Clear things up

The time to change tires is coming up and I noticed that almost every second or third ad could be confusing to some. For decades we had 3 words we had tires, we had rims and we had wheels. The only one usable on a car is a wheel (which is the combination of a tire and a rim).

For some time now tire stores advertise wheels for sale, but they actually mean rims. I have not seen anybody selling tires advertising them as wheels, however, some places advertise free tire change, but actually mean free wheel change. Why do we have to change things that have been established for a long time and make it, at least for some, confusing?

A female friend of mine wanted to buy a set of new wheels. She sent a written request for a quote for 4 wheels and even put in brackets "Tires & Rims". She received a quote that, according to her, was an offer she could not refuse and was exited when she told me about it. After checking that quote, I found out that it was for rims only, but they called them wheels and there was no mentioning of a tire brand or size or price or labour or anything else. If she would have ordered those "wheels", she would have had a very big surprise and all of a sudden the deal was not even half as good anymore.

So, if you are not 100% sure what an ad means, ask specific questions. A wheel change is not a tire change and what you have in the trunk is not a spare-tire, it's a spare-wheel!

Roger von Dach