Why are tires for Subaru Outback so hard to find?

[MoeBeans]

Maybe someone can explain what just happened to me.

I have a mere 3300 miles on my 2006 Subaru Outback. The new car smell
hasn't even gone away yet. I blew a tire so I put on the donut tire and
drove 20 miles to the dealer I bought the car from. They said they
have to special order a tire for it! On Oct 29, 2006 I go to a Subaru
dealership and they don't have a tire for a 2006 Subaru. Before this is
over just the trip back and forth to the dealership will put me 10
miles over the recommended limit of 50 miles for the donut. Glad I
wasn't on a trip cross country.

They even said they "called around" looking for a tire so I have to
assume this isn't a problem with just the one dealership but all of
them. If they can't supply a simple tire for a brand new car what is
going to happen when I need a real part a year or so from now?

My wife was considering buying an Outback to replace her Honda but now
I'm seriously considering selling the Outback and getting a Honda.

Unbelievable!

 

[Todd H.]

Maybe someone can explain what just happened to me.

I have a mere 3300 miles on my 2006 Subaru Outback. The new car smell
hasn't even gone away yet. I blew a tire so I put on the donut tire and
drove 20 miles to the dealer I bought the car from. They said they
have to special order a tire for it! On Oct 29, 2006 I go to a Subaru
dealership and they don't have a tire for a 2006 Subaru. Before this is
over just the trip back and forth to the dealership will put me 10
miles over the recommended limit of 50 miles for the donut. Glad I
wasn't on a trip cross country.

They even said they "called around" looking for a tire so I have to
assume this isn't a problem with just the one dealership but all of
them. If they can't supply a simple tire for a brand new car what is
going to happen when I need a real part a year or so from now?

My wife was considering buying an Outback to replace her Honda but now
I'm seriously considering selling the Outback and getting a Honda.

Unbelievable!

You're cleared pissed, but you're also being unreasonable. How many
people do you think blow out a tire on such a new car?

Dealers sell cars, new parts (no, they don't stock them all), and
perform warranty service--that's their wheelhouse.

They do sell tires to lemings wanting to overpay for them, or for
people with so few miles on their OEM tires that they MIGHT once in a
blue moon need a single tire because the other three might be unworn
enough to warrant just replacing one of the exact same make/model of
oem tire, otherwise, so few folks are foolish enough to pay their
inflated prices for lousy selection that they don't stock many tires
which are rather bulky take up valuable space for things they _can_
sell or equpiment that can give them better ROI.

You should thank them for not having your tire in stock, quite
honestly.

Now you have my sympathy for having a blowout on such a young car (bad
luck!), but the bad news you may end up having to get a set of 4. The
dealer may give you the party line that if you have a problem with one
tire on an all wheel drive car, you have to replace all 4, yet they're
likely the only ones with access to that specific OEM tire that's on
your car.

If you need this fixed today, call around to tireshops with your tire
size (e.g. 185/60R15) or whatever it is, and see what they have in
stock. If you have some time, go to tirerack.com, print out prices
for recommended tires for your car, figure in cost to mount and
install, then take that info down to a local tire dealer with good
stock, and see what kind of bargain you can strike up. I've yet to
have adealer turn away business refusing to match tirerack.com
prices, plus with local tire places, you generally get free
rotation/balancing for the life of the tire which can get pricey
otherwise.

Best Regards,

 

[bigjim]

Try a Bridgestone dealer and I bet they can get one.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

You're cleared pissed, but you're also being unreasonable. How many
people do you think blow out a tire on such a new car?

Dealers sell cars, new parts (no, they don't stock them all), and
perform warranty service--that's their wheelhouse.

They do sell tires to lemings wanting to overpay for them, or for
people with so few miles on their OEM tires that they MIGHT once in a
blue moon need a single tire because the other three might be unworn
enough to warrant just replacing one of the exact same make/model of
oem tire, otherwise, so few folks are foolish enough to pay their
inflated prices for lousy selection that they don't stock many tires
which are rather bulky take up valuable space for things they _can_
sell or equpiment that can give them better ROI.

You should thank them for not having your tire in stock, quite
honestly.

Now you have my sympathy for having a blowout on such a young car (bad
luck!), but the bad news you may end up having to get a set of 4. The
dealer may give you the party line that if you have a problem with one
tire on an all wheel drive car, you have to replace all 4, yet they're
likely the only ones with access to that specific OEM tire that's on
your car.

If you need this fixed today, call around to tireshops with your tire
size (e.g. 185/60R15) or whatever it is, and see what they have in
stock. If you have some time, go to tirerack.com, print out prices
for recommended tires for your car, figure in cost to mount and
install, then take that info down to a local tire dealer with good
stock, and see what kind of bargain you can strike up. I've yet to
have adealer turn away business refusing to match tirerack.com
prices, plus with local tire places, you generally get free
rotation/balancing for the life of the tire which can get pricey
otherwise.

Best Regards,

While it seems the OP is a little worked up - the tires may very well
have a road hazard guarantee and dealerships SHOULD be able to 'get' (if
not keep) a tire on hand. And ESPECIALLY considering the restrictions on
AWD vehicles needing 4 tires in simialr wear conditions - they should
probably also offer tire shaving so one COULD replace a single half-worn
tire.

Moebeans - If I were you, I'd tell them they can give you a loaner until
they either get a tire - or move a tire from a unit on their lot onto
your car. Let THEIR car wait on a tire.

Carl

 

[MoeBeans]

You're cleared pissed, but you're also being unreasonable. How many
people do you think blow out a tire on such a new car?

Dealers sell cars, new parts (no, they don't stock them all), and
perform warranty service--that's their wheelhouse.

They do sell tires to lemings wanting to overpay for them, or for
people with so few miles on their OEM tires that they MIGHT once in a
blue moon need a single tire because the other three might be unworn
enough to warrant just replacing one of the exact same make/model of
oem tire, otherwise, so few folks are foolish enough to pay their
inflated prices for lousy selection that they don't stock many tires
which are rather bulky take up valuable space for things they _can_
sell or equpiment that can give them better ROI.

You should thank them for not having your tire in stock, quite
honestly.

Now you have my sympathy for having a blowout on such a young car (bad
luck!), but the bad news you may end up having to get a set of 4. The
dealer may give you the party line that if you have a problem with one
tire on an all wheel drive car, you have to replace all 4, yet they're
likely the only ones with access to that specific OEM tire that's on
your car.

If you need this fixed today, call around to tireshops with your tire
size (e.g. 185/60R15) or whatever it is, and see what they have in
stock. If you have some time, go to tirerack.com, print out prices
for recommended tires for your car, figure in cost to mount and
install, then take that info down to a local tire dealer with good
stock, and see what kind of bargain you can strike up. I've yet to
have adealer turn away business refusing to match tirerack.com
prices, plus with local tire places, you generally get free
rotation/balancing for the life of the tire which can get pricey
otherwise.

Best Regards,

My bad. Since I wasn't looking for a driveshaft for a 1983 Subaru race
car, I was looking for a tire for a car I bought a couple months ago, I
just assumed that the 15' high wall of tires in their service bay would
contain at least one that fit it. Didn't realize carrying a spare tire
for the current year's model would be such a burden on them. Now I get
to ride around for 3 days on this crappy donut until I find a
replacement. It must not be absolutely critical that I drive on
matching tires because if it was they would stock them, right

Strange part was I swear I saw a display of Hummer tires for sale, even
though there was only one Hummer on the lot. They probably get a lot
more flats than passenger cars.

And no, I don't accept that I am being unreasonable. Its a simple
matter of customer care and its a dead art. Stupid me, for some reason
I still expect good service even though its been a while since I have
actually experienced any, and I have certainly never gotten it from an
auto dealer. I don't know why I thought Subaru would be any different.

Thanks for the advice though, it will come in useful when these tires
need to be replaced...

 

[Blair Baucom]

I had to get a tire for an Honda Accord to match the other 3. The US made
Michelin MDX was not available as the entire production went to the factory
for Honda. So may have to get an extra tire with Honda too.

My local tire dealer did get one for my Honda that was made in Canada as
plants in other countries were not supplying the US factory.

You can check www.tirerack.com as they do normally carry OEM tires, as they
have my Yokohama Geolander G900 for my Forester, not that I would buy more
of this tire. I was lucky with my full size spare, when mine blew out, I put
the spare on at 6000 miles to have four of the same model. I bought a Kuhmo
for a cheap spare that is slightly smaller in circumference as the others
would be smaller when & if the spare was needed again.

Blair

 

[nrs2001]

I agree my Subaru dealership are to, a bunch of crooks. I want someone
to investgate them. Crooks!

 

[Todd H.]

My bad. Since I wasn't looking for a driveshaft for a 1983 Subaru race
car, I was looking for a tire for a car I bought a couple months ago, I
just assumed that the 15' high wall of tires in their service bay would
contain at least one that fit it. Didn't realize carrying a spare tire
for the current year's model would be such a burden on them. Now I get
to ride around for 3 days on this crappy donut until I find a
replacement. It must not be absolutely critical that I drive on
matching tires because if it was they would stock them, right

Hopefully you removed the AWD fuse when you put the donut on?
Assuming that this functionality is still present in the current
generation.

Strange part was I swear I saw a display of Hummer tires for sale, even
though there was only one Hummer on the lot. They probably get a lot
more flats than passenger cars.

Knowing Hummer, and their submission to the customization frenzy, I'm
sure the big display is there for one reason only: factory mandate to
offer customization option and/or making a great markup on options the
factory is supporting. Not nearly as sexy or profitable to be
offering replacement OEM tires for a Subaru.

And no, I don't accept that I am being unreasonable. Its a simple
matter of customer care and its a dead art. Stupid me, for some reason
I still expect good service even though its been a while since I have
actually experienced any, and I have certainly never gotten it from an
auto dealer. I don't know why I thought Subaru would be any
different.

If you're committed to being pissed at Subaru, I won't stop ya. But
there are reaonable business reasons why they don't have extra OEM
tires for every variation of vehicle they sell on hand in sets of 4.
If you factored price into your decision to buy a Subaru at all, you
share in the blame!

And if you've ever shopped at a Wal Mart or bought big box vs mom &
pop you share in the blame of the cost driven economics that have
gotten us to where we are in terms of customer service. Yes it sucks,
and we all hate the state of customer service these days, but we got
here because consumers bow to the gods of lowest price with such
regularity. And few of us haven't been part of the problem there I'm
sure!

Best Regards,

 

[Nick Danger]

I had to get a tire for an Honda Accord to match the other 3. The US made
Michelin MDX was not available as the entire production went to the factory
for Honda. So may have to get an extra tire with Honda too.

Most (or all?) new cars come with "low rolling resistance" tires, which give
better gas mileage, so that lets automakers report better CAFE numbers.
There isn't much aftermarket demand for these tires, so I would expect
replacements to be rather hard to find. Under the circumstances, I would
think it's reasonable for a dealer to keep a few of them on hand. There are
a fair number of people who, for whatever reason - lack of mechanical
skills, lack of time - want to be able to go back to their dealer any time
anything goes wrong with their car and know that it will be fixed. The
dealers I've dealt with all claim to do bodywork and even write up their own
receipts for bodywork, but in fact they usually deliver the car to a local
bodyshop. Customers are still happy with this arrangement because they're
dealing with familiar people. Still, I assume there's no law that says
dealers have to stock tires, so if they choose to save money that way and
accept the consequence of some less-than-delighted customers, that's their
decision.

 

[Mickey]

Maybe someone can explain what just happened to me.

I have a mere 3300 miles on my 2006 Subaru Outback. The new car smell
hasn't even gone away yet. I blew a tire so I put on the donut tire and
drove 20 miles to the dealer I bought the car from. They said they
have to special order a tire for it! On Oct 29, 2006 I go to a Subaru
dealership and they don't have a tire for a 2006 Subaru. Before this is
over just the trip back and forth to the dealership will put me 10
miles over the recommended limit of 50 miles for the donut. Glad I
wasn't on a trip cross country.

They even said they "called around" looking for a tire so I have to
assume this isn't a problem with just the one dealership but all of
them. If they can't supply a simple tire for a brand new car what is
going to happen when I need a real part a year or so from now?

My wife was considering buying an Outback to replace her Honda but now
I'm seriously considering selling the Outback and getting a Honda.

Unbelievable!

What size and or type tire is this that is so hard to find.?
Is it something new for 06 that might explain why you are
having difficulty?

The tires on my 00 OBW can be found almost anywhere.

Mickey