Should I Fill My Car's Tires with Nitrogen?

LJF999 on 19/04/2018 - 14:55

So this morning I brought my car to the dealer for the 1st 15k service, since I bought this car from the dealer the first service is complimentary.

I was pretty happy it wouldn't cost me anything.

I just received a call from the dealer's service department says my car will be ready to pick up at 4:30pm and it is in good shape blah blah, and the only thing is the tires need to fill with nitrogen gas, which will cost me $50.00. On the phone I asked does this necessary the guy responded yes this is recommended. I said ok.

After I hang up, I started to thinking do my tires require to fill with nitrogen? As we know, 78% of air is nitrogen so when inflating tires 78% come out from the compressed air will be nitrogen. Is it worth to spend $50.00 to fill the tires where I can get it for free with normal compressed air?

Is it just a sales trick they try to recover something from the complimentary service?

If the nitrogen gas is better for the tires, is 50.00 is a reasonable price?

My car is a mid to large size SUV with 20 inches wheels.

Automotive Tyre

Comments

    • lozbargain on 20/04/2018 - 19:36

      It's at the store, next to the elbow grease

      • buckster on 22/04/2018 - 10:34

        And the tartan paint

  • garetz on 19/04/2018 - 19:29
    +2

    You should of used that $50 to add red pin stripes to your car, it makes it go faster.

    • D C on 19/04/2018 - 20:19

      I can add some speed holes for free.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2018 - 20:11

    Didn't know SUVs were competing in the F1. Those race slicks get extremely hot. I wouldn't risk it with regular air.

    • Charity on 20/04/2018 - 17:53
      +2

      to be fair, F1 is joke too these days.

  • theguru1 on 20/04/2018 - 08:00
    +1

    Just check and make sure your tyres are at the correct inflation regularly will be of more benefit.

  • BayeuxGeorge on 20/04/2018 - 09:30
    +35

    $50 to fill your tyres?? That's inflation!!

  • Rod888 on 20/04/2018 - 10:08
    +1

    I have had nitrogen in my tyres for a few years now and the tyres do not lose pressure that much compared with air. Jax Tyres do refills for free and even pump them up for you when you go. It's a good way for them to keep an eye on tyre wear and great marketing.

    • Euphemistic on 20/04/2018 - 10:44
      +1

      How often do you top them up? I'm interested as my tyres don't seem to lose that much on common garden variety air. I would only top them up every couple of months - or after I've been beach driving and let all my precious nitrogen out.

    • SlickMick on 20/04/2018 - 13:29

      How much air are you losing? I thought tyres only lose air when there is a problem?? Tyres on current cars haven't had a single top up - unless the get done at inspections or when car gets serviced. Now you have me wondering whether I need to be checking more often!!??

      • macrocephalic on 21/04/2018 - 11:07

        You probably should check them every few months. It's a good money saver as tyres which are inflated correctly will wear slower, and you'll know sooner if there's a problem. Our new car actually actually has a tyre pressure monitor on the dash (not auto inflation though).

  • frugalbat on 20/04/2018 - 10:13

    if you must, go to Costco, I'm pretty sure they charge much less than that. To me, however wouldnt matter that much and there are better ways to spend $50 haha

  • [Deactivated] on 20/04/2018 - 11:23

    Waste of money.

    If the have already done it they are supposed to put green valve caps on.

    • JF999 on 20/04/2018 - 14:29

      yeah, they put red valve cap on.

      • twinbag on 20/04/2018 - 15:44
        +11

        Now everyone can see you fell for the scam.

  • gres on 20/04/2018 - 13:35

    any questions on car dealers, this bloke can help, a bit long winded but accurate,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCnWvMleVD0

    • Euphemistic on 20/04/2018 - 14:07
      +2

      I'm not going to cllick the link, but if it's John Cadogan from Auto Expert, where aussies save thousands on their next car, he is long winded but also a prat and shameless self promoter.

      • Baysew on 20/04/2018 - 14:29

        Took one for the team. It is John Cadogan.

        First sentence was "Paying to put nitrogen in your tyres is a scam"

        Stopped it at that point. Someone else can watch the rest of the 17 minute clip.

      • lang_tu_syd on 21/04/2018 - 19:07

        I'm actually OK with him promoting his broker business given that he has provided a lot of unbiased information, advice with non BS approach. He certainly knows what he's talking about unlike the army of arm chair experts out there.

        • Euphemistic on 21/04/2018 - 19:20

          Yeah, but his unbiased opinion is certainly biased to stroke his ego whether his info is accurate is open for discussion. His rants are typically not backed up with science or rigorous testing and he can’t be bothered creating an informative video that uses his own footage either.

  • OzzyOzbourne on 20/04/2018 - 13:47

    Lmgtfy

  • elgrande on 20/04/2018 - 14:01

    Chalk it up to experience.

    • Euphemistic on 20/04/2018 - 14:05
      +2

      How much for the chalk? I'd recommend the premium low dust chalk. Only costs 62% more, but it's worth it.

      • elgrande on 20/04/2018 - 15:35
        +1

        Dust is a key factor in considering a chalk based investment. Some people, myself included, prefer the powdered texture of a dusty chalkboard.

  • syousef on 20/04/2018 - 14:50
    +3

    Money saving tip: Time to stop trusting dealers.

    How would you even know he put nitrogen in the tyres??

    This article explains supposed benefits.
    https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a3894/4302788/

    Personally I don't see you saving $50 in fuel and tyre wear out of this "trick". I'd call this a scam.

    I'm not the only one:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCnWvMleVD0
    https://autoexpert.com.au/posts/top-10-reasons-why-nitrogen-…

  • Djfhsd1 on 20/04/2018 - 16:14

    So, what exactly do they mean by 'complimentary'?

    • retiredfeline on 20/04/2018 - 16:26
      +1

      "Nice tyres. Shame to put oxygen into them. Might oxidise something" 😉

  • kmwa on 20/04/2018 - 16:59
    +2

    Just another scam with a massive dealer mark-up.
    Relative permeabilities of gases through rubber relative to hydrogen are:
    0.16 Nitrogen
    0.22 Air
    0.26 Argon
    0.45 Oxygen
    0.65 Helium
    1.00 Hydrogen
    2.90 Carbon dioxide
    about 50 Water Vapour
    So it is true that nitrogen will leak through the wall of tyres slower than any other gas.
    But the oxygen in air used to fill tyres will leave the tyre three times faster than the nitrogen, leaving mainly nitrogen behind. And the CO2 and any water vapour will also permeate out quickly, leaving essentially pure nitrogen in the tyre. So why pay to fill it with pure nitrogen, when the tyre will finish up filled with pure nitrogen anyway?
    It's clear that the water in compressed air issue is also a furfy. Air compressors take out liquid water but may deliver some water vapour. But this will permeate out of the tyre over a hundred time faster than the air or the nitrogen.
    The data is from a scientific paper from 1920 and relates mainly to "modern rubberized balloon fabric".
    https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ScientificPapers/nbsscient…
    We ought to do a class action on this. At the very least, the auto industry should have a code of conduct on these scams, taking advantage of naive motorists.

    • syousef on 22/04/2018 - 00:48

      It won't leak quickly enough for the composition to change much. Difference is about 1 PSI/yr.

  • All Blacks NZ on 20/04/2018 - 17:40

    I decided not to get nitrogen at my store. I think most stores who sell it, charge about $6-$10 per tyre. After taking to a lot of people in the industry, I got the impression that it's more of a money maker rather than having any real world benefits for average consumers. The nitrogen molecules are larger than oxygen so there is a less chance of it leaking out blah blah blah. Check your tyre pressure once a month or every couple of months.

    Another advice would be to check your spare every few months and learn how to change your spare tyre. The number of times I see a good tyre ruined because it was driven on flat is too high. The tyre may only have a nail in it and would have been an easy fix but had it's side wall damaged because it was driven on flat.

  • redslert on 20/04/2018 - 18:49

    Tyres leak air due to the valve.
    It is not magic and the valve is not designed at atomic level tightness.

    LOL it doesn't matter what type of gas you use to fill your tyres, it will leak.

    • D C on 20/04/2018 - 19:05

      Tyres leak air due to the valve.

      They don't when you put the special red caps on. They make the types spin faster too.

  • [Deactivated] on 20/04/2018 - 21:43
    +2

    someone asked Dr Karl this and he said if you were a formula 1 driver and were looking for anyway possibly to squeeze even 1/10th of second improvement then nitrogen would be of benefit to you.

    • Lucky13 on 21/04/2018 - 09:21

      Lol Dr Karl, always enjoyed his radio show +1

    • Euphemistic on 21/04/2018 - 07:16

      Yeah. Already linked twice.

      • GregMonarch on 21/04/2018 - 22:40
        -1

        Sorry didn't read the thread - just the OP's initial post. I wouldn't even buy tyres from a place that sold this snake oil. If they can't be trusted to tell the truth on this, then I certainly can't trust them their tyre recommendation or how tight they do up my lug nuts.

  • doctordv8 on 21/04/2018 - 08:17

    $50. Was this a Nigerian workshop? Thanks for the laugh.

  • myusername on 21/04/2018 - 08:24

    try helium it makes them even lighter

  • D6C1 on 21/04/2018 - 09:19

    Lol at OP.

  • MelCheapo on 21/04/2018 - 10:03
    +1

    You should tell your Dealer that Nitrogen is a poor mans inert gas and you only fill your tyres with Argon.

  • imahapyboy on 21/04/2018 - 10:07
    +1

    who knows, they probably using 2nd hand Nitrogen lol

  • cashless on 21/04/2018 - 10:30

    I breathe out pure nitrogen (my lungs keep all the oxygen when I inhale ), so for 5 bucks you coulda bought my halitosis for your tyres

    • dealman on 22/04/2018 - 07:37

      Technically impossible that's why cpr works :) we only use a small percentage of oxygen on every breath so there's still a ton of oxygen left in what we exhale

  • Schezwon on 21/04/2018 - 10:55

    Never been offered nitrogen at any tyre places, so why get it from a dealership… Only benefit is a F1 car.

  • DiscoJango on 21/04/2018 - 11:47

    1990's life: fill tyres for free every few months

    2018's life: pay $50 to fill tyres so you dont have to waste 2 minutes every few months filling your tyres for free. my 2 minutes is valuable dammit!

  • Cartman2530 on 21/04/2018 - 12:19
    +1

    The air you breathe is about 78% Nitrogen anyway. These are just money making scams to get less informed customers.

    I'm surprised they don't ask to top up your blinker fluid and change the muffler bearings too!

  • GMANagan on 21/04/2018 - 15:26
    +2

    If it's not too forward of me to ask…

    Should we as a community be naming and shaming these dealers who try to con people?
    Perhaps the best way to promote an auto service industry that does not prey on more naive car owners is to reward dealers who practice honorably, and to out dealers who prey on a lack of understanding.

  • Cheeper on 21/04/2018 - 16:19

    In short no. It is just value adding… and not necessary.
    Just like when they call you and say your wiper blades need replacing or do you want your injectors cleaned on your car with 10,000km on it. Rip off..

  • wtfnodeal on 21/04/2018 - 16:22

    If spare tyres included then it is a bargain. Well done OP for keeping the dealership service centres stay rich. Next time when they ask if you want to use filtered water to wash your car for $100 extra make sure you say yes.

    • syousef on 22/04/2018 - 00:50

      haha gold!

  • SpotTheOzzie on 22/04/2018 - 00:02

    No.

    Source: Raced Go-Karts, we used nitrogen because there's less variance of tyre pressure when cold/hot.

    So if I filled up at 18psi, ran 2-3 laps it would go to 19-20psi. This is great for racing to reduce the disadvantage of having cold tyres on the first 1/2 laps.

    In a road car, this doesn't matter mate. Seriously do not pay the $50.

  • Squidmcsproggen on 22/04/2018 - 00:16

    Unless your car drives at 30,000 feet their is no need for it

  • Karsta on 22/04/2018 - 07:01

    The only use for Nitrogen in tyres is in Mining eg: Dump Trucks, water carts etc….. it’s to keep tyres Cool.
    Seriously I can’t believe dealers are Still pulling stunts.
    Report these scam artists.

    You will help many others just like you. All the best.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/04/2018 - 09:52

    Take a deep breath in. Done? That's ~80% Nitrogen.

    Don't waste your money.

  • antler on 22/04/2018 - 10:59

    Dry air already has 78% nitrogen. It's an easy way to milk money for the tire fitters.

  • doubleclutching on 23/04/2018 - 08:16

    I suggest you fill up with helium, I am running helium on my corolla. Feels like the car has extra suspension..is very nice.

  • skillet on 23/04/2018 - 09:57
    +3

    So let me recap the money sucking tactics these crocs use while you have your car in for your 'free' servicing..

    Lightbulbs
    Wiper blades
    Wiper fluids
    Engine flush
    Power steering flush
    Brake job
    Wheel alignment
    Injector clean
    Air con clean
    Tyres rotate
    Tyres low thread
    And now Nitrogen fill

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