'Hot' topic

Assuming a high-traffic welcome center is probably on an interstate, vehicles coming off the highway will have “hot” tire pressures.

Will the Michelin/South Carolina Department of Transportation-sponsored tire inflation stations be manned and monitored so that if a driver checks a “hot” tire and finds that it's overinflated, he or she will not deflate the tire to the proper pressure? This will cause the “hot” tire to be running in an unsafe, underinflated condition, which in turn could cause a failure. Inflation pressure should always be checked when the tire is “cold.”

Mike Martina

Director of Tire Operations

Main Tire Exchange Inc.

Dansville, N.Y.

More than just underwear

I was not privy to the Aug. 29 letter from Brad Swenson (manager of Lyntire Inc., Reno, Nev.), who said to “never have your car serviced at a store that sells underwear,” but I have to agree with Jeff Garrett's letter in the Sept. 12 issue.

Mr. Garrett, from the Yorba Linda, Calif., Costco Wholesale, pointed out that we at Costco “install more tires in a week than most shops do in months.”

I have been in tires at the Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Costco store since 1991, and we ALL are trained to do the same procedures per company guidelines. Costco invests a healthy sum of money in training, equipment and procedures to ensure that Costco members get the most for their dollar when they entrust their vehicles to the tire sales department.

We may sell underwear and TVs, but the individuals selling these items do not work in the tire department. Only those persons who have passed certification are allowed to work in the shop; we do not use any “warm body” to fill in. Perhaps they do it at Kmart, but not at Costco.

Mike Ames

Tire sales associate

Costco Wholesale

Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.