Rain Grooves, Tire Repairs, and Redirection
You are in the middle of your menu presentation and the next benefit you are about to explain is that of the Tire and Wheel protection. You proceed by stating, “You will also receive 5 years, unlimited mileage, $0 deductible on your tires and wheels… You’re driving around, out there in the world, run over something and tear up a tire, or a tire and a wheel…they need to be replaced…DONE! No money out of YOUR pocket, it’s all taken care of FOR you.” (Also, for those of you offering the curb damage benefit and the wheels aren’t chrome or PVD): “In addition to that, you’re down here at the bank drive-thru, fast-food drive-thru, or anywhere else for that matter where the curbs seem to get waaaaaay too close, SCRAAAAAAPE…you rub the wheel against the curb and chew up the surface, that’s ALSO taken care of FOR you.”
You conclude the remainder of your menu presentation and wrap-up with a recommendation of the option column you advise as most suitable for their situation asking, “which option works best for you and your family, Mary?”
Obviously, at this point, Mary will make a decision. If her choice does not include all the benefits of the Tire and Wheel protection, you probably owe it to Mary to explain the following: “Mary, I noticed your choice does not include the Tire and Wheel protection. I owe it to you to explain something that I, myself, wasn’t aware of until recently” (if applicable). “You see, based on current industry repair standards”, (verify this, in fact, to be the be the case with your repair facility) “all of the tire’s tread-face area where the rubber meets the road, per se, outside of the two outboard rain grooves, has been determined HANDS-OFF when it comes to repairs. In other words, any punctures in this area” (consider the diagram below, utilize your own diagram, picture, or actual tire) “result in the need to immediately replace the tire. This typically constitutes 40%, or more, of the tire’s tread-face area. Punctures happen, in this area, all the time”, (bring your brief, personal story into the fray at this time, if applicable) “and I’m sure you, like me, don’t want to have to pay hundreds of dollars to replace a perfectly good tire because of some 5 cent nail or screw that finds its way into your path. And that doesn’t even take into account the cost of the wheel if it needs to be replaced, which will also be paid for you.”
The bottom line here is that we probably all know sidewalls can’t be
repaired. What you may not have known is that damage to the area of
tread-face outside of the outboard rain grooves (the area represented between the blue arrows) is un-repairable based on current industry
standards (followed by many facilities) because of the flexing of the
tire carcass that occurs in this area and the corresponding impact this
would have to a plug and/or a patch, resulting in possible failure. The
ensuing risk of potential injury, death, property damage, and litigation
warrants complete tire replacement, for many facilities, no exceptions!
EARN the right to be the advisor and share with them something of
which they may not have already been aware.
As always, conditions and exclusions apply to all covered repairs.
Give it a try.
Good luck and good selling!
Erik Landrum
F&I Performance Coach at Conley Insurance Group