the wheel. They're trash anyway.