Car dealer: Bad wheel alignment is typical in AWD cars

Yesterday I went to a Mitsu dealership to check out an used AWD
Mitsubishi SUV for my gfriend. The outside regions of the front tire
thread were horribly worn, indicating severe wheel alignment problems.
First the sales manager promised to "fix" the problem by replacing the
tires, and after I told him that does not fix the problem he told me
that uneven tire wear is a "feature" of AWD and that all the Evos get
that!

And that was a NEW car dealership, not some shady used car place

On Aug 23, 12:43 pm, 223rem > wrote:
> Yesterday I went to a Mitsu dealership to check out an used AWD
> Mitsubishi SUV for my gfriend. The outside regions of the front tire
> thread were horribly worn, indicating severe wheel alignment problems.

Non sequitur. At least an equally likely cause (most likely, by far,
IMO) is the driving habits of the previous owner.

> First the sales manager promised to "fix" the problem by replacing the
> tires, and after I told him that does not fix the problem he told me
> that uneven tire wear is a "feature" of AWD and that all the Evos get
> that!
>
> And that was a NEW car dealership, not some shady used car place

With vehicles sales in their current state it seems most likely he
felt you were wasting his time.
-----

- gpsman

On Aug 23, 10:28 am, gpsman > wrote:
> On Aug 23, 12:43 pm, 223rem > wrote:
>
> > Yesterday I went to a Mitsu dealership to check out an used AWD
> > Mitsubishi SUV for my gfriend. The outside regions of the front tire
> > thread were horribly worn, indicating severe wheel alignment problems.
>
> Non sequitur. At least an equally likely cause (most likely, by far,
> IMO) is the driving habits of the previous owner.

What kind of driving habits would those be? Cornering very hard all
the time I suppose?
In an SUV?

> With vehicles sales in their current state it seems most likely he
> felt you were wasting his time.

How so?

On Aug 23, 1:38 pm, 223rem > wrote:
> On Aug 23, 10:28 am, gpsman > wrote:
>
> > On Aug 23, 12:43 pm, 223rem > wrote:
>
> > > Yesterday I went to a Mitsu dealership to check out an used AWD
> > > Mitsubishi SUV for my gfriend. The outside regions of the front tire
> > > thread were horribly worn, indicating severe wheel alignment problems.
>
> > Non sequitur. At least an equally likely cause (most likely, by far,
> > IMO) is the driving habits of the previous owner.
>
> What kind of driving habits would those be? Cornering very hard all
> the time I suppose?
> In an SUV?

Cornering hard, and cornering hard while braking (and probably hard
braking), and cornering hard under hard acceleration, and, probably,
with improperly inflated tires.

There a couple likely scenarios why the tires weren't replaced-
insufficient time, or, left as a negotiating tool (and saving the
expenditure for "later"). ("If I replace the tires and line it up
would you drive it home today?")

Personally, I wouldn't be at all interested in any vehicle with tires
like I'm imagining you saw. Suggests "abuse" to me.

> > With vehicles sales in their current state it seems most likely he
> > felt you were wasting his time.
>
> How so?

Ancient car salesperson secret...

I don't know, I wasn't there, but tires are a normal wear item, and an
alignment is standard maintenance. We're talking a few hundred
buck... if a prospective buyer is going to let those items queer a
deal I'd figger I don't have a real player.

Car sales are in the ****ter. Every "up" is dear, until they indicate
beyond question they're not as dear as anyone else who might drive on
the lot.

Apparently the "meeter & greeter" (aka "sales associate"/"lot lizard")
"turned" you to the manager. He isn't going to just punt you unless
he feels pretty damn sure you're wasting his time since selling cars
is what he does, and what pays his bills, and what keeps him in his
job.

When an up leaves the lot without buying a car everybody notices, and
if a lot lizard let's you go without turning you to their manager they
could easily be fired for it, and at any place I worked you'd get a
stern talking to if you weren't an established top performer.
-----

- gpsman

On Aug 23, 11:44 am, gpsman > wrote:

> Cornering hard, and cornering hard while braking (and probably hard
> braking), and cornering hard under hard acceleration, and, probably,
> with improperly inflated tires.

Nobody drives an SUV like that.


> I don't know, I wasn't there, but tires are a normal wear item, and an
> alignment is standard maintenance. We're talking a few hundred
> buck... if a prospective buyer is going to let those items queer a
> deal I'd figger I don't have a real player.

Well that asshole never aknowledged that alignment needs to be done.
He claimed that it is a tire problem and that it is normal for a AWD.

> Car sales are in the ****ter. Every "up" is dear, until they indicate
> beyond question they're not as dear as anyone else who might drive on
> the lot.
>
> Apparently the "meeter & greeter" (aka "sales associate"/"lot lizard")
> "turned" you to the manager. He isn't going to just punt you unless
> he feels pretty damn sure you're wasting his time since selling cars
> is what he does, and what pays his bills, and what keeps him in his
> job.
>
> When an up leaves the lot without buying a car everybody notices, and
> if a lot lizard let's you go without turning you to their manager they
> could easily be fired for it, and at any place I worked you'd get a
> stern talking to if you weren't an established top performer.
> -----
>
> - gpsman

gpsman wrote:
>
> On Aug 23, 1:38 pm, 223rem > wrote:
> > On Aug 23, 10:28 am, gpsman > wrote:
> >
> > > On Aug 23, 12:43 pm, 223rem > wrote:
> >
> > > > Yesterday I went to a Mitsu dealership to check out an used AWD
> > > > Mitsubishi SUV for my gfriend. The outside regions of the front tire
> > > > thread were horribly worn, indicating severe wheel alignment problems.
> >
> > > Non sequitur. At least an equally likely cause (most likely, by far,
> > > IMO) is the driving habits of the previous owner.
> >
> > What kind of driving habits would those be? Cornering very hard all
> > the time I suppose?
> > In an SUV?
>
> Cornering hard, and cornering hard while braking (and probably hard
> braking), and cornering hard under hard acceleration, and, probably,
> with improperly inflated tires.
>
> There a couple likely scenarios why the tires weren't replaced-
> insufficient time, or, left as a negotiating tool (and saving the
> expenditure for "later"). ("If I replace the tires and line it up
> would you drive it home today?")

Or they know that there is an underlying problem. Worn tires left by the
previous owner can be attributed to his/her bad driving habits. The
buyer won't spot anything amiss until the short term warranty or buyer's
remorse period passes. Put new tires on the car and an alignment problem
might become evident quickly.

Bad driving habits of the previous owner aren't a problem in an of
themselves. What is a problem is the wear/damage that they have caused
to expensive suspension parts. I'd be particularly worried about an AWD.
The parts are more expensive and the potential damage caused by off-road
use can be quite severe.

--
Paul Hovnanian
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Have gnu, will travel.

On 2008-08-23, 223rem > wrote:
> On Aug 23, 10:28 am, gpsman > wrote:
>> On Aug 23, 12:43 pm, 223rem > wrote:
>>
>> > Yesterday I went to a Mitsu dealership to check out an used AWD
>> > Mitsubishi SUV for my gfriend. The outside regions of the front tire
>> > thread were horribly worn, indicating severe wheel alignment problems.
>>
>> Non sequitur. At least an equally likely cause (most likely, by far,
>> IMO) is the driving habits of the previous owner.
>
> What kind of driving habits would those be? Cornering very hard all
> the time I suppose?
> In an SUV?
>
>> With vehicles sales in their current state it seems most likely he
>> felt you were wasting his time.
>
> How so?

It's from gpsturd... he's just trolling you. Street driving isn't going
to result in un-even tire wear. Either something is wrong with one or
more suspension components or the standard alignment is set up that way
intentionally for some other reason. It would be best to check in with
web forums specific to that model and find out if it is indeed some
trade off made in the design of the car or not. I'll guess not.

On Aug 23, 3:02 pm, 223rem > wrote:
> On Aug 23, 11:44 am, gpsman > wrote:
>
> > Cornering hard, and cornering hard while braking (and probably hard
> > braking), and cornering hard under hard acceleration, and, probably,
> > with improperly inflated tires.
>
> Nobody drives an SUV like that.

Ok...

>
> > I don't know, I wasn't there, but tires are a normal wear item, and an
> > alignment is standard maintenance. We're talking a few hundred
> > buck... if a prospective buyer is going to let those items queer a
> > deal I'd figger I don't have a real player.
>
> Well that asshole never aknowledged that alignment needs to be done.

I don't think a state of misalignment was established.

> He claimed that it is a tire problem and that it is normal for a AWD.

Some car people have a policy of saying any damn thing to see the
reaction of a prospective customer when they have arrived at a point
where they don't care what that reaction is.

My favorite/s (tie):

"If your wife doesn't deserve this nice of a car, or if it's just a
bit beyond your means, perhaps I can show you something more modest".

"I think it would be best if I just let this car speak for itself".
-----

- gpsman

In article >,
223rem > wrote:
>On Aug 23, 11:44 am, gpsman > wrote:
>
>> Cornering hard, and cornering hard while braking (and probably hard
>> braking), and cornering hard under hard acceleration, and, probably,
>> with improperly inflated tires.
>
>Nobody drives an SUV like that.

Check your local high school parking lots... you might be surprised.