Best place for 4 new tires?

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sunfire

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Sorry for this very general question. But I've never bought new tires before and I'm looking for guidance. Factoring in buy 3 get 1 free, mail in rebates, tire sales, I'm just wondering which places have the best prices on name brand tires like Goodyear Assurance, Michelin Energy Saver, and Yokohama AVID. Pepboys is out because they don't carry anything I recognize. I don't really need the lifetime flat, rotation, and road side services.

Where have you had good experiences dealing with competent garages that will put on the tire correctly. Do I need an alignment with the new tires? If this helps my car is a 05 Corolla (195/65R15). Looks like "Critic" just got x4 Michelin Primacy MXV4 for... $479 + tax.

Originally Posted By: The Critic
$126/tire * 3= $378
Fourth Tire = $1
Mounting and Road Force Balance= $20*4= $80
Wheel Weights and Disposal= $20
 
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Farther down the same thread this...
Originally Posted By: FZ1
Originally Posted By: sayjac
Sounds respectable. Of course, if I was looking, I'd get that quote in writing (or have DT call to confirm) and take it to DT for a price match. Be very surprised if they wouldn't match or beat that price. All mentioned after the sale services would be at least as good as dealer, likely better.

And, I'd rather deal with a dedicated tire dealer, especially when that dealer is DT, than an auto dealership.
+1. DT is the only way to fly,if you've got one close by.
And, no membership fee required.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/home.do
 
Costco did me right with the tires for my Golf (which are also 195/65R15 91H). Out the door with four new BFG Traction T/As under four bills, all taxes, fees, mounting, rotation, warranty/replacement guarantee, etc... inclusive.

If you're not a member of a warehouse club, I got Discount Tire Direct to match Tire Rack's price on a set of BFG Advantage T/As with shipping to a certified local installer (Mr. Tire in Baltimore). $360 for the tires, about $40 to install them and the new valve stems they sent along minus $60 rebate for a total of $340 out of pocket. These were also 195/65R15 91H tires as I have a set of Jetta (Avus) wheels on the New Beetle. And now that I'm back in the Land of Lincoln, I can have the local DT store rotate tires for free as well.

I tend to buy tires when they're on some manner of discount or have a worthwhile bundled deal, mail-in rebate, etc... Costco just had $70 off a set of 4 Bridgestones plus $30 toward mounting & other fees. I'll probably wait until this time next year for another set of tires on my Golf when they're running a similar deal.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Do you have any "wholesale" clubs nearby.... Costco, BJ's, Sam's?


Originally Posted By: scurvy
Costco did me right with the tires for my Golf (which are also 195/65R15 91H). Out the door with four new BFG Traction T/As under four bills, all taxes, fees, mounting, rotation, warranty/replacement guarantee, etc... inclusive.


I know someone that has a Costco membership. I have a BJs free trial membership somewhere. Do these wholesale clubs require you to keep your membership to honor their warranty and other services that come with the tires?
 
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Originally Posted By: sunfire

I know someone that has a Costco membership. I have a BJs free trial membership somewhere. Do these wholesale clubs require you to keep your membership to honor their warranty and other services that come with the tires?


Not sams and not likely anywhere else either.

I got Sams to fix my flat years after I gave up my membership. They even sold me a new tire because they couldn't fix the old one, prorated, without any surcharge or anything.

Last I looked into it, BJs was a terrible deal on tires. Sams was ok when I used them back in 2000 but their price advantage has lessened IMO.
 
I have several Discount Tires near me. Never used them. Do they (as a policy) use torque wrenches on lug nuts? The last idiots I had install tires (hello, Brothers Tire in Kannapolis!) used a pneumatic impact wrench, and each lug nut was literally in the ~300 ft/lb range of tightness.
 
Originally Posted By: sunfire
I know someone that has a Costco membership. I have a BJs free trial membership somewhere. Do these wholesale clubs require you to keep your membership to honor their warranty and other services that come with the tires?


From what I've seen at Costco, yes, they want your membership card every time you come in to get any tire work done. Maybe your friend could add you on to their account in exchange for a six pack of beer?

FWIW, I've been a Costco Executive member for over a decade and the rebate check every year more than covers the $100 fee (plus we get an additional rebate check from our Costco Amex). If there's one nearish, you might consider getting a membership.
 
Originally Posted By: glum
I have several Discount Tires near me. Never used them. Do they (as a policy) use torque wrenches on lug nuts? The last idiots I had install tires (hello, Brothers Tire in Kannapolis!) used a pneumatic impact wrench, and each lug nut was literally in the ~300 ft/lb range of tightness.


Yes, they use torque wrenches. Their impact wrenches are set low, maybe 50 ft lbs or so, then they tighten by hand. At least that's how they do it at my local store.
 
Originally Posted By: hate2work

Discount Tire, always done me good. Not always the cheapest, but always good service and good prices.


DT will also beat Wal Mart's on line price on like models.
 
Originally Posted By: glum
I have several Discount Tires near me. Never used them. Do they (as a policy) use torque wrenches on lug nuts? The last idiots I had install tires (hello, Brothers Tire in Kannapolis!) used a pneumatic impact wrench, and each lug nut was literally in the ~300 ft/lb range of tightness.
I've been to several DT stores and as said above, they torque every lug, every time. Lack of use of a torque wrench as standard practice is one of the reasons I gave up on local independent tire dealers. Since finding DT no reason to go back. fwiw, I'm familiar with Brothers Tire, a popular indy tire dealer in the area.

As far as DT/AT (not DTD) online pricing, it's like the sticker price on a car, just a starting point. With DT/AT you do your homework on pricing, gather lowest quotes from elsewhere including online pricing, then go to a DT store for a price match. For the installation services and service after the sale, it's worth it.
 
I put new Michelin LTX M/S tires on the pickup last April, and purchased them from Discount Tire Direct. I ordered them on Friday and they arrived Monday. A local shop charged $18/tire to mount, balance and dispose of the old tires.

The online price was cheaper than anything I could find locally (factoring in no sales tax and free shipping). Michelin also had a $70 rebate when 4 tires were purchased, bringing their per tire price down to within $3/tire of the cheapest tire that Discount Tire Direct had for my truck.

Discount Tire Direct was anywhere from $90-$150 less for the set than I could find locally.
 
My preferred method is to buy from TireRack, ship it to an INDEPENDENT and highly recommended installer and have them install it.
 
I've had excellent results with Discount Tire. I usually decide which brand and model of tires I want, then ask the DT guy how cheaply he can sell me those tires for. They look up the Tirerack price plus shipping, add mount & balance, and offer that price. I always decline their added insurance (which they call a warranty). This last time I printed up the very low price from onlinetires.com, and DT matched that.

Some of the shops, like my local Les Schwab tire store, use a torque wrench incorrectly. The right way is to watch the nut rotate and tighten until the wrench clicks. The wrong way is to just click the wrench on the nut (or rapidly click it several times) to merely confirm that the nut is as tight or tighter than the torque wrench setting. I want them tightened to the setting, not somewhere above the setting!

If your car needs its wheels aligned, it needs that work whether or not you're buying new tires. If the old tires wore out prematurely due to misalignment, yes, it needs it. If there is no improper wear, then it doesn't need it. Even a tire shop that doesn't do alignment usually has someone who can look at the tires and tell you if they are wearing improperly due to misalignment.

Get all four wheels checked when aligned. Some front wheel drive cars have alignable rear wheels, and these need to be checked. Even rear wheel drive cars should get a "thrust alignment" where the exact direction of thrust of the rears is determined and the fronts aligned to match that.
 
Originally Posted By: Ken2
Some of the shops, like my local Les Schwab tire store, use a torque wrench incorrectly. The right way is to watch the nut rotate and tighten until the wrench clicks.

That is a valid point; the fastener is supposed to be in motion when the torque wrench indicator goes off. But I'd take an incorrectly-used torque wrench over an impact-wrench-armed gorilla any day. It's as if these idiots don't know or care that those things can bend wheels and brake parts.
 
The Mazda owner's manual says 70-100 lb-ft, and my invoice from Discount Tire says 85 lb ft. Okay, actually it says something like 'LUG TORQUE: 085' but I'm comfortable that they split the difference. I watched them reinstall the wheels - the store manager (!) put the wheels on and hit them with the low-torque air wrench, then one of the techs followed behind and buttoned them down with the torque wrench. I almost got weepy over the fact that they actually cared enough to do it right.
 
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