Nitrogen in Tires

[TheClevelandSound]

Im sitting here at Fred Martin Nissan right now getting my oil changed and fixing my tires...they offered me a $20 change of gas in my tires...to nitrogen. They told me that nitrogen is almost invincible to flats..i dont know if they are ripping me off or not, but id like to find out.

[BBISHOPPCM]

$20 is the going rate for nitrogen... They say the molecules are larger, therefore, the tire will lose less pressure over time, and Nitrogen is not affected by changes in temperature, plus a slew of other moronic benefits... I say skip it, air is free, and Nitrogen will do nothing if you pick up a nail, or if you slash your tires by accident with a buck knife.

[TheClevelandSound]

Yeah ur right..im here by myself and i dont have the money anyways. Thanks for clearing it up tho. Ive just never heard of that before. How long have they been doing that?

[BBISHOPPCM]

A few years. My dealer charges $40!!!!!! I was there when they first started doing it, and they asked me if I wanted to switch to Nitrogen. I politely declined.

[TheClevelandSound]

Yeah 40 is bs...i think 20 is bs too but im cheap. They have a crapload of Versas here...more than any other car in the dealership...but i got to honor of seeing the new GTR in person, so i am excited.

[CodeRed]

I never understood why anyone would fill up with nitrogen.... Once your tire pressure drops you have to top it off with regular air and now only one tire has regular air and the others have nitro. I would stick will regular air just like everyone else has for the last 100 years.

[BBISHOPPCM]

One of the selling points was air corrodes the steel belts... which the tire manufacturer knows about, and protects the belts by molding them INSIDE the tires. Totally ridiculous claim.

[SPFDRum]

Biggest car scam since that silly propeller to save gas. Unless you plan on dropping your car on an aircraft carrier at about 170 mph, save your money.I like the "invincible to flat" claim, I'm going to keep that one in my ocean front home in Arizona!

[nismofly]

nitrogen is used in racing both for not losing pressure as easily and also not having as much a difference between cold and hot pressures, so setting tire pressures is easier

in a normal street car though, no use for it

[BillyBeaneBall]

When I went to the dealer to pick up my car (and we'd already agreed on price) they told me "We added Nitrogen to the tires and etched your windows for you...it's $50 for the N and $100 for the etching." I told them I never authorized those things and they weren't there before so I wouldn't pay for them. They relented on the etching but started giving me guff over the N. I told them to deflate the tires then and fill it up with air. They backed down and I got it for free too stupid salesmen...always trying to make an extra buck off you!

[XterraVersa]

Please do everyone else in your area a huge favor. Report that dealer to the BBB and 1-800-NISSAN-1 for unethical practices.

[DP]

Sorry to disagree with you however I put it in my cars and still check it every month and found it has not lost pressure AT ALL in the first 5 months. On my last oil change, it needed about one pound. Over 6 months. For people that do not check tries (most people) this is great. For people that do not check their tires this will save them money. My daughter has had two blowouts because she never looked at her tires. If I can save $160.00 not buying her a tire, the $40.00 I paid was worth it. My Nissan dealer tops them off free as long as I do my services. Will it keep you from getting a flat? Hell no stay away from that place. Will it get you better mileage? I say yes if are keeping the proper pressure. Your tires will last longer for the same reason. For me it was a good thing and worth the money. DP

[XterraVersa]

Sorry to disagree with you however I put it in my cars and still check it every month and found it has not lost pressure AT ALL in the first 5 months. On my last oil change, it needed about one pound. Over 6 months. For people that do not check tries (most people) this is great. For people that do not check their tires this will save them money. My daughter has had two blowouts because she never looked at her tires. If I can save $160.00 not buying her a tire, the $40.00 I paid was worth it. My Nissan dealer tops them off free as long as I do my services. Will it keep you from getting a flat? Hell no stay away from that place. Will it get you better mileage? I say yes if are keeping the proper pressure. Your tires will last longer for the same reason. For me it was a good thing and worth the money. DP

Sorry to disagree with the value of N2. I filled my tires in December with dirty polluted Denver air to 37 psi. I check monthly also and they are still at 37 psi. I do my own maint. so I know no one else is filling them. You could have used that $40 to buy a 12V inflator to top off your tires for free for the lifetime of the car & you don't have to go to the dealer to top off. Plus if you get a flat on the road, add the tire slime & fill up the tire.

Also the wonderful TPMS the feds have madated will warn you if your tires are getting low, well before they are in the danger zone.

If N2 is so great, why don't most NASCAR teams use it? Ferrari, McLaren, Renault & others do not use it in F1. Most indy car & champ cars don't.

N2 is real cheap & dealers make 1000%+ profit on it. We buy 50 lbs of liquid N2 at a time for cooling our x-ray for only $10.00.

[Clipsed]

why pay for it? I get tanks of it for FREEEEEEE!!!

[Fahaka]

um...guys...

The air is 78% nitrogen.

This sounds like a total scam. I'd say we all have nitrogen in our tires...duh!

[Urq]

The local CostCo does it for free!

[DP]

Your 100% correct. That $40.00 could have gone to a lot of things like gas. However If I got a 12v pump and put it in the 19 year olds car it would not have made her check the tires. Most people don't do it. Now she will have safe tires until her next service where the Tec will check it and add nitrogen if necessary when he changes the oil and checks everything else. I’m reading this right from the brochure. “30,000 people are injured every year do to under inflated tires” That alone makes it worth $40.00 to me. She gets the car serviced the same times as before maybe 5 month. Now it may only need a little in the tries instead of 3 to 4 lbs. She’s safe and that makes me feel better. $40.00 well spent. I got mine free with a 30,000 mile service. The wife got hers for free for making an on line appointment for service on her Tahoe. Look at what we spend on our cars to make them look better or get 3 more HP. $40.00 for peace of mind. No brainier. If you can get it free or for less money great it cant hurt. My tires stay inflated longer than before and if the other stuff is true we’d all be safer, tires will last longer and we save gas. The only down side is the money however out of 3 cars I only had to pay for 1. I plan to continue to using it. I know this is nuts but I think the car rides better too.

DP

[CARI0CA]

$20 to $40 for nitrogen? Holy crap! I wonder how much they make from that bottle they are selling from? Yes, your tires stay inflated @ proper pressure longer (one of the reasons aircraft have it in their tires) & I BELIEVE that the gas are less sensistive to temperature changes as well.

But regular air is FINE. You SHOULD be checking your tires more than once every oil change. Too many people drive a car & have NO idea how to change a flat. Some countries include that in the drivers road test! AND mandate a WORKING fire extingusher (checked @ annual state inspections) as part of the vehicle's safety equipent.