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I always get our our tires from Costco - most competitive for quality tires (Michelins is my preferred brand) since I love quiet rides and car safety & comfort is my overriding priority.
Why not try a junk yard / scrap yard. They often have good tires from cars that been in wreaks. While not brand new, lots of the tires have plenty of wear left on them for a fraction of the price of new tires. Just take them to a shop to have them mounted / balanced on your car.
I thought about used tires, but I'm afraid with the safety issue....I read some stuff online that it might not be the best idea. Especially with everyone making the point that it is one of the most important parts on your car when it comes to safety.
Sears seems to have a decent price on the Hankook tires. Tire Kingdom includes installation for free with their tires which makes them the cheapest option, although they don't haev Hankook tires.
Maybe I'm just used to the $40 price tag I used to spend on my Honda and am just out of touch with reality. Just didn't think tires cost this much!
The fact of the matter is, tires are higher than they used to be. A couple of years ago the US added a hefty surcharge on tires imported from overseas in an effort to level the playing field and stimulate business for domestic manufacturers. I don't know if it worked or not, but it certainly increased the price tag of bottom-of-the-line tires.
I doubt you're going to find anything cheaper than $260 mounted and balanced.
I doubt you're going to find anything cheaper than $260 mounted and balanced.
I don't think that the $260 quoted ($65 per) could includ anything but the tires (if that).
As Kate is learning... the tire price itself isn't all there is to this project.
Mount/balance, stems, disposal, hazard warranty and of course sales tax are the basics.
After 43,000 and with all four tires going on she probably needs an alignment too.
Then there are the other common items that begin to show up between the 40's and 60,000...
brakes, shocks/struts or a control arm or other steering parts, mufflers, and so forth.
I don't think that the $260 quoted ($65 per) could includ anything but the tires (if that).
In post #4 she stated that that price included installation but not sales tax, and she was unsure if it included the tire disposal fee. I think her guess at the total ticket price was $320.
I've done both Discount Tire and Costco. The advantages to those are they take care of it for the life of tire and don't charge if you if something goes wrong.
If you're going for cheaper tires, I'd say Discount Tire since they have a bigger selection and give you the option to go online and order a specific type. Also, they do appointments so you can come anytime you want and they get it done in about an hour or so. Costco is first come first serve, so if you don't get there right when they open, you're there forever.
One point worth mentioning is that, like appliances, it's always worthwhile checking Sears. They may not be the cheapest but they always have a sale going on, so you could get a good price there.
Consider me in the "cheaper is not always better" camp when it comes to tires. There are so many options on the market though it can become really confusing in terms of what to buy especially when you are standing at the sales counter and they are telling you about some tire you have never heard of that is the "best" option. Just FYI, many times the cheaper tires have higher margins for the shops then more expensive tires. So, they don't mind selling you the $60 Pegasus over the $90 Firestone because they make more money on the Pegasus.
For that reason, I generally recommend you go to TireRack's website and research the options out there for your car. For the vast majority of people "All Season" tires are the best choice and select the speed rating that was the same as your OEM tires for your car. That will give you a list of maybe as many as 20+ tire options. Then, take their "rating number" which is on a scale from 1-10 and divide it by the cost of the tire. Whichever one comes out on top in that comparison is the one I would choose. For instance a "10" tire that costs $100 is better then a "9" tire that costs $95. Any ties go to the higher ranked tire. So, a $100 "10" beats a $90 "9".
Once you have the actual tire selected, start calling around to local places and asking for all-inclusive (tires, installation, disposal, tax, etc.) quotes on having those tires installed. From there, pick the cheapest option.
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