Bizarre Costco Tire Shop Experience

[BS8899]

Had a nail in one of my AGT tires. Took it to the Paradise Valley AZ Costco Tire Shop. Initially, the tech was going to work on it. Later, I was told that Costco will not service any Lucid car tires, citing a corporate memo dated 2023!

Q: has anyone else encountered this? I am pretty sure Costco serviced my AGT tires before! Is this a new policy?

Not sure about the underlying reasons. But there is a general paranoia among tire shops/service centers in serving EVs. I think the concern relates to the location of the "jack-points" and potential damage to the battery.

 

[martinjlm]

Here's an AI explanation. Too low, too heavy, and possibly an issue with identifying the lift points. I expect there was a damage claim somewhere along the line. The too heavy puzzles me. Air is lighter than a lot of pick up trucks and large SUVs.

 

[BS8899]

Here's an AI explanation. Too low, too heavy, and possibly an issue with identifying the lift points. I expect there was a damage claim somewhere along the line. The too heavy puzzles me. Air is lighter than a lot of pick up trucks and large SUVs.


View attachment 38010

Thanks for the post. I can understand the concerns. I would have thought Costco would train their employees on these issues. That said, it might not be worth their while, given the small market size.

 

[borski]

Thanks for the post. I can understand the concerns. I would have thought Costco would train their employees on these issues. That said, it might not be worth their while, given the small market size.

Costco will do it if you explain to them they have to use two jacks to jack up one side of the car at the same time.

That worked fine for me when I was there, but likely depends on the Costco

 

[neuneleven]

I do not know if it's a branch issue or not. I just had my rear tire repaired at my local Costco. I had a slow leak after picking up a screw and went to see if they could service it, which they successfully did. When I still had my Rivian a little over a year ago, I was told they did not have pucks for Rivian or Lucid but did Teslas routinely. Now they told me they indeed have gotten pucks for both cars and have serviced multiple Rivians

 

[BS8899]

I do not know if it's a branch issue or not. I just had my rear tire repaired at my local Costco. I had a slow leak after picking up a screw and went to see if they could service it, which they successfully did. When I still had my Rivian a little over a year ago, I was told they did not have pucks for Rivian or Lucid but did Teslas routinely. Now they told me they indeed have gotten pucks for both cars and have serviced multiple Rivians

Yes, I have my Rivian serviced at the Novato CA Costco Tire Shop. Everything went fine....the tech told me that my running boards interfere with one of the (puck) kac-points, but they worked around it.

 

[Kairide]

Costco will do it if you explain to them they have to use two jacks to jack up one side of the car at the same time.

Do you need two jacks for Lucid? It’s not like Tesla where you just need one? If so that’s a bummer. Not like I can do tire rotations with a staggered setup anyways, but good to know.

 

[BS8899]

Costco will do it if you explain to them they have to use two jacks to jack up one side of the car at the same time.

That worked fine for me when I was there, but likely depends on the Costco

It might differ between different Costos. I am pretty sure the Novato CA Costco serviced my Lucid in the past. But the Paradise Valley AZ Costco said they can't touch it!

I am going to Discount Tires. They do tire repairs and tire rotations at no costs. I had my Rivian tires rotated there a few months ago. Easier and faster than having the Mobile Service Tech do it.

BTW, Rivian charges ~$220 for annual maintenance (mobile tech, who spent about 1.5 hours, and show me how to adjust panel gaps ). I think Lucid charges $550....I am about to find out. My (delayed) 3-year service appointment is in 2 weeks.

 

[borski]

Do you need two jacks for Lucid? It’s not like Tesla where you just need one? If so that’s a bummer. Not like I can do tire rotations with a staggered setup anyways, but good to know.

You can do it with one. I read that here and mentioned it to them because they seemed a little nervous, but it was mostly just to make them comfortable with the idea.

 

[hmp10]

Getting a tire shop to change a Lucid tire is something of a crap shoot.

I had been getting tires mounted at Tire Choice for over 10 years, including on my Audi R8s and our two Tesla Model S's. The first time I took our Air in for a tire change, they changed them with no issue. By the time I took it in for the next tire change, Munro was operating the Florida Tire Choices, and they refused (although the tires had already been delivered to them). They said they did not have the correct rubber pads to place on the jack cups to prevent damage to the battery pack. I asked why they had changed the Model S tires multiples times, and they said they had bought a set of pads for Teslas. I asked why they couldn't just use them for the Air, and they said the Tesla pads had ribs that matched the slots on the Tesla underbody. I then asked what they had used to do the first tire change on the Air, and they couldn't answer, at first arguing they never had until I demanded they pull up the car's records.

So I went home and called Lucid to order a set of Lucid pads. They said they had no such thing and that most owners were just using hockey pucks. So I bought a set of hockey pucks on Amazon and went back to Tire Choice. They reluctantly used the hockey pucks after getting me to sign a waiver.

During this tire change, they broke a tire pressure sensor and put it back together with a plastic zip tie. I found this out when the sensor broke apart on a road trip, leaving us with a loud rattle in the wheel.

So I switched to Discount Tire for all our tire changes, and they have changed tires on our Air and our Gravities without a hitch.

 

[L-Dude]

Getting a tire shop to change a Lucid tire is something of a crap shoot.

I had been getting tires mounted at Tire Choice for over 10 years, including on my Audi R8s and our two Tesla Model S's. The first time I took our Air in for a tire change, they changed them with no issue. By the time I took it in for the next tire change, Munro was operating the Florida Tire Choices, and they refused (although the tires had already been delivered to them). They said they did not have the correct rubber pads to place on the jack cups to prevent damage to the battery pack. I asked why they had changed the Model S tires multiples times, and they said they had bought a set of pads for Teslas. I asked why they couldn't just use them for the Air, and they said the Tesla pads had ribs that matched the slots on the Tesla underbody. I then asked what they had used to do the first tire change on the Air, and they couldn't answer, at first arguing they never had until I demanded they pull up the car's records.

So I went home and called Lucid to order a set of Lucid pads. They said they had no such thing and that most owners were just using hockey pucks. So I bought a set of hockey pucks on Amazon and went back to Tire Choice. They reluctantly used the hockey pucks after getting me to sign a waiver.

During this tire change, they broke a tire pressure sensor and put it back together with a plastic zip tie. I found this out when the sensor broke apart on a road trip, leaving us with a loud rattle in the wheel.

So I switched to Discount Tire for all our tire changes, and they have changed tires on our Air and our Gravities without a hitch.

Wow that is quite an ordeal. We don't have any trustworthy convenient to me. I don't know what I'm going to do when its time for new rubber.

 

[Paladin]

I need a new 21" summer tire myself. Are there any recommended authorized retail tire shops for Lucid? Are there pucks that can be purchased for the AGT?

 

[Tim-in-CA]

I'd suggest Discount/America's Tire

 

[borski]

Wow that is quite an ordeal. We don't have any trustworthy convenient to me. I don't know what I'm going to do when its time for new rubber.

Discount Tire is also known as America's Tire, in case you weren't aware; they are just regional brand names. You may have one or the other nearby, if you only searched for the one.

 

[borski]

I need a new 21" summer tire myself. Are there any recommended authorized retail tire shops for Lucid? Are there pucks that can be purchased for the AGT?

The pucks are just hockey pucks; you don't need anything fancy. I recommend Discount Tire / America's Tire.

 

[hmp10]

Discount Tire also now owns TireRack.com, a great source of tires and information about tires that I've been using for several decades. I started using Discount Tire last year because of their excellent mobile van service. They've replaced four tires so far, and I haven't been disappointed yet.

 

[EVCar]

It might differ between different Costos. I am pretty sure the Novato CA Costco serviced my Lucid in the past. But the Paradise Valley AZ Costco said they can't touch it!

I am going to Discount Tires. They do tire repairs and tire rotations at no costs. I had my Rivian tires rotated there a few months ago. Easier and faster than having the Mobile Service Tech do it.

BTW, Rivian charges ~$220 for annual maintenance (mobile tech, who spent about 1.5 hours, and show me how to adjust panel gaps ). I think Lucid charges $550....I am about to find out. My (delayed) 3-year service appointment is in 2 weeks.

Costco Scottsdale told me they now service Lucid. They even offered to order the tires for me.

 

[BS8899]

Costco Scottsdale told me they now service Lucid. They even offered to order the tires for me.

Great! Will try Costco Scottsdale next time. That said, Discount Tire does rotation and tire repairs for free. Costco charges $10.

Discount Tire simply use a jack (presumably at the correct lift point) to raise the car, nothing fancy!

 

[BS8899]

Great! Will try Costco Scottsdale next time. That said, Discount Tire does rotation and tire repairs for free. Costco charges $10.

Discount Tire simply use a jack (presumably at the correct lift point) to raise the car, nothing fancy!

Took about 45min. The Discount Tire tech came and apologized to me because it took longer than expected. He explained that it was because of the foam in the (Pirelli) tire.

On my Rivian annual maintenance, I wanted to rotate the tires because I use FWD Conserve Mode a lot to maximize the efficiency. Rivian told me to take it to Discount Tire. Discount Tire does tire rotation and tire repairs for free.

I think Lucid Service Center should follow Rivian's methodology. I don't know whether Lucid Service Center rotate tires on annual maintenance and if they are doing that, they should stop and make a deal with discount Tire to do that. It saves Lucid Service Center and its customers time/money.

 

[Pragmatic]

I've swapped the snow tires twice (Air) in my driveway using a jack, its not difficult. Not sure what their concerns are.