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Tire Rack will give you the biggest selection, and you can read reviews from people who actually own the tires. I've bought three sets from them, however I usually have them shipped to my home and take them myself to the tire shop.
Why have them delivered to your place when the tire store will take them? they give you a call when they get there and you go in and have them installed.
You need a truck to haul them around yourself and a Solara ain't doing it.
I have a 6 year old Toyota Camry Solara convertible SLE which will need four new tires soon, according to the dealership, where I had it inspected and serviced a few months back. The dealership said they could get me 4 tires for over $700 (can't remember the exact figure, it was higher than $700 and possibly more than $800). I was told that my current tires would last through the end of the summer, but I shouldn't wait much longer than that.
Should I believe them and get the tires at the dealership, or buy them at another auto repair place or tire store? What brands would be the best? (I can't remember the last time I bought a new tire for the car, or where).
Costco offers tires at a good price; you may want to compare their prices to what your dealer is offering. Michelin is a good brand.
Why have them delivered to your place when the tire store will take them? they give you a call when they get there and you go in and have them installed.
You need a truck to haul them around yourself and a Solara ain't doing it.
Fwiw Ive personally fit 12 wheels and tires in a Solara before.. pretty sure 4 would work in a pinch..
But delivering to installer certainly makes sense..
I drove down the road a little, without seeing any Sears. I did see a Firestone Tire place, and drove right up. Luckily, they were open until 8 pm (by then it was about 4 pm); and they could get put new tires on while I waited, though they had to get the 4th tire from somewhere else. So I ended up buying 4 Firestone (Affinity Touring) tires, plus an alignment (they were out of alignment), for $590, which is less than either of the other two places. I will have to get my credit card credited for the tires I did not have put on my car, at Town Fair Tire, hope to do so on Monday.
I have 30 days to decide if I want to buy a lifetime alignment of the tires by any Firestone shop for $100. Not sure. Since, locally, a one-time alignment of the tires costs $75 to $90, it might be a good idea, unless one of the Firestone tires wears out before it's a year or so old...
Anyway, I appreciate the replies to my original post; thank you all very much.
Great that you found some tires at a reasonable price. Does that include a road hazard warranty where if you run over something you get a new tire for a discount price?
If you plan on keeping the car for several more years - like 3 or more, I would probably get the lifetime alignment. I have it on a couple of my cars and every time I take the car in for balancing and rotation of the tires,(twice a year or so) they double check the alignment. It is a good way to make sure you get the most life out of your tires. You should get several years of wear out of those tires. And even if you replace them with other brands, the alignment is for the car's lifetime that you own it, not just the tires. Unless they've changed their policies or something. I bought the alignment on my Mustang back in 2002 or so, and haven't driven it in almost 3 years, so it has not been in for service in a while.
I set out to get my new tires today. I called Toyota and learned they would charge me $820 (including everything) for 4 tires. I thought that was a bit steep, so I called Town Faire Tires and found that they could sell me 4 Cooper Mastercraft tires (those are what they recommended) for about $630. So I got myself over there, and, to my horror, found that the Toyota-made thingie to allow the changing of tires/unlocking the wheel was missing. (I had had it the last time I went to Toyota for servicing) The Town Fair serviceman said he could sell me the tires and I could come back on Monday and he'd manually unlock the wheels and put the tires on. So I went ahead with the transaction and planned to go back to Toyota and buy another wheel-lock thingie so the Town Fair serviceman could lock up the wheels/tires properly after installing the.
Anyway, I appreciate the replies to my original post; thank you all very much.
The Cooper Mastercraft tires are the WORST tires I have ever purchased. I replaced the Bridgestone tires with them at the recommendation of my mechanic and have had nothing but problems. After 100 miles, a large bubble on one of the tires. On a second, there was a belt separation within the tire. While they replaced those two tires at no charge, I would not do it again.
In hindsight, I would have replaced the tires with the OEM tires.
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