Originally Posted By: FZ1
Different strokes. Makes no sense,to me,to buy tires by mail. Get them at a local dealer with free rotations and a warranty proration when they wear out early.
Your are correct indeed...For yourself!
Several of us in my circle(buddys, BIL's, nephews etc.) actually enjoy
searching for the best tires for ourselves/family and their driving style, vehicle and weather conditions that we experience.
We love
the savings($120-$150 for 4 tires) and the fact that we're getting better tires for the same or less money than we can only get on lesser quality tires localy. I have mentioned this prior to now.
We can still get all of the things that others have mentioned as-far-as lifetime balance/rotation/prorating etc. It just has to come out of the money we saved, lessening the total savings but, the saving is still there. We'd still have saved, oh, let's say...$70-$100. To many, that's alot of money still!
A person has to weigh wheather or not they'll need many of the services offered when buying localy. I for one, have never been able to take advantage of a pro-rating, have never destroyed a tire causing me to use the RHW, seldom in 40 years of driving do I ever get a flat, causing me to use the "FREE" flat repair service.
Oh sure, I have experienced flat tires(nails) and sidewall damage causing me to replace a tire prematurely but, it was always on a tire that came on a used car that I bought privately or nearing the end of the tires life anyway or even on a car that I bought new(OE tires) but, the tire warranty for those things had expired anyway.
Ya know, many of the serveice such as pro-rating(a joke IMHO, where I live) and RHW have expireation times/years/miles. These things don't last forever or for as long as some people can own their tires, the time eventually runs out. And then if you try to take advantage of for example, the pro-rating, it always seems to be a fight with the tire store manager/sales rep. NO MORE FOR ME, I'M NOT DEALING WITH THESE GUYS ANY LONGER! Others have better experiences than I.
With all of the money I/we have saved over the years by not paying for all of these extra services, if I have to eat one tire in my life(pay out of pocket), so be it! It has not happened yet as I usually just get 4 new tires when I need'em.
I'll do my own tire rotations(thank you) when it's convienent for me(when doing brakes or checking out a noise or "whatever") because this is what I/we do(hobby amongst many other things). We work on our own vehicles.