TOMS RIVER: My Experience with K&M Tire (OPINION – Not Sponsored)

So a little background here. I am an administrator for OCSN and K&M Tire and Auto is one of our long-time advertisers. For the most part all the advertising we have done for companies through our internal ad-system (Not the google ads) come from businesses we have first had experience with. Local companies that are a staple of our community whom we trust enough to risk our reputation on their having ads on our page.

Now I had previously never had any interaction with K&M other than posting their ads. Our founder, Dave L. however has always sung their praises and so when I needed new tires, and an exhaust fix, I felt it was time to give them a try.

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So after noticing a crack in my right rear passenger tire, and a broken valve stem, I decided it was time for some needed maintenance.

I booked my appointment on a Saturday for Tuesday Morning, and bought my tires online directly from GoodYear.
I believe it was Sunday when I was notified that GoodYear was in error and they had no time slots for me on Tuesday but they could accommodate me Wednesday. It was Monday when I was told GoodYear wouldn’t have my tires in on Wednesday and they offered me the same time-slot on Thursday and then it was Tuuesday when we were told the tires were in on time after all and I was offered my original time slot back, or to keep the Thursday appointment.

Because of timing with other events I chose to go back to my Wednesday appointment and the next day I dropped the car off shortly after 9am. When I dropped it off, I mentioned that I had an exhaust issues, and asked if they could look at it. And they did.

After notifying me that the broken valve stem actually required a new TPMS Sensor package, I was also told that my exhaust leak was actually exhaust leaks (we had expected this) and given a price for the TPMS Sensor that could be installed and programmed that day and the estimated cost for the full exhaust replacement (cat back).

Knowing that it was important, I chose to book the exhaust replacement for the next day and drove home.

Now I’m not going to bore you with the details of it being rainy, and having issues getting a Lyft or Uber to pick it up when done. But it was only 1pm when I was notified it was complete.

Once I got to the shop, Gene was very pleasant as we talked about the issue I had. I asked if there was anything he saw that needed fixing and he said that he saw nothing that stood out. He mentioned he saw I had recently replaced a caliper, and my brake pads and rotors were in good repair, and that the only thing I really needed to worry about was that the vehicle was 11 years old, and being a Dodge Grand Caravan, they had a lot of wear issues from poor design.

Now while I didn’t state the cost of my full exhaust, I will tell you that the entire replacement, including parts and labor was the cost I was quoted for just the Catalytic Converter from the dealer. I am quite happy and wanted to highlight Gene and the entire crew at K&M and say there is at least one more OCSN reporter who will be singing their praises when someone asks for a reference.