Ok So I need 4 new tires for my car. Anybody know a good place installed for under $250.

costco - free lifetime flat repair, balance and rotation

they are running a $70 off many makes right now

Shit, I just paid $1200 for a set of tires.


jacobson Wrote:
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> Ok So I need 4 new tires for my car. Anybody know
> a good place installed for under $250.

Go to Merchants.

A few months ago I bought my tires online. Brought them to "Just Tires" and they put me at the back of the line, said it would be done about 4pm (this was 10am), just because I didn't buy the tires through them. There were two customers in the waiting area, BTW.

Mind you, these tires were almost $200 less (for four) online. It worked out great, Merchants took my tires, balanced them and I got an alignment and still came out $115 ahead of what Just Tires was going to charge just for the tires and I got an alignment. I also didn't have to wait.

Merchants charged $58 for the stems and installation while Just Tires quoted $100 for four tires.

jacobson Wrote:
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> Ok So I need 4 new tires for my car. Anybody know
> a good place installed for under $250.


what size tire
what kind of tire
what quality/brand are you looking for?


i dropped $1000 on 4 performance all season 225/45/17 - at sears all warranty's etc
and i've spent $200 on 5 summer performance 195/60/14 from tirerack (+50 for mounting)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2009 02:32PM by bdimag.

go anywhere w/ the buy 3 get one free... if your wheels are small you might be able to swing $250 installed

I tried the big three

Tires Plus, Pep Boys, Merchants/NTB

NTB had the lowest quote

$43 each for 14 inch econo tires

$14 full Install each

Total a little over $250 but I can live with that

you might want to try costco...I hear they are very competitive

Seems everyone runs 4 for 3 specials pretty much all the time, depending on the tire featured.

______________________________________________
I have had to change the addresses to my retaliatory blogs over half a dozen times.

yea check costco if you're a member... and i always forget the 4 for 3 is for certain tires only...

also check tirerack.com - might get bit on the shipping though... and then figure in a quote from one of those shops for mounting them... i think it was like $45-50 at merchants; although i brought them the wheels and mounted them to the car later.

Tirerack.com has a list of shops that they will ship directly to. Those shops usually don't dick around with tirerack customers, and their prices for mounting, balancing and stems are usually listed on a big board behind the counter, so if they quote you something higher, just point up to that big board. Get an alignment at the same time, and they surely are not going to be petty about you buying the tires elsewhere.

I would just add that tires are an important and often overlooked/undervalued safety devicce on your car. The cheaper the tire, the less value -- from hydroplaning resistance, to dry/wet/ice/snow traction, to cornering, handling, ride comfort, noise, etc.

Look at the treadlife of each tire as a good cost comparison factor, in addition to the plain old price.

Tires cost a lot up front, but over the life of the tire, they end up being one of the cheaper expenses. When you divide the cost of the tires by the number of miles driven, you're talking about not even a penny per mile. Is your safety worth 1/2 a cent a mile, or only worth 1/4 cent per mile? (the difference between two 20,000 mile tires, one costing $100 and the other costing $50.)

Maybe you don't need Z rated tires. Fine, go with the H or V rated. But don't just buy the cheapest tire you can find. That's why tirerack.com is great, even if you don't actually buy the tires there. There's lots of reviews, research, help with terminology and explanations of tire rating codes, etc.

After hearing so many good things about Tirerack.com I'm going to have to relate my somewhat negative experience. Every message board I read about tires said Tirerack was the best, cheapest place to get tires so I didn't do my usual price comparisons. Even the dealer said 'Oh yeah, you can't beat them.' Found the tires I wanted and had them shipped to one of their listed installers. When I went to the website for the installer to schedule an appointment I searched for the same tires there out of curiousity and found I could have gotten them cheaper that way. That was Mr. Tire, btw.


Thurston Moore Wrote:
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> Tirerack.com has a list of shops that they will
> ship directly to. Those shops usually don't dick
> around with tirerack customers, and their prices
> for mounting, balancing and stems are usually
> listed on a big board behind the counter, so if
> they quote you something higher, just point up to
> that big board. Get an alignment at the same
> time, and they surely are not going to be petty
> about you buying the tires elsewhere.
>
> I would just add that tires are an important and
> often overlooked/undervalued safety devicce on
> your car. The cheaper the tire, the less value --
> from hydroplaning resistance, to dry/wet/ice/snow
> traction, to cornering, handling, ride comfort,
> noise, etc.
>
> Look at the treadlife of each tire as a good cost
> comparison factor, in addition to the plain old
> price.
>
> Tires cost a lot up front, but over the life of
> the tire, they end up being one of the cheaper
> expenses. When you divide the cost of the tires
> by the number of miles driven, you're talking
> about not even a penny per mile. Is your safety
> worth 1/2 a cent a mile, or only worth 1/4 cent
> per mile? (the difference between two 20,000 mile
> tires, one costing $100 and the other costing
> $50.)
>
> Maybe you don't need Z rated tires. Fine, go with
> the H or V rated. But don't just buy the cheapest
> tire you can find. That's why tirerack.com is
> great, even if you don't actually buy the tires
> there. There's lots of reviews, research, help
> with terminology and explanations of tire rating
> codes, etc.

So, dude's advice is.. shop around.

Pretty much, yeah.

RESton Peace Wrote:
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> So, dude's advice is.. shop around.

I am a long-time fan and advocate for Tire Rack, but have found recently that Mr. Tire is very price competitive for the same product. For example, a set of General Grabber HTS would be $425 delivered plus another $150 to mount and balance at Mr. Tire. Purchased directly through Mr. Tire the cost was $550 - not a huge savings, but I got an alignment for $40 instead of the usual $79.

My suggestion is to use Tire Rack for research, especially calling their advisors, and buying locally. The best part of Tire Rack is that it gets exposure to 'under the radar' brands like General and Kumho which tend to perform better at lower cost than comparable tires from Goodyear and Michelin.

I agree TireRack is an excellent store. I bought three pairs of Yokohamas from them for much less than what I would have found at an auto center.

three pairs... hmm.. either you have a car with six wheels (cool), or you have two spare tires (which will kill fuel efficiency... not cool)

RESton Peace Wrote:
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> three pairs... hmm.. either you have a car with
> six wheels (cool), or you have two spare tires
> (which will kill fuel efficiency... not cool)



I had an accident right after I replaced all four tires. The two in the front were ruined.

eesh Wrote:
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> I had an accident right after I replaced all four
> tires. The two in the front were ruined.


Is this for an all-wheel drive car? Unless the other tires were nearly new - less than 1000 miles or so - there is a strong recommendation to replace all four tires. My neighbor destroyed a tire on her Chrysler Pacifica after about 3500 miles and nearly ruined the transmission when she opted to replace just that one.

I've heard the same thing about awd cars....seems kinda strange

The issue seems to stem from how the AWD system links the front and rear wheels and minor differences in tread depth become a problem. At a minimum you should replace the tires in pairs.

This link from Tire Rack provides an explanation:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=18