York

GTA tire shop goes out of business, leaving customers’ summer tires locked inside  

By
Pat Foran

Published: 

Many tire shops will now store your tires for the winter, but what happens if they have your tires and go out of business.

Now that the warmer weather has arrived, many drivers are starting to think about switching over from their winter tires to summer ones.

However, some customers got a surprise when a Thornhill tire shop closed its doors for good, leaving their summer tires locked inside.

The Tire Depot and Auto Services, located at 34 Doncaster Ave., had been in business for over 20 years before they put an ‘Out of Business’ sign on their door.

Customers who had their summer tires stored in the shop are trying to find out how to get them back.

“It’s been around forever, you store your tires in the winter and pick them up in the summer and showing up today, they are out of business,” said Terry Riyasat, a customer who came to the shop after no one answered his phone calls.

He told CTV News he wanted to make an appointment to swap his winter tires for summer tires and rims, and was shocked to see the “closed, out of business” sign.

Terry Riyasat, a customer at The Tire Depot and Auto Services who came to the shop after no one answered his phone calls, drives a leased car and said he needs his rims and tires back soon. Terry Riyasat, a customer at The Tire Depot and Auto Services who came to the shop after no one answered his phone calls, drives a leased car and said he needs his rims and tires back soon.

Riyasat is one of many customers looking for answers and there are many Post-It notes and messages on the front door from the customers saying they want to pick up their tires and rims.

CTV News contacted the business and the landlord of the building and left messages, but our calls were not returned.

In Riyasat’s case, he drives a leased car and said he needs his rims and tires back soon.

“I need to return a leased vehicle with the original tires and rims, and I don’t have access to them because they have shut down the shop,” said Riyasat.

Tires have also gotten a lot more expensive. If customers must replace their tires and rims, it could cost between $1,500 to $3,000, depending on the vehicle and custom or original factory rims will cost even more.

Often, many drivers will use cheaper steel rims for winter driving and store their original factory rims during the winter months. Replacing factory rims could get extremely costly.

“I have tires that have tire sensors in them, and that makes them that much more expensive,” said Michelle Goldstein.

Michelle and her husband, Elliot Goldstein, have three sets of tires, two on rims, in the shop for them, their son and their daughter.

Elliot also works as a lawyer and told CTV News that even if the business has ceased operating, customers who paid in advance to store their tires should have them returned.

Michelle and her husband, Elliot Goldstein, have three sets of tires, two on rims, in the shop for them, their son and their daughter. Michelle and her husband, Elliot Goldstein, have three sets of tires, two on rims, in the shop for them, their son and their daughter.

“If the ownership of the tires belongs to a third party, you can’t go and sell someone else’s stuff,” said Elliot and added, “There are hundreds of people involved who stored their tires there.”

Tires were stored according to licence plate numbers; however, complicating matters is that some tires were stored in the building and some were stored off-site.

Riyasat and the Goldsteins are hoping the matter can be dealt with soon, and they can get their tires and rims back, especially since warm weather has arrived from