WARNING ABOUT BUTLER TIRE!

Hello Gang,

I haven't posted in quite sometime, but I needed to vent after a recent horrible experience with the Butler Tire off Jones Bridge Road.

I have used that shop for over a decade. At first with my Lotus Esprit S4s where they did a great job replacing the tires and then aligning the car, later my Jaguar, etc. Boy have things changed since the last time I was there. I took my OZ Nova wheels off my Final Edition Esprit to have new tires mounted and balanced. I told the guy at the front desk (hawaiian looking) multiple times that I need extra care because these wheel are no longer available and are irreplaceable. The new tires where covered in plastics bags as it was how I was storing them.

About 2 hours later (I waited there), I paid for the service and loaded the wheels and tires on a pickup truck. The wheels with the new tires where enclosed in the plastic bags I brought and I did not even think to open the bags and inspect the wheels because I trusted them or so I thought I did. THAT WAS A HUGE MISTAKE!!! Upon close inspection I realized they scratched 3 of the 4 wheels. They obviously got the tire changer too close to the lip of the rim and put 6-8 inch scratches.

When I called the lovely individual he immediately got defensive and later on very rude and denied fault. Needless to say I will never ever use any Butler Tire Facility Again!!!

Who do you guys recommend to do a proper high quality refinish on the wheels? I was planning to drop off all 4 wheels at Wheel Wizard on Monday.

What tire shop do you guys use that has high end Hunter Equipment (lever-less/touchless tire changers, rood force balancers, etc.)?

Thanks for you help.

 

Thank you for the reply Henry. That's good to know that they were honest and upfront when they had an issue. That's what upset me the most with Butler. They covered it up by wrapping them in plastic and then flat out denied it.

I will swing by GT East before I drop off the wheels at WW.

 

As sburke stated. These wheels have not been available from Lotus for several years now and even finding them used is a huge challenge. That's why I emphasized the importance of keeping them in the same condition I brought them in was critical to me. Even finding the exact paint code is impossible.

The biggest mistake I made was not insisting to be present during the whole dismounting/mounting process and at the very least inspecting them before I left. Unfortunately, I am now paying the price.

At the time I thought it was a nice gesture that they had wrapped them in the plastic bags not thinking they were hiding the damage they caused. I honestly did not expect any damage since I've had perfect experiences in the last 10 years of doing business with them.

 

I visited WW last Friday and had the owner give me a tour and walk me through the process they follow. The quality of their work looked very good. Yesterday I also called Metro Wheels and they were very helpful in walking me through the process (including how they handle the TPMS).

I loaded all 4 wheels and went to Metro Wheels to get their opinion. I was very impressed that they weren't pushing for me to leave the wheels. They looked at the damage to one of the wheels and got the painter to talk to me. He actually said that since the damage is only on the outer edge of the rim and the wheels are basically like brand new that it was not worth to do a full repaint. The silver color of these wheels is extremely difficult to match.

They went ahead and brought out a paint chip/sample of their hyper silver and the color was not an exact match. I appreciated their advise and when the time comes to do a full repaint I will probably use Metro Wheels.

I am honestly very concerned with having the wheels totally stripped and repainted. For now I am going to keep them original and have a mobile service touch up the 2 worst ones and move on.

Thank you for all of your feedback.

 

Carson,

Thank you for the post. I will call you tomorrow.

Regards,
Manny

 

Jason,

Like you I am very picky, but unlike you I would never valet any of my cars and never park and leave my Esprit unattended period.

So you are basically saying that because I did not check the wheels at the shop I am partially at fault. Like I said before, the wheels were not inspected at the shop because I had a high level of trust with the shop.

Your statement doesn't make any sense. Inspecting the wheels either at the shop or later at home would not have changed the outcome. I would still have damaged wheels which I wanted to keep in original condition, so I don't see your reasoning.

Anyways guys, I have been in touch with Butler and I will be speaking with the General Manager soon. They have offered to address the issues and I really appreciate that. I prefer to keep the factory finish but lets see how they turn out after they get touched up on Friday. I am going to try to pass by the Marietta store next week and meet Carson.