amstel78
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2012
- Location
- Shohola, PA
- TDI
- 2012 Golf TDI [buyback completed 14/1/2017] 2006 S65 AMG
The last two weeks of my life have really sucked.
It all started with a massive pothole the size of Rhode Island in the middle of the southbound Palisades between exit 3 and 4. Yup. I nailed it. I hit it so hard with the passenger front tire that it blew the bead right of the rim. I pulled over by the exit 3 off ramp and put the donut on. Yay...
That was Wednesday, January 15th.
January 16th, I head over to Jack Williams tire near my house to see if I can recover the tire. Luckily the wheel wasn't bent, although the lip did sustain a small ding. After a few minutes waiting, the tech tells me that they can't save the tire. Sidewall got compromised. So, my options are to replace the one tire, or replace all 4 since the other 3 were down to 3/32". Being the practical and logical sort of person that I am, all 4 tires were replaced. I also had my alignment checked and corrected. All was well again in my universe.
Fast forward to Wednesday, January 22nd. I'm minding my own business. It's been a long day and I'm headed home from work. I'm in the right lane of the Palisades by exit 9. It's about 7pm and dark. I think Maroon 5 started playing on the radio, and being that I can't stand Maroon 5, reached over to change the channel when *!@#BLAM!@#$ I hit another pothole - this time driver front. This one from the way it sounded and felt at 60 mph was a tad smaller... maybe the size of Hialeah, Florida. Fortunately, the tire didn't blow out and I continued driving home; the whole while hoping that nothing else was wrong. I didn't feel any vibrations, and the car wasn't pulling. Fingers crossed.
As soon as I got home, I hopped out and looked at the front driver side tire. Damnit. A bubble the size of a tennis ball had developed on the sidewall. There's no way I could drive around safely on this so, so it was back to Jack Williams the following day. Fortunately, I had purchased tire protection this time around so all I had to do was pay for the mounting. They also checked my alignment again and readjusted toe and steer ahead. All was well in my world again...
Friday, January 24; 09:15 in the morning. I pull into my Manhattan garage where I have a monthly parking spot. I've been parking in this garage since 2006 so I've seen attendants come and go. I haven't had too many problems here. I drop the car off and tell the guy that I'll be back at the usual time.
I make it to my office and start my day. A couple of hours go by when I get a call on my cell. I answer, and suddenly fear hits me. It's the garage attendant. He tells me that while they were backing my car up onto a lift, they hit the corner of the lift with the driver side rear tire. Sidewall was cut, tire flat, and they want my permission to remove the wheel so they can put a new tire on.
By this time, alarm bells are ringing in my head. I ask the attendant to make sure they give me the exact same tire. If they can't, don't do it. He reassures me that they can as he's already spoken to the body shop that this garage uses. Fine. I tell him they can go ahead and replace the tire. I suggest that I come down, jack up the car myself and put the spare on. The attendant says, "don't worry! We've done this before and know what we're doing. Just relax, we'll take care of everything!! Your car will be ready by the time you finish working."
Uneasily, I agreed and went back to what I was doing. Fast forward to 6PM and I head over to the garage to get my car. As I'm walking up to it, I do a cursory glance. Yup, new tire. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. I open the trunk to put my bag in and decide to have a closer look at the tire and wheel. What do I notice? The tire isn't the same as the others. Now I'm getting mad again. I specifically asked that they give me the exact same tire since I purchased a protection plan for 4 tires. I can't use the plan if I have another incident and the damn tire isn't the one Jack Williams sold me. So, I call the day manager who assured me that this must be some screw up and he apologizes. Thinking that they'll give me the right tire the next day, I hang up.
I was just about to get in and drive away when I happened to look down. Now my car's covered in salt, but something didn't seem right. I look closer. Closer... closer. OH MY $%@#$$ GOD. What in all things good and right is that??? And then it hits me like an ironic bag of bricks. Remember what I said before about me coming down to jack up my own car??
This is what I see:
The a-hole who jacked up my car put the jack right underneath rocker panel instead of the pinch weld.
Now, I lose my marbles...
Lots of swearing ensues.
Blood pressure rising...
Lots of phone calls take place between myself, and the garage claims manager. I also drop off my Golf to a VW certified body shop in Long Island City. That was yesterday, January 27th.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, the garage claims office has agreed to reimburse me $535.00 to repair the damage and replace the tire. I also picked up my Golf this morning. The body shop was able to pull most of the dent out and then go over it with bondo. They also repainted, plus applied corrosion protection and stone guard. The repair looks OK. It's not perfect as you can still see a slight ding or recess in the metal. The body shop guy said that's the best they could do without sanding more of the area down, thus making the repair more expensive and causing a greater chance of things not looking right in the end. The important thing to me is that the metal won't rust there.
I've yet to take some pictures of the repaired spot but will do so and post them when I get home. Anyway, I just wanted to vent. It seems that me and my Golf have been cursed the last couple of weeks. Hopefully things get better from here on out. I've also decided to end my relationship with my garage and look for somewhere else to go. I didn't appreciate the fact that the attendant who jacked up car lied to my face and said he wasn't responsible.
Oh well. C'est la vie eh?
It all started with a massive pothole the size of Rhode Island in the middle of the southbound Palisades between exit 3 and 4. Yup. I nailed it. I hit it so hard with the passenger front tire that it blew the bead right of the rim. I pulled over by the exit 3 off ramp and put the donut on. Yay...
That was Wednesday, January 15th.
January 16th, I head over to Jack Williams tire near my house to see if I can recover the tire. Luckily the wheel wasn't bent, although the lip did sustain a small ding. After a few minutes waiting, the tech tells me that they can't save the tire. Sidewall got compromised. So, my options are to replace the one tire, or replace all 4 since the other 3 were down to 3/32". Being the practical and logical sort of person that I am, all 4 tires were replaced. I also had my alignment checked and corrected. All was well again in my universe.
Fast forward to Wednesday, January 22nd. I'm minding my own business. It's been a long day and I'm headed home from work. I'm in the right lane of the Palisades by exit 9. It's about 7pm and dark. I think Maroon 5 started playing on the radio, and being that I can't stand Maroon 5, reached over to change the channel when *!@#BLAM!@#$ I hit another pothole - this time driver front. This one from the way it sounded and felt at 60 mph was a tad smaller... maybe the size of Hialeah, Florida. Fortunately, the tire didn't blow out and I continued driving home; the whole while hoping that nothing else was wrong. I didn't feel any vibrations, and the car wasn't pulling. Fingers crossed.
As soon as I got home, I hopped out and looked at the front driver side tire. Damnit. A bubble the size of a tennis ball had developed on the sidewall. There's no way I could drive around safely on this so, so it was back to Jack Williams the following day. Fortunately, I had purchased tire protection this time around so all I had to do was pay for the mounting. They also checked my alignment again and readjusted toe and steer ahead. All was well in my world again...
Friday, January 24; 09:15 in the morning. I pull into my Manhattan garage where I have a monthly parking spot. I've been parking in this garage since 2006 so I've seen attendants come and go. I haven't had too many problems here. I drop the car off and tell the guy that I'll be back at the usual time.
I make it to my office and start my day. A couple of hours go by when I get a call on my cell. I answer, and suddenly fear hits me. It's the garage attendant. He tells me that while they were backing my car up onto a lift, they hit the corner of the lift with the driver side rear tire. Sidewall was cut, tire flat, and they want my permission to remove the wheel so they can put a new tire on.
By this time, alarm bells are ringing in my head. I ask the attendant to make sure they give me the exact same tire. If they can't, don't do it. He reassures me that they can as he's already spoken to the body shop that this garage uses. Fine. I tell him they can go ahead and replace the tire. I suggest that I come down, jack up the car myself and put the spare on. The attendant says, "don't worry! We've done this before and know what we're doing. Just relax, we'll take care of everything!! Your car will be ready by the time you finish working."
Uneasily, I agreed and went back to what I was doing. Fast forward to 6PM and I head over to the garage to get my car. As I'm walking up to it, I do a cursory glance. Yup, new tire. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. I open the trunk to put my bag in and decide to have a closer look at the tire and wheel. What do I notice? The tire isn't the same as the others. Now I'm getting mad again. I specifically asked that they give me the exact same tire since I purchased a protection plan for 4 tires. I can't use the plan if I have another incident and the damn tire isn't the one Jack Williams sold me. So, I call the day manager who assured me that this must be some screw up and he apologizes. Thinking that they'll give me the right tire the next day, I hang up.
I was just about to get in and drive away when I happened to look down. Now my car's covered in salt, but something didn't seem right. I look closer. Closer... closer. OH MY $%@#$$ GOD. What in all things good and right is that??? And then it hits me like an ironic bag of bricks. Remember what I said before about me coming down to jack up my own car??
This is what I see:
The a-hole who jacked up my car put the jack right underneath rocker panel instead of the pinch weld.
Now, I lose my marbles...
Lots of swearing ensues.
Blood pressure rising...
Lots of phone calls take place between myself, and the garage claims manager. I also drop off my Golf to a VW certified body shop in Long Island City. That was yesterday, January 27th.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, the garage claims office has agreed to reimburse me $535.00 to repair the damage and replace the tire. I also picked up my Golf this morning. The body shop was able to pull most of the dent out and then go over it with bondo. They also repainted, plus applied corrosion protection and stone guard. The repair looks OK. It's not perfect as you can still see a slight ding or recess in the metal. The body shop guy said that's the best they could do without sanding more of the area down, thus making the repair more expensive and causing a greater chance of things not looking right in the end. The important thing to me is that the metal won't rust there.
I've yet to take some pictures of the repaired spot but will do so and post them when I get home. Anyway, I just wanted to vent. It seems that me and my Golf have been cursed the last couple of weeks. Hopefully things get better from here on out. I've also decided to end my relationship with my garage and look for somewhere else to go. I didn't appreciate the fact that the attendant who jacked up car lied to my face and said he wasn't responsible.
Oh well. C'est la vie eh?
Last edited:
