Is it a shame I have new wheels and tires before
Jon? Yes. Will that be the case when his come in and they're shiny and scratch-free? No.
While I'm on the subject, here's my experience with
Edge Racing. I ordered some wheels and tires from
them since they advertised in
Grassroots and had good deals. I was surprised to not get a confirmation email immediately. I was surprised the order did not ship within 24 hours as advertised. I was surpised I didn't get an email explaining that the tires were on back order.
It wasn't until I called that I learned the tires were back ordered in spite of what the availablity quote indicated. I asked for expedited shipping to compensate for the delay, the csr declined. I asked for an order confirmation email, the csr said the 'order shipped' email was sufficient.
I'm the passive-aggressive type consumer who won't throw a fit, but instead pass the experience on to others and, naturally, never patronize them again.
Here's a report card of all my tire-related purchases. Since it's Corporate America, I believe the grade school rating system is appropriate.
Tire Rack (online) and
Les Schwab (in store) get
pluses for expediency, inventory accuracy, and complaint handling. (Tire Rack quickly replaced a strut I ordered that appeared to have been previously installed).
Edge Racing (online) gets a
check for expediency, inventory accuracy, and complaint handling. By contrast, Craigslist gets a plus for expediency and inventory accuracy, a check for complaint handling.
Price wise: Craigs < Edge < Tire Rack < Les Schwab
Back to the TSWs. I like them considerably more than the stock wheels and more than I thought I'd like them before mounting. They're still a bit shiny for a Japanese coupe but a good dose of brake dust will solve that. We'll see how the Falkens will stand up to autocross.
