I THINK THE COSTCO LAWYERS ARE AT IT !

Just had my tires rotated at Costco and noticed when I picked up the car there is a nice big sticker on the windshield that reads -

"RETURN TO HAVE YOUR VEHICLE TORGUE RECHECKED AFTER DRIVING 25 MILES OR 40 KM FOLLOWING ANY TIRE SERVICE"

Now, if I took their advice literally, that would have meant that I would drive home, then right back to them to get the tires re-torqued and wait another hour and a half.

Is this a ploy to have your do more shopping or are the lawyers just nuts ?????

And don't get me started on the nitrogen they put in your tires now...!

I should add tires were rotated on my Taurus...Not the MG !

Whenever I have tires installed, as soon as I get home I break out the torque wrench to torque the lug nuts properly anyway. Most places over tighten them, which is a real pain if you get a flat...:(

You're right...almost nobody is going to go back and have that done, which they believe may get them off the hook if there is a problem with loose lug nuts.

I do not know for certain, but it must be something required not by Costco lawyers, but by some governmental agency, as they did the same with us at Les Schwab, a NW tire retailer, when I had new tires put on my wife's car a couple weeks ago. Historically, such things are often tied to the states getting federal tax dollars for state uses ~ like highway maintenance, etc. Choose not to do so, your state loses money, simple as that.

Hi Bob:
It is a pretty common practice and probably not a bad practice when you have tire work to have you come back for a no charge retorque.The mileage that Costco suggests is really low,but that's Costco.I am used to seeing 100 miles.If something has moved the retorque will catch. I sell HD truck parts and this has been standard practice for years, since the industry went to single nut mounting in the 90's.We were selling a large amount of trailer hubs to one tire store in one area,figured out it was about 350 miles away from where they had there tire work done,for the first 330 miles virtually straight road followed by 20 miles of hard curves.It usually happened when the operator had repair work done on one set and had been too lazy to come in for a retorque,the repair bill was over a $1000 each time.
John

My best guess, and that is all it is, is that it is a CYA move at risk management.
Sure, corporate lawyers may well advise this, but so do Wyatt's do gooders in government. It would not surprise me if the insurance companies had a hand in promoting this as well.

Bob

i did battle with the Taurus SHO rear brakes last year.

With these brakes the torque on the lug nuts is critical. If one is slightly loose or shade-tree tight, the damn caliper will rub the rotor and self destruct. Learning this cost me half a day.

Zero tolerance here. You needed a wrench anyway.

Be careful bleeding the brakes which should be completed every few years. I ruined one bleeder. The replacement from my Ford dealer was $9o for the first one . They are unique.

Tire stores worry about lug nuts coming loose for good reason. I'd rather have the sticker than some gorilla tighten my lug nuts to 150lbs of torque so that I can't get them off. Been there done that also.

Well, then, there is a real answer! I only get to work on the cars I own, and most of them are old. Your experience with your Taurus may well be more common among newer cars and that is why these folks have taken to doing this ~ but again, for tire stores and mechanics to be doing this not only means doing the job right, but risk management for them as well.