Tired Tires

I'm always confused between 'tyre' and 'tire', as they are both widely accepted here in Malaysia. Well, a rose is a rose by any other name, and my roses tires need to be changed.

So, at about 11am I, along with Joey (a car enthusiast) and David (a roommate) went to this tire shop frequented by Joey. My original car tires are Michelin, so I was looking for that same model. Unfortunately, this workshop does not stock Michelin tires, and he recommended Bridgestone Turanza tires. It was about RM124, so I called Dad. What ensued next was close to a pandemonium. I could not make decisions without Dad's final word, and I could not negotiate properly with him shouting down the other line. It was a deadlock, and my phone battery indicator was at 1 bar - never a good sign.

In the end, the plan was to change all 4 tires to Bridgestone as the front ones were wearing out. Dad advised me to ask for free balancing and alignment, but not for discount on the tires themselves. The boss did not want to give free alignment (RM12), but decided to shave off RM1.50 per tire (duh). It came out to around RM508. Just before I closed the deal, Dad called back again and asked me about the tubing. Apparently, some cunning businessmen will consider them separate. He was right - they want to charge us RM4 per tube! Dad said that was ridiculous and the highest he should charge is RM2. Joey helped me to negotiate, as Dad doesn't realize I can't haggle while on the phone! The boss will only go down to RM3 for the tube, and Dad reluctantly (and noisily) agreed. But I wasn't really satisfied with the current offer, so Joey suggested we go to another shop. Since there's no harm in asking, and I needed to withdraw money as well, we left the shop.

Another tire shop was barely 100 meters away, and we stopped there to ask. To my relief, they have Michelin tires, and the same model as mine too. I called back Dad, and told him about the RM125 price. He asked me to change the 2 front tires and 1 rear tire, while keeping the spare. He reminded me about the tube again, and I asked the boss. He offered to throw in the tube, plus alignment and balancing at no extra charge, provided we give him all the tires we changed. I checked back with Dad again, and my phone cut off several times due to power shortage. But he agreed it was a reasonable deal, and I closed it on the spot.

So, 2 hours, 2 shops, and 1 lunch later, I paid the RM375 and drove on home. I wouldn't have managed it without Joey, and er..., well, David has his place as well I guess.