Does buying from Tire Rack make sense any more?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
May 6, 2005
Messages
11,895
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
I remember years ago I crunched the numbers and figured that I was saving a reasonable amount buying from Tire Rack, even accounting for the shipping and higher costs of installation.

However, the shipping costs seem to be higher than I remember. A set of 4 used to ship for about $25. Now I'm getting a quote of $60. The prices also don't seem to low enough to offset the shipping (even if sales tax is accounted for), especially when lots of tire shops will price match. Add to that included road hazard warranties, lifetime rotations/balancing, etc from purchasing/installing at the same place.

I suppose buying something like a full mounted set might make sense. I thought they didn't charge extra for the mounting/balancing.
 
I have my local tire shop match price to Tire Rack (or other competitors). When I first started to price match, they would make me add in the price for shipping. Now it's close enough in price where they will just match straight up. My guess is that the tire market is getting that much more competitive; more national players and the pricing is getting tight.
 
I appreciate being able to use their website for research. I specifically remember their multi-page spreads in auto magazines, and that the times I bought from them were typically by phone. The strange thing with them is that online they have brick and mortar competition that I find competitive since they can give complete out the door prices.

Locally I have Big O, America's Tire (Discount Tire), or Costco able to price/order tires online. Maybe they don't have all the same resources, but that's not going to stop people from using Tire Rack to compare and then check out other places with a more local presence. I got my last set of tires at Costco, where I could at least find out the price of the tires. Before that, I ordered from America's Tire online and got them installed at a physical location where the tires were held.

I suppose they still have a decent business. I'm wondering what kind of business they do these days. I remember I could save a bunch with pricey tires - enough to justify the costs. However, other places seem to be more competitive these days.
 
that's the benefits of competition, be it online or local (costco, etc.)

customers who shop smart can usually spot good deals from various different sources, and make buying decisions accordingly.

Q.
 
The onlinetires.com is in So Cal, they have many brands lower than most online sites. I get their low price without shipping, because they are local, and get America's Tire matches the price. That way I get the low price and good service.
 
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I remember years ago I crunched the numbers and figured that I was saving a reasonable amount buying from Tire Rack, even accounting for the shipping and higher costs of installation.

However, the shipping costs seem to be higher than I remember. A set of 4 used to ship for about $25. Now I'm getting a quote of $60. The prices also don't seem to low enough to offset the shipping (even if sales tax is accounted for), especially when lots of tire shops will price match. Add to that included road hazard warranties, lifetime rotations/balancing, etc from purchasing/installing at the same place.

I suppose buying something like a full mounted set might make sense. I thought they didn't charge extra for the mounting/balancing.


they "used to" ship for $25, how long ago was that?
how big were the tires? (were the past ones 15's, and the new ones 20's, etc)
how much has the Dollar Devalued in the time since then?

almost everything costs more than it used to.

last time i bought tires, late oct.2012, was from tirerack.
at that time it cost me $42 to ship 4 185/60-15's. (just went on, and looked up the same tires, shipping would be $46.64 today., but the tires themselves are $6/ea cheaper...)
at that time, i knew what tires i wanted, shopped around for them, and found the best deal was through tirerack, with installation @ my local Ford Dealer.
(over all ended up being about $20 cheaper than having the Ford dealer source the tires, which were a 15 day special order for them. Tirerack was in stock, shipped same day, Ford dealer had them the next day.)
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/2782632/1
 
It depends, I like buying their close out tires on the cheap and those low profile tiles like 255/40-18 are cheaper online than in store.

I probably won't buy Corolla tires there however.
 
Who uses tirerack for purchases anyways.

Now...discounttiredirect...they get a purchase from me once a year.

Last set arrived mounted on wheels cheaper than just tires locally..300$ cheaper.

I make online retailers price match each other.

Dtd pricematches summit for wheels, amazon for lugs, and 4x4 sites for tires. Then add in rebates.
 
TR is sometimes the deal and it sometimes isn't.
When buying online, you really need to check a few different sites and compare the total cost, including shipping.
It also depends upon what you want.
If you know that you want a specific tire, it really easy to comparison price shop.
If all you want is something at a reasonable price, then it gets a little more complicated.
I've bought from TR within the last six months, since they offered the best deal.
 
Only tires I buy online are from DTD during any of their big holiday sales, next one in a month for the 4th. Any other time it isn't worth it anymore.
 
I just purchaced 4 Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S + from TreadDepot for less than TireRack and way less than DiscountTireDirect.

OTD tire cost for 4 tires was $76 less than TR and $152 less than DTD. And even WAAAAAY less than I could have gotten the P7's localy.

But, I still shop around between the 3 sites and my local stores for the best price. Sometimes TR wins on OTD Price!
 
Back in 2008, I purchased 4 14'' steel wheels with 4 general altimax snow tires mounted on them for $339 mounted and balanced for a Saturn Ion.

I drove those for 3 seasons, and sold the package for 250 dollars.

I have never seen a deal like that again.

If you are paying regular price on tirerack you aren't getting a deal.

But if you drive a corvette or something that needs special tires, it may be a good option to get the exact tire you want.
 
I recently purchased tires from Tirerack. The local tire stores were Out To Lunch, with absurd prices and fees.

I'm sure I could have purchased tires I did not want, from Costco, for a better deal. However..... That makes no sense. I have specific tire needs for my 400HP Honda S2000 turbo.

I got the tires on sale, with rebate. Shipping was $18 per tire, ugh. The local Tirerack installer charged me $100 to install all 4. Not exactly cheap, considering I brought the wheels to him, not the car. And it took him 18 minutes from start to finish.

When it was over, I spent $550 for $350 worth of tires.
 
I bought my yokohama snow tires from PMC tire out of Quebec. Local tire prices are nuts, as in $120-130/tire for 185/65R15's for the Chinese brands, Sailun, etc... Middle of the road would be $150 and X-ice's would be near $180.
PMC had the yokohama's for $108/tire with free shipping and Yokohama had a $70 mail in rebate which covered installation at my local garage.

I could've driven down to the Toronto area and got a similar deal to PMC but it would be a half day wasted, and atleast my mechanic got the work to mount the tires up. I'm sure he makes more money on mounting, than the actual sale anyways...
 
Their website is fantastic, and I guess *someone* has to buy from them to keep it going, right? I just can't bring myself to do it. I've never found a better deal at Tire Rack compared with local, at least for purchases that I've made.

I understand that UHP tires or other "niche" tires can be had for deals online. I've never shopped those categories, though.
 
TR doesn't seem to be a good deal unless you're buying premium tires.

For cheap / everyday tires, seems that the best value are the Chinese tires from small local chains or something from Tread Depot / Tires Easy / Discounttiredirect.

Last set of tires I bought in a store were the Winterfarce tires back in 2011. I have bought 2 or 3 sets online since then. Still cheaper to buy ,ship and bring somewhere to have mounted up.
 
If you live close to them (Chicago area), it's worth the trip to buy in person. Their facility is awesome, and they even loan the test track to car clubs on the weekend free of charge.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top