Online Tire Dealers Are A Threat?

[WylieCoyote]

I used to order from TireRack & Ebay, but it reached a point where I was saving nothing by the time I dealt with the hassle of delivery, hauling them to an installer, and paying to have them mounted. Discount Tire just build a store just blocks from my house, so I no longer have to sit there, or arrange for a ride....I just walk home. Lifetime balance and rotations, combined with their proximity to my house make it a no-brainer.

 

[SirTanon]

1 - Brick and mortar tire shops have a limited inventory. Discount Tire Direct / Tire Rack / etc.. generally work out of one or more warehouses/distribution centers. Even if both carry the exact same lineup of tires, odds are fairly good that the brick and mortar DT near me will not have a set of the tires I want in stock when I need them.

2 - Online shops generally carry a MUCH larger range of tire brands and tire models than the brick and mortar shops do. When I bought the Cooper RS3-A tires for my Fusion back in 2014, the brick and mortar DT shops near me did not have it available, but Discount Tire Direct did, and at a terrific price. I ordered a set of 4 and they were delivered to my front door the next evening.

3 - I bought the tires from DTD and brought them in to my local DT brick and mortar store for mounting and balancing. If I remember right, i paid $15 each for mount and balance, and bought the road hazard warranty on all 4 tires there as well. I'm pretty sure they made enough money to cover their costs and make a little money. FWIW, I never actually had to use the warranty, as no tire ever was damaged beyond repair.. I think I had one tire get a screw in it, but they were able to patch it without issue.


If any shop were to quote me $225 to mount and balance tires.. or even try to charge more like the Firestone that Chris142 mentions, I'd tell them to go pound sand. That's just greed and/or being petty. I'd have to think they're doing that because they know they're only going to get 1/5 (or less) of the people they quote that price to, and figure they'll get a little extra cash in the process.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted by WylieCoyote
I used to order from TireRack & Ebay, but it reached a point where I was saving nothing by the time I dealt with the hassle of delivery, hauling them to an installer, and paying to have them mounted. Discount Tire just build a store just blocks from my house, so I no longer have to sit there, or arrange for a ride....I just walk home. Lifetime balance and rotations, combined with their proximity to my house make it a no-brainer.

^^this^^

I did the same some years ago with my Corvettes and did not come out ahead. Discount Tire gets my business. They are doing a 5 wheel balance and rotate on my Rubicon as I type this.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by WylieCoyote
I used to order from TireRack & Ebay, but it reached a point where I was saving nothing by the time I dealt with the hassle of delivery, hauling them to an installer, and paying to have them mounted. Discount Tire just build a store just blocks from my house, so I no longer have to sit there, or arrange for a ride....I just walk home. Lifetime balance and rotations, combined with their proximity to my house make it a no-brainer.


Huh? Tirerack will ship to an installer.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by SirTanon
1 - Brick and mortar tire shops have a limited inventory. Discount Tire Direct / Tire Rack / etc.. generally work out of one or more warehouses/distribution centers. Even if both carry the exact same lineup of tires, odds are fairly good that the brick and mortar DT near me will not have a set of the tires I want in stock when I need them.

2 - Online shops generally carry a MUCH larger range of tire brands and tire models than the brick and mortar shops do. When I bought the Cooper RS3-A tires for my Fusion back in 2014, the brick and mortar DT shops near me did not have it available, but Discount Tire Direct did, and at a terrific price. I ordered a set of 4 and they were delivered to my front door the next evening.

3 - I bought the tires from DTD and brought them in to my local DT brick and mortar store for mounting and balancing. If I remember right, i paid $15 each for mount and balance, and bought the road hazard warranty on all 4 tires there as well. I'm pretty sure they made enough money to cover their costs and make a little money. FWIW, I never actually had to use the warranty, as no tire ever was damaged beyond repair.. I think I had one tire get a screw in it, but they were able to patch it without issue.


If any shop were to quote me $225 to mount and balance tires.. or even try to charge more like the Firestone that Chris142 mentions, I'd tell them to go pound sand. That's just greed and/or being petty. I'd have to think they're doing that because they know they're only going to get 1/5 (or less) of the people they quote that price to, and figure they'll get a little extra cash in the process.



+1

I used Costco once (never again). I've learned that tire shops in my area typically can't get the tires I need so I just have TireRack ship them to my favorite location and they do the install. Especially when I'm dealing with a partial set or an un-repairable.

 

[dareo]

Originally Posted by JTK
~$80 for 20min worth of work.


The only way to get 4 tires done in 20 minutes: Older, small car, Honda Civic with steel wheels and no hub caps. Can just lift straight with a drive over lift and rip the wheels off. You already had the tires staged and ready to go by your machines. You rip the old valve stems out because its not TPMS or anything to worry about. The tires are small, light, big sidewalls, like 185/65/14. The wheels aren't bent. You are good at your job and motivated at the time. You really work fast and know what your doing. There are zero issues with any lug nuts, rust, ect.

In this magical perfect scenario 4 tire mount and balance in 15-20 minutes can be done, even with proper torque applied. I've done this before. I've also had tires that take an hour for one.

People in general are so cheap when it comes to their tires. Its literally the most important thing on your vehicle and they don't even know the first thing about them.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by Virtus_Probi
Originally Posted by Chris142
Local Firestone quoted me $320 to mount and balance my carry in tires.

WOW!!!
Anything special about these tires?!?!?

The indy tire shop I prefer to patronize charges $100 to mount/balance carry in tires, but it's included if you buy from them.
If they can dig up a set of tires I'm interested in and their price is within $50 of the total price I'd pay buying from TireRack and then paying them the $100, they have my business.
The last time I didn't buy from them was when I also wanted to get a set of winter wheels so I could put my snow tires on myself...the shop couldn't even come close to the price I could get for a decent set of alloy rims from TR and a bonus was the units were shipped already balanced.
When it's just tires, I almost always go with the shop I like.

Nope. Just regular stuff. They said it was to cover their loss. They lost more than that as I will never go there for any reason because of how I was treated.

 

[nthach]

The tire makers are also starting to consolidate distribution. TBC(Big O/Midas) and Michelin consolidated their distribution and Bridgestone did the same as well. It could be part of an effort to stave off Amazon(but I still see tires for sale there). TireRack does some distribution to the dealers along with Dealer Tire. The indies don't see Costco, TireRack, America's Tire/Discount Tire or even Walmart in the same eye as they do with Amazon.

Local shops are selling Chinese tires for the same price as a name-brand on TireRack or even a Costco promo. Tires are low-margin and on my most recent visit to Firestone for an alignment on the parent's van, they pushed a cheaper tire probably because the margins are slightly higher. Dealerships and shops servicing high-end brands buy high-end tire machinery because they know their customers will gladly pay and the OEMs require it(especially Hunter GSP9700 balancers).

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by SirTanon
1 - Brick and mortar tire shops have a limited inventory. Discount Tire Direct / Tire Rack / etc.. generally work out of one or more warehouses/distribution centers. Even if both carry the exact same lineup of tires, odds are fairly good that the brick and mortar DT near me will not have a set of the tires I want in stock when I need them.

2 - Online shops generally carry a MUCH larger range of tire brands and tire models than the brick and mortar shops do. When I bought the Cooper RS3-A tires for my Fusion back in 2014, the brick and mortar DT shops near me did not have it available, but Discount Tire Direct did, and at a terrific price. I ordered a set of 4 and they were delivered to my front door the next evening.

3 - I bought the tires from DTD and brought them in to my local DT brick and mortar store for mounting and balancing. If I remember right, i paid $15 each for mount and balance, and bought the road hazard warranty on all 4 tires there as well. I'm pretty sure they made enough money to cover their costs and make a little money. FWIW, I never actually had to use the warranty, as no tire ever was damaged beyond repair.. I think I had one tire get a screw in it, but they were able to patch it without issue.


If any shop were to quote me $225 to mount and balance tires.. or even try to charge more like the Firestone that Chris142 mentions, I'd tell them to go pound sand. That's just greed and/or being petty. I'd have to think they're doing that because they know they're only going to get 1/5 (or less) of the people they quote that price to, and figure they'll get a little extra cash in the process.



+1

I used Costco once (never again). I've learned that tire shops in my area typically can't get the tires I need so I just have TireRack ship them to my favorite location and they do the install. Especially when I'm dealing with a partial set or an un-repairable.


Costco didn't have the tire for my car in stock, but they just order them and they were in the store in a couple of days. Same as ordering from Tirerack. Like all locations, there are good ones and bad ones. Mine seems to be pretty decent and pretty much lots of people end up going there. A couple years ago when I got them, their install was $15 which included 5 year road hazard, lifetime rotation and balance. At the time they were running a $70 rebate on a set of 4 tires and also 1 cent install. They still do that, every few weeks it seems they switch between a Bridgestone promo and a Michelin promo.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted by nthach
The tire makers are also starting to consolidate distribution. TBC(Big O/Midas) and Michelin consolidated their distribution and Bridgestone did the same as well. It could be part of an effort to stave off Amazon(but I still see tires for sale there). TireRack does some distribution to the dealers along with Dealer Tire. The indies don't see Costco, TireRack, America's Tire/Discount Tire or even Walmart in the same eye as they do with Amazon.

Local shops are selling Chinese tires for the same price as a name-brand on TireRack or even a Costco promo. Tires are low-margin and on my most recent visit to Firestone for an alignment on the parent's van, they pushed a cheaper tire probably because the margins are slightly higher. Dealerships and shops servicing high-end brands buy high-end tire machinery because they know their customers will gladly pay and the OEMs require it(especially Hunter GSP9700 balancers).


Not only are margins tight but they sit on (slowly) expiring stock in an ever increasing number of sizes and models. Tough business model!

We're past the time when corner gas stations had General 195/70R14 all seasons (and a few other common sizes) in case you got a flat on the road. We're "lucky" if they have used tires to get you down the road.

I got my own mounter/ balancer and would recommend it to everybody. "They" think they've got you when you need mounting services.

 

[geeman789]

Originally Posted by Chris142


Local Firestone quoted me $320 to mount and balance my carry in tires.



That is the shop saying no thank you, without actually saying no ... !

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by eljefino


I got my own mounter/ balancer and would recommend it to everybody. "They" think they've got you when you need mounting services.

I had access to a Coats APX25 and a Hunter GSP9700 back when I worked at the dealer as a job during school. I liked putting tires on and if I ever bought a house with a detached garage I could consider buying a rim clamp Coats and a basic spin balancer for laughs and giggles.

 

[02SE]

I can't stand carelessness and/or just incompetence. Over-torqued lug nuts, scratched and/or scuffed wheels. Not taking time to optimize the wheel/tire assembly, etc., etc.

So I buy car and truck tires from my buddy who mostly repairs high-end wheels at his shop, and use his equipment to mount and balance the tires myself. I pay him for the use of the equipment, and I get the job done right, with no stupid/careless damage.

 

[Traction]

How many people think they should be able to install a set of tires like what's on some of the late model vehicles in 20 minutes for $15 each, or less? I know mounting tires can be a tough job, for not nearly enough money many times. Like spending 4-5 hours just trying to get air to seat the beads on a 335/25-20 run flat, and after all that you still need to road force balance, and mount them on the car. And, that's if you don't have to do it all over again to index the tire on the wheel for a lower road force number. Every job you think will be no problem, their is always something to make it difficult, like just trying to get the [censored] wheels off the car, with swelled up lug nuts, the wheel frozen to the hub, corroded bead seats, wheel covered in mud, filled with tire slime, etc. Or, try and see how fast and cheap you could mount/balance a set of LT325/60-20 load range E tires. About killed me just trying to lift those 95 pound wheels/tires on to the balancer, plus they ate up about 4 pounds of expensive lead tape weights, and still have to torque up 32 lug nuts by hand to 150 ft lbs. I'm an online installer with a price quote of $15 on 60 series tires, which just isn't right for a 3 foot tall tire. Not bad on a 195-60-15 tire though. I would make more money if I paid someone to take their tires somewhere else a lot of times.

 

[Toros]

I get my tires from Tire Rack and get a $40 discount for picking them at their local to me warehouse. I had a flat from hitting a pothole this past summer, I took a few pictures and emailed them to TR warranty provider and received a check for the exact cost of a replacement tire including tax 10 days later. I get the mounted by my mechanic or a local used tire place...$65 mounted and balanced. That guys business model of charging over $200 to mount tires should effectively put him out of business in short order. Deservedly so.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted by Chris142
Local Firestone quoted me $320 to mount and balance my carry in tires.


Did that at least include lifetime balance and rotation?
California pricing?

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted by Traction
How many people think they should be able to install a set of tires like what's on some of the late model vehicles in 20 minutes for $15 each.


For the 175/65R14's that my Escort uses, with no TPMS, $10 per tire should be plenty.

 

[zzyzzx]

Not only are margins tight but they sit on (slowly) expiring stock in an ever increasing number of sizes and models.


They don't stock my sizes at the store any more. I have to wait at least overnight.

 

[IronMaidenRules]

Originally Posted by Chris142
Local Firestone quoted me $320 to mount and balance my carry in tires.

Did you tell them, "No no, I don't need the 'happy ending.' Just the tires mounted for the $80 everyone else charges."

 

[Saabist]

The original Bridgestone tires on the wife's 2017 Outback are getting a little thin (5/32" tread) at 40K miles so will probably replace them soon. Surprisingly the dealer's price with installation and taxes is lower than Tire Rack + one of their installers for the same tires.