Man Buys New Tire. He's Certain The Shop Sabotaged It On Purpose: ‘We Called AAA’

A woman says her boyfriend paid cash for a $50 used tire after a nail ruined his old one, and it went flat within hours while the car sat parked. When they took it back, she says, the shop blamed him for the puncture, and the replacement it fitted turned out to be the wrong size.

Giszelle (@its.giszelle), who lists her age as 23 and her location as Los Angeles on social media, recently shared a video that’s been viewed more than 10,900 times.

“SCAMMER TIRE PLACE WARNING!!!” reads the text on screen, and her caption urges viewers to “LEAVE THEM A BAD REVIEW THEY REFUSED A REFUND!!!”

In a screenshot she identifies a shop called Tires & Wheels in the Culver City area.

The nail went into the side of the tire where “you can’t really patch it,” she says. One shop quoted more than $200 for a new tire, so they called around for a used one in the size the first shop had given them. One place, she says, offered “a used tire for like 50 bucks.” It was cash only, and her boyfriend “had to pull out money from an ATM to pay them, so basically there’s like no receipt.”

What Went Wrong With The Tire?

As they pulled away, his tire pressure monitor was still warning of low pressure, she says, so he reset it, parked the car outside her house and spent the day out with a friend. When he got back in, he called her to say, “I have a [expletive] flat.” The tire “that he just got was completely flat,” she says, “so then we have to call AAA, put the spare on.”

She says she drove the car back to the shop that evening. “He tries to claim that it was my boyfriend who punctured it” by hitting a curb, Giszelle alleges, though she says the car had been parked all day. The shop replaced the tire but warned that if it happened again, he’d have to pay.

The next day, her boyfriend noticed “they put the wrong tire size on my car.” When he called, she says, the shop told him he had asked for that size, and the employee “admitted to it” by saying, “I noticed that all your other three tires were a different size than the one that you asked for, but I just listened to the customer.”

A tire in the right size, she says, would mean paying again. In the comments, she wrote that they offered to return the tire for a refund and were refused, and that they eventually found the correct size elsewhere for $80.

What Tire Experts Say

She’s right that the original tire couldn’t be plugged. The US Tire Manufacturers Association’s repair guidance says repairs “are limited to the tread area,” and that “if there is any question that the injury extends into the shoulder/belt edge area, then the tire must be taken out of service.”

On size, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tells drivers to buy tires “that are the same size as the vehicle’s original tires or another size recommended by the vehicle manufacturer,” and to check the owner’s manual or the label on the driver’s door edge. “If you have any doubt about the correct size to choose, consult with the tire dealer,” it adds. “They can find the correct size tire for your vehicle.”

California law requires that “all work done by an automotive repair dealer” be recorded on an invoice, and that “if any used, rebuilt, or reconditioned parts are supplied, the invoice shall clearly state that fact.”

Commenter spookywh0r3 urged Giszelle to “report them to the California Bureau of Automotive Repair.”

“You Get What You Pay For”

The most-liked comment took the shop’s side. “That’s not a scam, you just bought a $50 used tire. You get what you pay for,” wrote masautobryan. Giszelle replied, “A used tire is not supposed to be punctured, nor is it supposed to be the wrong size.”

“No warranty on used tires, a lot of shops have a sign. Should have put on the spare and went to get a new one,” wrote ivanrosas_. rubberbandman319 vouched for the shop: “That place is honest and legit. I have been there a few times.” system_fan904 split the difference, writing that used tires are “always hit or miss,” but that a shop “should definitely not put a different size tire on without telling you, and they should have checked there wasn’t a leak.”

One commenter wrote, “That’s my uncle’s shop, please take this video down!” When Giszelle replied that they had been yelled at, the commenter suggested he “was in a bad mood because of the rain.”

Giszelle conceded some ground. “I do think [we] should have been more prepared and on top of it,” she wrote, “but it’s just sad we tipped them well and they were just super mean.”

Asked why anyone would buy a used tire, she pointed to the price gap: “Paying $50 vs $200 for a new tire is a big difference.”

Motor1 reached out to Giszelle via email, and to the shop via text for comment. We’ll be sure to update this if either responds.