Walmart raised tire install to $15. For tires not bought from Walmart, it's $25

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Those prices are in line with regular tire shops, almost completely wiping out the price advantage that Walmart has. The $15 for tires purchased at Walmart is almost the price of a normal shop's fee, and the $25 for non-Walmart tires is way above almost any shop's tire install charge!

A year or two ago, Walmart only charged $5 extra for non-WM tires. Since that time, they have been charging $10.

I know they have to raise their fee because of all the big no-profile tires, but it sucks for people that have reasonably-sized tires with real sidewalls. If you have 18-inch wheels with 30-series tires like most cars of the past few years, then Walmart is still a bargain

Some people may still prefer to buy their tires from Walmart because they use proper torque and not overtightening the lugs unevenly with an air gun like most shops do, and ordering your tires from Walmart is very easy. Walmart may still be a good value if you use directional tires, as you do get free lifetime balance and rotation, and those free rotations do include the flip and remount for directional tires. A very high percentage of winter tires are directional, including Nokian's R-series (studless) winter tires, and also many of the budget performance summer tires.

And remember, Walmart's third-party marketplace tires are charged the extra $10 fee for non-WM tires as well. So, if you buy your tires from Walmart, make sure that the seller is listed as Walmart or walmart.com (you can filter this out from the sidebar)
 
At those prices I'd rather go to a place that doesn't take hours to change a couple of tires...like Walmart does.
 
I went to Pepe Boyz years ago with a 1998 Contour, and I was there 1/2 a day getting 4 tires. One tire was WAY out of round or balance dismounted 2 times before the manager did the job and got it acceptable.

Times in shop ALL depends on day and time and tech - though im sure some shops don't care about your wait times.
 
Originally Posted by pbm
At those prices I'd rather go to a place that doesn't take hours to change a couple of tires...like Walmart does.



LOL Just the other day, a friend was complaining how long it took WM to replace just one tire. I told her, "If you were in a hurry, you went to the wrong place!" Having said that, the local TLE here does pretty good work. You just have to go in prepared to wait a while.
 
I will pass. The two times I used them for tires they were the most disorganized tire shop I ever used. They did do a good job of balancing the tires. I prefer a local Family owned tire shop that has great customer service and does good work.
 
I doubt that Walmart is concerned about a huge revenue drop that may come from this pricing policy change. $15/tire for install still seems lower that many places plus their tire prices are usually lower as well.

I did get pricing from them for installing/programming TPMS sensors that I bought and they were the best price around, well, next to Sam's Club. We do have a Sam's membership so I realize that that's not an option for all people.
 
Just paid $16 at the local WalMart, to have a broken standard 50 cent rubber stem replaced.

Thankfully, it was convenient.

Maybe they're wanting to get out of the TLE business... so they're going to raise their prices to the point that they run everyone off.


The last two trailer tires I had mounted, the manager wanted to charge me "carry-in" prices to mount... even though the tires still had the shipping labels on them... clearly marked as being from a place called "Wal-Mart".

Not the sharpest knives in the drawer, for sure.
 
My most recent visit to W*M, their charge was ~$18/tire to bring in my own tires. This gets you 1X valve stems, lifetime balance/rotation/free flat repairs, disposal of your old tires w/o the NY State surcharge of $2.50/tire.

$25/tire is a bit on the expensive side however, many places charge more than that($35-$50/tire) and you have to take back your own old tires as they will not dispose of them for that same price. Weather you'll receive the same bal/rot, flat repair depends on the cost and the shop. Sometimes you get nothing extra.
 
Originally Posted by mrsilv04


Maybe they're wanting to get out of the TLE business... so they're going to raise their prices to the point that they run everyone off.

There used to be a TLE a 10 minute drive from me - but it got remodeled out in favor of a store expansion.

I think WM policy is not to sell tires via Ship to Store to non-TLE locations, but I saw someone pick up a pair of Hankooks not too long ago. He probably had someone put them on for $10-15 in the 'hood.
 
Originally Posted by nthach

There used to be a TLE a 10 minute drive from me - but it got remodeled out in favor of a store expansion.


It wouldn't surprise me if there is more of this over the next decade. I don't think they really want to be in the Automotive Service business anymore. It's just extra liability. I once read that someone sues Walmart every 20 minutes.
 
We have two sets of 4 tires each on rims for our Impala, a summer set of 4 and a winter set of 4 (Bridgestone Blizzaks). I have them changed at Pep-Boys for free the beginning of winter, and when the winter is over, with rotating front to back/back to front keeping them on the same side. Pep-Boys writes it up as a tire rotation and they do it for free even though the tires were not bought there. I buy my oil and filters from Pep-boys, I figure I owe them one for the free mountings.
 
I'm not surprised. Call me crazy but I expect the price on everything to go up with time. Something about the dollar being less and less all the time.

I already have a HF tire changer and can do simple steelies, assuming not too big. Just need to find a cheap dynamic balancer to go with it. At a set of tires per year I'm not sure I'll get ahead, but it might be nice to try.
 
What does it take to install a set of tires, 20 minutes or so? If that is correct, $25 translates to $75 an hour. Enough for a shop owner to make a living, not enough to get rich.
 
I bought a good set of used tires (70% tread) from a reputable salvage yard. I had WM mount and balance them. That winter, I also bought a set of winter tires. I had WM mount and balance them. Lifetime rotate and balance. WM was charging $10 per tire to mount, costing me $40 plus tax each season to change them out. Figured that was cheaper than buying an extra set of rims and Tire Pressure Sensors. If WM has raised their prices, it will not be economical for me to have them mount tires anymore. I will continue to have the lifetime Balance and Rotate. If that is a case, a new/used set of rims will have to be in the budget.
 
Originally Posted by otis24
I bought a good set of used tires (70% tread) from a reputable salvage yard. I had WM mount and balance them. That winter, I also bought a set of winter tires. I had WM mount and balance them. Lifetime rotate and balance. WM was charging $10 per tire to mount, costing me $40 plus tax each season to change them out. Figured that was cheaper than buying an extra set of rims and Tire Pressure Sensors. If WM has raised their prices, it will not be economical for me to have them mount tires anymore. I will continue to have the lifetime Balance and Rotate. If that is a case, a new/used set of rims will have to be in the budget.

Yeah, I finally broke down and bought a second set of wheels so I wouldn't lose so much money. Last time it actually cost me over $80 after tax as balancing was added separately to the $10 mounting charge. So I was basically paying $160/year to do tire swaps. I purchased a set of Steelies from a yard in Spokane and had them deliver them to my former workplace for like $220 after tax. Once you account for the time it takes to have Walmart do it, I figure they will have paid for themselves after I take the winters off again next year, which would have normally been two mount+balance charges between now and then. With this price increase, its a no brainer.
 
Originally Posted by SeaJay
What does it take to install a set of tires, 20 minutes or so? If that is correct, $25 translates to $75 an hour. Enough for a shop owner to make a living, not enough to get rich.

Have you ever installed tires before? Guessing not.

If you're knocking out 4 tires mounted and balanced in 20 minutes, you'd make plenty of money - you might even be worth $75/hr!
 
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