Tire Store’s….. all the big stores pretty much the same in price?

[RK Racing]

Looking at getting some BF Goodrich all-terrain and it seems like all the big tire stores are pretty much the same in price. Is there really any difference from one tire store to another? Thank you for your reply.

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[HighVelocity]

Mount & balancing may differ as well as quality of service.

 

[CalvinT]

Mount & balancing may differ as well as quality of service.

That's the only real difference I've found. Some will nickle and dime you for disposal fees, valves, etc. Those don't show up in the advertised price. Also some are more liberal than others in how they interpret the road hazard warranty.

 

[MachOne]

I just bought a set of KO3's at Costco. Average price, but as previously stated by others, the incidentals are what makes a difference. I strongly recommend them, if you have one near you.

 

[SFChambers]

You also have to look at road hazard warrantys, you may get one from a local shop but go outside of the area and get a flat. I stick to the national chains just for that reason.

 

[Valhalla]

Buy swamper E rated, no need for road hazard warranty.... You may never get balanced, small price!

 

[23OBX2.7]

Not an exceptional tire that warrants no discouting and highly likely can get takes offs cheap somewhere local at some point I personally just buy what ever premium brand and tier 2 has aggressive pricing from retailer that incl everything.

I find regional chains in person will discount on the spot, and then tire-rack has great deals occasionally but check date codes by tel.

 

[rdg04578]

Priority Tire is often the best price on line--local shop for mounting and balancing.

 

[chris harley]

Recently bought 5 315 KO2’s from Tire Rack for $355 each. They were significantly lower than anywhere else I shopped, I assume because they’re burning old inventory before moving completely to the KO3. In any case, I thought it was a great deal.

 

[GnormalGnome]

Looking at getting some BF Goodrich all-terrain and it seems like all the big tire stores are pretty much the same in price. Is there really any difference from one tire store to another? Thank you for your reply.

I prefer Les Schwab for tires. All-in pricing is comparable, warranty included, and they have highly trained techs. But they're a regional 'western U.S.' company, so not available to everyone.

Costco would be my 2nd choice.

Back in my serious penny pinching days, Discount Tire was my go to. Their initial price is always lower but then comes the nickel&dime stuff. One thing i would always do is book it and pay online, declining the add-on road hazard warranty. Then when at the shop, they would try and sell me the warranty again, but it always turned into a 50% off deal...pay for the warranty on 2 tires, they throw the other 2 in at no charge. Every. Single. Time.

IME, buying tires online (i.e., TireRack) and then taking them somewhere local for install is not worth it unless you're getting a crazy discount on price.

Good Luck!

 

[NCCarguy]

Always check Wal-mart for pricing. That tends to be where I find the best price, then I price shop that. Discount tire will match, but the balancing techs can sometimes be less than good at their jobs.

 

[Ramble_Offroad]

Some of the chain stores will price match if you ask and have receipts.

as others mentioned it’s the replacement warranty and ease of finding said retailer wherever you go that may differ.

I just buy tires online from simple tire and have them installed / balanced locally. I’ve never purchased a tire warranty as none of the chain stores carry anything I want.

 

[McG]

The tire companies set the price, the sales companies (discount tire) then decides what to sell them at, sometimes the tire companies can limit what they are sold at. If the tire company wants to discount the tire heavily they can force the sellers to offer the same discount but its not always the case.

If you see a non-namebrand type tire at a place like Les Schwab its most likely an inhouse brand from a generic tire maker. All name brands will essentially be the same pricing with the same marketing at all the sellers. In my experience in-house brands are good for fiscal reasons and nothing else.

 

[dgorsett]

For the last several sets of tire I bought I have used Walmart.com. You get to browse every brand of tire, sometimes directly from Walmart, sometimes third party. Sometimes tires will ship to your local Walmart sometimes to your home. Regardless I have Walmart mount and balance, I have never had a problem. I get 5K rotations. The other advantage is there is a Walmart everywhere If you need a repair.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

For the last several sets of tire I bought I have used Walmart.com. You get to browse every brand of tire, sometimes directly from Walmart, sometimes third party. Sometimes tires will ship to your local Walmart sometimes to your home. Regardless I have Walmart mount and balance, I have never had a problem. I get 5K rotations. The other advantage is there is a Walmart everywhere If you need a repair.

Lots of good points in this thread, but I wanna call this one here out - because it's absolutely true.

There's a Walmart everywhere, and a majority of them anymore have a tire/service center. They typically will do mounting and balancing for free IF you are buying the tires there. They're not any cheaper than anywhere else, BUT if you travel you've got a good bet you're gonna be able to get service done on them if you need it. I've used them before, and their service department is usually pretty decent, surprisingly. And clean.

Local shops are, as noted, usually better in the service department but not always, and any road hazard warranty you get that isn't backed by one of the name brand tire companies is going to be limited in range. That can be a concern for people who travel a lot.

The other thing I'll point out is that, typically, if you can wait a week or two, just about every tire shop can order in the tires you want. Sure, you won't get a deal on them, but it'll be the going rate that you're going to get quoted everywhere else, or close to it. Generally speaking I'll hit up Tire Rack and review tires, see what sizes are available, see what the ratings are on the tires I want, then contact a local store (big name or locally owned, doesn't matter) and have them order me in a set for installation. Usually a few days to a week and I'm dropping my vehicle off for new shoes.

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