Raben Tire & Auto Service

I was traveling from near Chicago down to Carbondale to pick up my son from college and had a flat near Effingham. Apparently my two year old RAV4 has standard tires which almost no one carries — I called about 10 places in the Mt. Vernon and Marion areas. Even two Toyota dealerships didn’t have the tires in stock. These guys did and got my tire replaced in no time at all. Great, courteous service, a pleasant, clean waiting area. They got me to my son in time as he needed to get out of his dorm. They really saved me that day!

I bought 4 new tires from Raben about a year ago. Recently, I took my car to the Raben to get the tires rotated before making business trips to Louisville and St. Louis. They rotated the tires, and on my trip to Louisville, I noticed new vibrations at highway speed. But, being on business, I didn’t have time to do anything about it. When I was returning from the St. Louis business trip, one of my tires went flat. Since my tires were so new, I assumed it was a puncture and paid someone to see if it could be repaired. But it was a hole in the side wall caused from mis-​alignment.
I took the car back to Raben in Marion, and learned that the tires were very out of alignment. Obviously that had been the cause of the vibration I’d been feeling. I asked why they hadn’t checked the alignment after the rotation, since that’s when it all started. They said that’s a different service. I know aligning tires is a different service, but surely checking alignment after rotation is necessary? On Raben’s website, it says, «Lifetime Tire Rotations and a Complimentary Alignment Check ($ 34.95 value) are included with every new tire purchase.» I understood this to mean that every time the tires were rotated, there would be an alignment check. But that didn’t happen for me, and it meant buying a new tire and spending considerable time dealing with a flat. To add insult to injury, Raben in Marion did not have time to do an alignment. I took the car to Plaza Tires in Carbondale who made time to see me the same day, and who said the tires were so out of alignment, they had to rotate them again.