My car had Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires that were down to a sad 2 to 3/32" of tread after roughly 36K miles. I've only been the vehicle owner for less than a tenth of those miles, so I can't say much about how well they hold up, but in any case it was time for new tires.

Just picked up four new tires: "Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS Pole Position", which were moderately priced and had excellent customer reviews on tirerack.com and discounttire.com.

Unfortunately, while they were doing the work, the shop broke one of the lug studs on the front right side. They only do tires and wheels, so they referred me to a nearby mechanic and said they'd cover it, but it was late in the afternoon and they didn't have the part on hand, so I've got to head back tomorrow. (The mechanic tosses in a "we'll also give you 10% off on an alignment" up-sell.)

Ultimately, we're talking about a $5 lug stud and nut, plus perhaps 20-30 minutes to actually get to it and do the work. Still, it's a reminder of how simple things like a 30-minute new tire installation can turn into a complicated multi-hour / multi-day affair.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to report that the situation was resolved swiftly and painlessly, as an example of humble and competent customer service responding to an unfortunate incident. Of course, until then, I'm torturing myself by dreaming of all the ways that this can go wrong from here...