What's going on here?

Lexus lady = We Todd it

And yes, women are seen as cash cows by sales people.

but it doesnt help when the woman in question is easily fooled...Case in point:

Not sure if anyone is familiar with a T-tech machine (or basically a machine that transfers old auto trans fluid out and new trans fluid in durring a tranny flush at the local Valvo-lube). It uses small fittings to splice into the trans fluid lines as they enter the radiator. The cost of the service is I think either 40 or 80 bucks...or somewhere in between (been a few years since I was a paid mechanic, so I cant remember exactly...inhaled too many fumes ). Long story short, my manager was fired for duping a similar sounding woman into $250 for "T-teching" her power steering system. He manually fed 1 bottle of PS fluid into the machine, and pumped it through her PS resivoir, and pocketted the 250.

Im sure we all have "my Mother in law/neighbors wife/dads-sisters-teachers-aunts-room mate spent XX bucks on a 10 dollar part at the dealer/mechanic/quick lube/tire store" stories

It is all a matter of being our your element. I am sure of that if you decided you wanted to get your hair done at the local salon, the girls there could easily take you for MUCH more than it was worth.

Honestly, you do not even have to go that far out of your element. I do a lot of "convention services" as an A/V tech. We charge clients $150 a day for for broadband when they are in the convention space.. for $30 dollars of cable (that we reuse over and over again) and 15 minutes of setting up

derekshannon wrote: Would a sensible person pay $230.00 per tire?

No.

derekshannon wrote: Do salesmen take advantage of women or otherwise unknowledgable people

It's been known to happen

derekshannon wrote: Would any of you out there spend that much on a tire?

No

derekshannon wrote: While unemployed?

Definitely not

derekshannon wrote: On a car that you were trying to get rid of?

Nope. Get some decent used tires if you're broke and trying to get rid of the car.

g/f's dad and stepmom just paid 785 bucks to replace the IAC on their maxima. they charged 450ish for the iac alone.

what always gets me is that these people always ask about stuff like that after they've already been hosed. why'd you let them charge you 800 bucks to fix your car? i dunno, is that too much? why yes, by nearly 700 bucks too much.

There are also people who, not knowing any better, always buy what OE tire came on the car. That, along with the dealer markup, may explain why she paid so much for the tires.

Also, she may be asking you in a round-a-bout way for advice. The decoded statement from her may read something like this:

"I paid $230 per tire for a car I want to get rid of while unemployed. I have no knowledge of tires except that they are round, most always black, and need air sometimes. Is there any alternative to this highway robbery? Can you, Mr. Car Guy I Know, clue me in?"

With great knowledge comes great responsibility. Chose to grow into your Car Guy mantle of greatness. Dispense your knowledge freely and humbly to the ignorant seeking your guidance. Thus will you be told of great car deals languishing in some heathen's garage of which the value they know not. It will then be your duty to relieve them of this burden therefore enriching yourself in the process. Go forth and spread good automotive karma.

derekshannon wrote: Do salesmen take advantage of women or otherwise unknowledgable people?

Absolutely.

And I'll lay money she went to the car dealership for those tires.

Xceler8x wrote: With great knowledge comes great responsibility. Chose to grow into your Car Guy mantle of greatness. Dispense your knowledge freely and humbly to the ignorant seeking your guidance. Thus will you be told of great car deals languishing in some heathen's garage of which the value they know not. It will then be your duty to relieve them of this burden therefore enriching yourself in the process. Go forth and spread good automotive karma.

Preach on brother!!

Can a car guy get an AMEN?!?!

!!!HALLELUJA!!!

I would rather people overspend on tires than underspend. Especially when they may be barreling down on me while applying makeup, drinking coffee, changing the radio, and talking on a cell phone all at the same time.

If I recall, the "official" replacement tire, that is, the one that came on it as OEM for our LS400 is or was about two bills per tire. They're "magic" tires. Quiet, smooth, blah blah, so you think you're still in the living room. I'd go with Wal*Mart, Discount Tire Online or Tire Rack. Maybe some R1's for a track day....

Lexus tires come from the Lexus store, I bet.

I don't even let my wife near the oil change place any more. When I was younger, I thought it was better that she learn a little about her own car. Took me a few years to figure out that it's not worth the headache to have to explain over the phone to her: "No you don't need that." ... "Yep, same thing." ... "Snake oil is snake oil, hon." ... "Yes, they are trying to rip you off. Probably because you're a girl." ... "I know it's wrong. Sorry."... "It'll take me 30 minutes, bring it home."

Dr. Hess wrote: If I recall, the "official" replacement tire, that is, the one that came on it as OEM for our LS400 is or was about two bills per tire. They're "magic" tires. Quiet, smooth, blah blah, so you think you're still in the living room. I'd go with Wal*Mart, Discount Tire Online or Tire Rack. Maybe some R1's for a track day....

Eagle GAs. But not "common" GAs like what came on a Pontiac, they are special Lexus spec. There were several different specs for certain tire sizes, I think four for 205/60-15 alone.

I remember them from when I worked at a Goodyear shop.

IIRC, even Tire Rack listed all of the different specs separately. Go on, dig up your early 90's issues of C&D and notice how for certain Goodyears, there'd be two or three of the same size/model listed with a little L or T or V notation.

I don't worry about my wife at the repair shop, she has an idea of what's right and not. My brother on the other hand just paid $450 for a tune up on a 99 Ranger. Unfortunately he moved to far away for me to help and $89.99 plus labor for a fuel filter didn't seem unreasonable to him.

Sometimes the OE's spec a tire for a particular package, like the 16 inch Goodyear Eagle LS outline whites that were used on some late '90's Grand Cherokees and Dakotas as part of a handling package. Problem was, the tires were such a low production item that the aftermarket did not see fit to come up with a cheap replacement and for a long time the only place you could get them was a Goodyear dealer or a Jeep/Chrysler dealer. And yes they were very proud of them! My dad had one of them and called me freaking out about $800 worth of tires. Dunno if the Lexus in this tale is that way but I sorta doubt it, all the ones I have seen have fairly common sizes.

I use eBay or Craigslist to pick up tires that have low mileage, usually pay around $100.

Of course this comes from a lesson learned when I was young and a brake shop ripped me a new one to the tune of $900. Since that time I have become a reasonable repairer and hardcore tightarse when it comes to my cars, so in a sense I owe them

Especially higher end luxo-cruisers like lexus (andAcura, Infiniti) use a manufacturer specific tire. They usually have a different compound, treadpattern, speed/load ratings and carry an OEM specific part number. Yes, you can go to Sam;s Club and buy a $90 for a MXM4 Michelin in your car's size. But 99% of the time it will not meet the auto manufacturer's requirements.

Next time you're on TireRack and pop in your vehicle scroll down and notice that they will automatically lock out the speed ratings that do not pass OEM specs.

People spending $45k on a Camry want that new car feeling all the time. So that's why the dealer carries the OE tires for them.

Oddly enough, my wife ripped a sidewall on her CX-9. Being who we are, I got online with several GRM advertisers that hook my beaters up with quality, affordable rubber delivered to my door. I also called the local folks, and the online prices were better, then I called the dealer. Yes it was in stock, yes they could mount an balance it...total price...$20 cheaper that the tire delivered to my door (before I paid to have it mounted and balanced.)

Whhaaaaaa?!?!

So I dropped it off, they offered a loaner for 2 hours, I just hung out and barley talked myself out of a Mazdaspeed 3 they had leftover from last year that was deeeply discounted and was quite pleased.

So when my beater tow pig needed rubber I made a few calls and the universe was restored to normal, Tire rack.com was almost $200 cheaper than the best local price I could get. Phew!