[the VTEC guy]

Hello friends. Starting a thread for recommending good Tyre dealers in Pune/PCMC area.
I would like to recommend-
Lokmanya tyres located near Ayurved Rasashala of Karve road.
They are official dealers for Michilen tyres along with other makes as well like Yokohama, Bridgestone, Goodyear, etc.

Found the owner and the crew very courteous. Owner participated in recommending correct upsize for my car. They had formula setup in an excel sheet and were able to show you actual comparison in terms of diameter difference etc. Had called up couple of dealers inquiring about rates of the tyres and found them to have reasonably priced.
The crew was well trained. Have necessary equipment for support. Nitrogen available.

Only negative I felt is they were reluctant on card payment, charging some fee for card payment. However since ATM was within walking distance cash payment is possible. I would rate them 4.5 star instead of 5 start just for that. Got myself 5 tyres of Yokohama C drive at 3400Rs each in Mar'2010.

Contact person: Mr. Ashish Kulkarni
Landline: 020-25422177, 020-25451677
Mobile: +91-9822044377

Hope this helps!

[subodh]

Poona Tyres for Continental Tyres in Pune
Contact Details:
Mr. Vinod Gandhi
+91 20 24211979
Shop No. 3/4/5 Suryaprakash apt, market yard rd, Market Yard, Pune 411037

Darshan Tyres Really good Wheel balancing and Alignment
shops are based in various parts of pune viz: viman nagar, Camp, Shivaji nagar, Chinchwad, Kothrud, Baner, Kondhwa.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by the VTEC guy

Hello friends. Starting a thread for recommending good Tyre dealers in Pune/PCMC area.
I would like to recommend-
Lokmanya tyres located near Ayurved Rasashala of Karve road.
Found the owner and the crew very courteous. Owner participated in recommending correct upsize for my car. Had called up couple of dealers inquiring about rates of the tyres and found them to have reasonably priced. The crew was well trained. Have necessary equipment for support.

I agree fully with this feedback and would recommend Lokmanya to TBHPians. The Kulkarnis (owners/proprietors) are courteous and helpful. I bought 5 Michelin PLCs from them (check the Michelin PLC thread for the background). Better than Darshan tyres at FC Rd on price and customer friendliness. Technicians are quick and efficient. They changed all 5 tyres with WB in an hour or so without scratching the alloys. I hate scratches on even my alloys.

Overall they get 4.5 stars - They dont have a WA facility at this branch due to limited space. If you need WA, go to their Tilak Rd branch.

Cheers!

[Sudarshan]

Hi all , things mentioned above regarding Lokmanya Tyres & Mr Kulkarni Are very true .
I know Mr Ashish for about 25+ years ,he is a very prompt & hardworking guy. I can tell from all thease years experiance that , he IS reliable.
Service is good, prices are modarate, overalll standerd is good.
Though on following ocasions he dissappointed me (may be not his fault or I am expecting too much)
1) He could not get the MRF sand grip tyres (7.50 x 16), said it was only a diffence supply. Surprisingly two of my Mumbai friends got one set each (5 tyres) from a Mumbai dealer !
2) He is yet to call me for my Yezdi tyres ( asked 3 months back )
may be thease items I asked do not be giving him enough margins !
I will rate him (Lokmanya tyres 4.9 out of five )

[faridsahmed]

Originally Posted by Sudarshan

Hi all , things mentioned above regarding Lokmanya Tyres & Mr Kulkarni Are very true .
I know Mr Ashish for about 25+ years ,he is a very prompt & hardworking guy. I can tell from all thease years experiance that , he IS reliable.
Service is good, prices are modarate, overalll standerd is good.
Though on following ocasions he dissappointed me (may be not his fault or I am expecting too much)
1) He could not get the MRF sand grip tyres (7.50 x 16), said it was only a diffence supply. Surprisingly two of my Mumbai friends got one set each (5 tyres) from a Mumbai dealer !
2) He is yet to call me for my Yezdi tyres ( asked 3 months back )
may be thease items I asked do not be giving him enough margins !
I will rate him (Lokmanya tyres 4.9 out of five )

The problem with Lokmanya tyres is - they close at 7.00pm and are not open on Sundays . I feel this is an another important aspect that needs to be looked into.

[omishra]

Originally Posted by faridsahmed

The problem with Lokmanya tyres is - they close at 7.00pm and are not open on Sundays . I feel this is an another important aspect that needs to be looked into.

Is this typical Puneri shop? Opening at 9:30AM, Lunch time break 1-4PM and close at 7PM?

Recently I purchased Amaron FLO battery from N Mehta, Swargate. I got good price with fresh peice (05/10 manufactured). For battery purchase, it was good experience. Not sure about tyre prices though Justdial-dot-com say it has lowest price. I could see there Michelin, Yokohama and bridgestone tyres.

[Sudarshan]

Originally Posted by faridsahmed

The problem with Lokmanya tyres is - they close at 7.00pm and are not open on Sundays . I feel this is an another important aspect that needs to be looked into.

Hi you must be an IT guy, (they wake up & work when everybody sleep .)
also , I dont think that fitting a tyre after dark is a good idea. After all the mechanics are tired ( after a days work) ,light is not so good . Whats the point in doing a job like this ?
Also don't blame Puneri people. On the timing isssue , we take anything & everything from the 'Foreigner run business' ( in the name of decipline/ manners etc.&etc.) but NOT from our own people .
As a person one is free to set his own timings, to work comfertabely ,( he may be ready to suffer business losses for that, its his choise.)

[faridsahmed]

Originally Posted by Sudarshan

Hi you must be an IT guy, (they wake up & work when everybody sleep .)
also , I dont think that fitting a tyre after dark is a good idea. After all the mechanics are tired ( after a days work) ,light is not so good . Whats the point in doing a job like this ?
Also don't blame Puneri people. On the timing isssue , we take anything & everything from the 'Foreigner run business' ( in the name of decipline/ manners etc.&etc.) but NOT from our own people .
As a person one is free to set his own timings, to work comfertabely ,( he may be ready to suffer business losses for that, its his choise.)

Sudarshan - you got me wrong. Firstly i am not an IT guy and work 6 days a week and reach home only after 7:30pm even on saturdays . Secondly I am basically from this region. The problem that I quoted was - the shop closes at 7.00 pm and is not open on Sundays. For guys like me Sunday morning is the day when the car gets all the attention - rest all days it just sit-start-drive. On shop timings - definitely its the owners choice but again its our choice whether to go there or not. I gave the info about timings because I went there and realized this from the closed shutter.

[Monaro CV8]

I've had a wonderful buying experience with Lokmanya.

The owner, Ashish Kulkarni is a very friendly person and he makes sure he attends to every customer on a personal level, while understanding their needs & suggesting the products as per their budget.

His partner in the business, Mr. Bhide, more or less, takes care of the back end support (like inventory control, etc.)

They are official dealers for Michelin, Yokohama & Continental.

I recently purchased a set of Yokos, along with the alloys for my Octavia.
Had the smoothest transaction, hassle free.

In fact I had checked the rates with N Mehta, and Lokmanya was relatively lower priced.

Ashish even gave me a complimentary Yokohama Gift, after we got the wheels fixed!

I would highly recommend Lokmanya Tyres.

@omishra:
@faridsahmed:

Lokmanya Tyres is open from 10am to 8pm.

[omishra]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

@omishra:
@faridsahmed:

Lokmanya Tyres is open from 10am to 8pm.

Thanks for the info.
Tyres set due for my car, I will surely look at this shop.

[sanstorm]

I have pleasent experience buying tyres at Lokmanya yesterday. I have changed to Yokohoma C series on Palio. Ashish was courteous and accomodated my request, even been flooded with customers (being Saturday).

May be the late evening taking a toll, but the ground staff was having 'dont bother me' attitude

[radek]

Last week, I visited Lokmanya to replace my Spark's tyre. His first advice was to continue these tyres for another 10K. I liked the honesh advice. I anyway gone ahead with the change.

He spent good time with me (though there was a Porche waiting for change) to show different tyres and upgrade calculator. Overall, smooth transaction. I did not bother to compare his prices with other shops. Bought Conti CEC @ 2900 per tyre.

[Sudarshan]

Originally Posted by Sudarshan

2) He is yet to call me for my Yezdi tyres ( asked 3 months back )

Got it today , thanks to Mr. Ashish Kulkarni & also Mr. Bhooshan Sardesai .

He remembers my 10 month old order & calls me , just for bike tyres .

Those tyres were in short supply , but he called me as soon as he got it .

Sudarshan

[anandpadhye]

I also got one my Hyundai Tucson tyres replaced from Lokmanya in Jan 2010 - it was an emergency (one of my tyres was cut badly at the Tamhini ghats...

They gave me 215/65R16 Continental for 7500 and the overall experience was smooth. Mr. Kulkarni also called me after a couple of months to let me know a discount offer from Continental...

Today, I am in need again for the same (replacement due as per age and running) and Mr. Kulkarni is checking the availability.

BTW, Prabhat Tyres is also very good. I have had pleasant experiences for wheel alignment as well as tyre requirements. They gave me a good tyre for my Suzuki Fiero (I wanted a broader one for my rear tyre and they gave me a Ceat one which has proven to be just perfect). And when i said "Hyundai Tucson", the guy immediately said, "Oh, 215/65R16!!!".

This is one problem with the CBU SUVs - tyres are expensive and in short supply...

Cheers!

[S_U_N]

Probably the only place to ask this question:
Gaurav mentioned in another thread that 3D wheel alignment is more accurate. Does anyone know where in Pune we have this facility?