It’s
bad enough that gas stations now make you pay to inflate your own tires with
air. But at least you are getting what you paid for…air which does what it’s
supposed to do and that is to keep your tires inflated.
Many
car dealers are now charging customers to fill their tires with “pure”
nitrogen. They tell you that nitrogen does not leak from your tires as quickly
as air and this means that your tires will stay properly inflated longer before
you have to add more nitrogen (and pay the dealer for this). What the dealers
don’t tell you is that the air that is already in your tires is mostly nitrogen
anyway. In fact, 78% of the air you breathe is nitrogen. Oxygen represents only
12% of the air. The rest of air includes carbon dioxide and other inert gases. I’m
not sure what the purity of the nitrogen is that they pump into your tires for
$199 (this is not a typo…one hundred and ninety-nine dollars for filling four
tires full of mainly air). But, you can be assured that the purity of the
nitrogen is not 100% and is probably closer to the 78% that regular air
consists of.
Even
knowing all of the above, I have to admit that I was curious about whether or
not nitrogen could prolong tire live and improve fuel economy because I knew
that NASCAR drivers used nitrogen filled tires and I heard that Volvo’s came
from the factory with nitrogen in their tires. I have a BS in Physics from the University of Florida
You
may have read my column last week, “Beware the Phony Monroney”. In that column
I warned you about car dealers that add a window sticker designed to look
exactly like the federally mandated Monroney sticker. This is where you should
look for dealer installed accessories and additional dealer markups over MSRP.
Often these accessories have a high price but a very low cost. In the case of
nitrogen in four tires selling for $199, this is exactly the case. Since air is
already 78% nitrogen, it costs virtually nothing to extract nitrogen from the
air. To be generous, let’s say the dealer’s cost is $10 including labor. That
is a 2000% markup when he charges $199.
Just
when I thought I’d seen it all, I actually saw window stickers on a car today
from another dealer who had actually modified the Monroney label to show
nitrogen filled tires. To do this, the dealer actually had to remove the real Monroney
label, make the modification showing the nitrogen tires, and re-paste the
Monroney label to the window. Federal law requires that a Monroney label not be
removed until the vehicle is delivered to the customer. It also requires that it
not be modified. This new vehicle was one we had traded for from another dealer
and still had the counterfeit Monroney and the modified real Monroney attached
to the window. The modified Monroney looked so authentic, that one of my
technicians and my service manager inquired of Toyota Toyota
This
particular dealer also had another charge added to the counterfeit Monroney
sticker, a $4,995.00 “Market Value Adjustment”. Most prospective customers
think that this is part of the manufacturer’s recommended retail price. They
either end up paying too much money for the vehicle or think they are getting
more for their trade-in or a bigger discount than they really are. It’s easy to
allow someone an extra $5,000 on their trade-in when you have already marked
the car up an extra $5,000 over sticker price.
I was in agreement with your figures, except that oxygen represents 21% of the sea level atmosphere. Perhaps 12% was a typo? Paul McDowell
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for catching that typo, Paul.
ReplyDeleteActually the amount of oxygen is not quite 22%, but close. There are also some other inert gases in the air we breathe,1.25%, inert gases. They are Argon, Neon, Krypton, and Xenon.
Of course, the point of my article is that you are already getting mostly Nitrogen in the air you fill your tires with. To pay money for pure Nitrogen is silly.
I will make the correction from 12% to 22% for Oxygen.
I think nitrogen tires are really useful as alternatives.
ReplyDeleteIt is sturdy and a great durability.
Dear Cheap Tyre Changer,
ReplyDeleteGoogle "Consumer Reports and Nitrogen", read the articles and you will change your mind about Nitrogen being a "useful alternative".
Hi Mr Stewart,
ReplyDeleteI wish that my first experience as a Toyota Sales Consultant was working for you. Instead I got my first taste of sales for a dealer that has a $699.50 dealer fee, $700 new car pack, charges for Nitrogen in the tires, steals trade in, offers a terrible play plan and floods the sales floor with staff that doesn't know any better. I was one of them. I don't know what it's like to work for you or how things are behind the scenes with the sales managers but I have a feeling that it's a bit better than my experience.
Dear Dwayne,
ReplyDeleteIf you like to sell cars and are good a it, we would love to talk to you. I's a good sign that you have a conscience and what the other Toyota dealer asked you to do was of concern. I could tell you how well we treat each other at Earl Stewart Toyota, but my suggestion would be for to ask any of my employees. Our culture is to treat each other just like we treat our customers...with courtesy, respect, and integrity. But don't take it from me, ask anybody that works for me.
Just call 561 844-3461 and ask to speak to a salesman. Tell him or her that you're thinking about applying for a job and ask what she thinks of working for Earl Stewart Toyota.
These scams prey on the elderly and uninformed. I researched this - they use 95% Nitrogen (remember 78% in air to begin with). While Consumer Reports showed a minor difference in pressure loss, it's not al all worth the premium paid for Nitrogen. In either case, you need to add gas to your times occasionally. If you use Nitrogen, you will be paying for that privilege and find it difficult to locate a place. Stick with air.
ReplyDeleteI feel that you're overlooking the cold winters. Regular air filled tires in consistent -20oC to -40oC temperatures lose quite a lot of pressure. I switched to nitrogen filled winter tires for our long season in the north and there is -absolutely- a significant difference in tire pressure during those months.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. "Phooey" (Love your name)😊
ReplyDeleteI understand and appreciate the point you're making.
However my opinion on nitrogen in tires relies heavily on the Consumer Reports one-year study which you can reference online. I've lived in Florida most of my life and haven't had much experience driving in very cold temperatures. A listener to my weekly radio show called me several months ago and mentioned that he found nitrogen in tires useful in the cold weather. He said that, with regular air in his tires, his "low inflation tire indicator" warnings on his dash came on too often when the temperature dropped. Using nitrogen this did not happen as often.