Rental car - CHECK THE TIRES

[nfetterly]

Recently (mid August) rented (Avis) a Dodge Journey at the airport in Montreal Quebec. I did my walk around and everything looked fine - it only had 6000 miles on it (10,000 km). It was approaching rush hour and so I got out on the road, heading North to get off the island (Montreal is on an island) so I could get around alot of the traffic. When I got on the well traveled highway (ruts from trucks) the vehicle started to act real squirrely, I stopped driving with traffic and got into the slow lane and started going the speed limit.

When I pulled over for coffee (Tim's, note I had already had a few steamies at Lafleurs) I checked the front tires. They were almost bald on the outside edge - which is how it felt the vehicle drove. Straight was fine - would track straight, but any slight shift in one direction would push it WAY over. I checked the back tires and they looked almost new - as 6000 miles would look.

Now here's the really strange thing. The back tires were a matched set - and the front tires were a matched set, but they were different tires!!!
The way the car drove made me believe it caused the wear on the tires. The comments from the guys at work were they though someone else had a Dodge Journey and swapped wheels/tires.

Other part of the story - in Quebec, by law, you must have winter tires on during certain times of the year. So the rental car companies do swap tires out, but this was mid August on a car that had 6000 miles on it.

Anyway - but scary to drive, was in an area that did not have an Avis so I didn't return it early. When I did return it the young guy was a little shocked and they took the vehicle out of service. I left a message for manager, but never hear anything.

I get another rental vehicle there tomorrow, I'll be checking the tires this time.


FYI - have photos, but on phone & so didn't post them.

 

[StarHalo]

Sounds like a toe/camber issue which has lead to a tire issue; they probably opted against fixing the problem and it wore through the first set of tires, so they swapped out a new/used pair. It would drive the same even on brand new expensive tires, the problem will remain until they align it.

 

[HighlanderNorth]

Recently (mid August) rented (Avis) a Dodge Journey at the airport in Montreal Quebec. I did my walk around and everything looked fine - it only had 6000 miles on it (10,000 km). It was approaching rush hour and so I got out on the road, heading North to get off the island (Montreal is on an island) so I could get around alot of the traffic. When I got on the well traveled highway (ruts from trucks) the vehicle started to act real squirrely, I stopped driving with traffic and got into the slow lane and started going the speed limit.

When I pulled over for coffee (Tim's, note I had already had a few steamies at Lafleurs) I checked the front tires. They were almost bald on the outside edge - which is how it felt the vehicle drove. Straight was fine - would track straight, but any slight shift in one direction would push it WAY over. I checked the back tires and they looked almost new - as 6000 miles would look.

Now here's the really strange thing. The back tires were a matched set - and the front tires were a matched set, but they were different tires!!!
The way the car drove made me believe it caused the wear on the tires. The comments from the guys at work were they though someone else had a Dodge Journey and swapped wheels/tires.

Other part of the story - in Quebec, by law, you must have winter tires on during certain times of the year. So the rental car companies do swap tires out, but this was mid August on a car that had 6000 miles on it.

Anyway - but scary to drive, was in an area that did not have an Avis so I didn't return it early. When I did return it the young guy was a little shocked and they took the vehicle out of service. I left a message for manager, but never hear anything.

I get another rental vehicle there tomorrow, I'll be checking the tires this time.


FYI - have photos, but on phone & so didn't post them.

Sounds like it may need a camber adjustment on the front wheels. My mother bought a new Nissan 240SX back in the mid 80s. She drove it for 3-4 years, then noticed the tires were wearing on the edges. The wheels were obviously sitting on a slant.

She took it to the shop, and they said it was a camber issue, but that the wheels couldn't be adjusted any more. They were supposedly already adjusted as much as they could be. The struts/suspension was shot, and the only option was major suspension replacement.

She opted to trade it in on a new car.

 

[Monocrom]

As far as photos go, you can just email them to yourself; then upload them to any of the free image hosting sites. Then put them in your post. I do that all the time with my phone. As far as cars go, I personally wouldn't take a Dodge if it were given to me for free. Literally everyone I know who owns a Dodge has had issues with them. I mean the type you just don't get with other brands. Or, if you do, it's a rare exception to the rule. And most of those issues Dodge owners have, tend to be very expensive ones to fix.