Buy tires local, or get them online?
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Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
The way Tire Rack handles warranty is that they will ship you a tire and charge your account for it. You return the tire to them (I think at your expense) and when it arrives, they will determine if it is warrantable (or not) and credit your account (or not!). Needless to say, this can sometimes result in difficult situations.
PRECISELY why we do not buy from them. My DTD online rep shipped my replacement first, then worried about the follow up. Tire Kingdom has a relationship with them, otherwise I would not be a customer.
No problems with service after the sale.
The way Tire Rack handles warranty is that they will ship you a tire and charge your account for it. You return the tire to them (I think at your expense) and when it arrives, they will determine if it is warrantable (or not) and credit your account (or not!). Needless to say, this can sometimes result in difficult situations.
PRECISELY why we do not buy from them. My DTD online rep shipped my replacement first, then worried about the follow up. Tire Kingdom has a relationship with them, otherwise I would not be a customer.
No problems with service after the sale.
I've bought tires from discounttiredirect.com before. They have a greater selection of tires than the Discount/America's Tire stores themselves, and you can still have your tires installed there and maintain the warranty, since it's still within the same company. I've only done this once though, since I can usually find a good selection and a good price locally, which I prefer to do. Sometimes the smaller family-run places can have a greater selection than the bigger stores too.
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
PRECISELY why we do not buy from them. My DTD online rep shipped my replacement first, then worried about the follow up. Tire Kingdom has a relationship with them, otherwise I would not be a customer....
Just a correction. Discount Tire Direct is the online arm of Discount Tire / America's Tire. Tire Kingdom is a competitor and not part of Discount Tire. Tire Kingdom is owned by Sumitomo. Discount Tire is privately owned.
But there are several companies that have names very similar to Discount Tire and they are sometimes confused.
PRECISELY why we do not buy from them. My DTD online rep shipped my replacement first, then worried about the follow up. Tire Kingdom has a relationship with them, otherwise I would not be a customer....
Just a correction. Discount Tire Direct is the online arm of Discount Tire / America's Tire. Tire Kingdom is a competitor and not part of Discount Tire. Tire Kingdom is owned by Sumitomo. Discount Tire is privately owned.
But there are several companies that have names very similar to Discount Tire and they are sometimes confused.
I've just had to go through this process of deciding to buy locally, or buy online, at either TireRack, or Discount Tire Direct.
3 sets of snow tires were involved, for 3 different vehicles, in 3 different sizes.
My RX-8 uses 225/45-18 tires, and are not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination. My gf's Fiat 500 is brand new, uses 195/45-16 tires, and are pretty much impossible to find a snow tire in this size at all. Her PT Cruiser uses 195/65-15, and is the easiest and cheapest of the vehicles, and made life much easier that way, but sometimes too many choices can give you a headache.
Anyway, for the RX-8, I compared online venues only. TireRack vs Discount Tire, and Discount Tire Direct. Prices were comparable, but TR adds in shipping and tax, DT has only a $30 rebate Visa card, and DTD has a $30 plus a $40 rebate Visa card. So, DTD won out, as the overall cost was less than TR, and far below the cost of the local DT store. The $70 worth of Visa cards pretty much pays for installation.
The Fiat, on the other hand, was hard to find a tire for. We had to switch up to a 195/50-16 tire to get some good choices. Eventually, we settled on the tires offered by DTD, as the same $70 worth of Visa cards makes everything more economical. We're doing the same thing with her PT Cruiser tires.
So, shopping for tires at DTD saves us huge amounts of money on taxes, shipping, and with $210 in rebate cards, even gives us free install.
BC.
3 sets of snow tires were involved, for 3 different vehicles, in 3 different sizes.
My RX-8 uses 225/45-18 tires, and are not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination. My gf's Fiat 500 is brand new, uses 195/45-16 tires, and are pretty much impossible to find a snow tire in this size at all. Her PT Cruiser uses 195/65-15, and is the easiest and cheapest of the vehicles, and made life much easier that way, but sometimes too many choices can give you a headache.
Anyway, for the RX-8, I compared online venues only. TireRack vs Discount Tire, and Discount Tire Direct. Prices were comparable, but TR adds in shipping and tax, DT has only a $30 rebate Visa card, and DTD has a $30 plus a $40 rebate Visa card. So, DTD won out, as the overall cost was less than TR, and far below the cost of the local DT store. The $70 worth of Visa cards pretty much pays for installation.
The Fiat, on the other hand, was hard to find a tire for. We had to switch up to a 195/50-16 tire to get some good choices. Eventually, we settled on the tires offered by DTD, as the same $70 worth of Visa cards makes everything more economical. We're doing the same thing with her PT Cruiser tires.
So, shopping for tires at DTD saves us huge amounts of money on taxes, shipping, and with $210 in rebate cards, even gives us free install.
BC.
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
PRECISELY why we do not buy from them. My DTD online rep shipped my replacement first, then worried about the follow up. Tire Kingdom has a relationship with them, otherwise I would not be a customer....
Just a correction. Discount Tire Direct is the online arm of Discount Tire / America's Tire. Tire Kingdom is a competitor and not part of Discount Tire. Tire Kingdom is owned by Sumitomo. Discount Tire is privately owned.
But there are several companies that have names very similar to Discount Tire and they are sometimes confused.
What are you correcting?
Their relationship is well documented, they are simply a recommended installer and thus give discounts to mount tires purchased from DTD.
As stated previously this frequently gives them a chance to sell alignments, etc.
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
PRECISELY why we do not buy from them. My DTD online rep shipped my replacement first, then worried about the follow up. Tire Kingdom has a relationship with them, otherwise I would not be a customer....
Just a correction. Discount Tire Direct is the online arm of Discount Tire / America's Tire. Tire Kingdom is a competitor and not part of Discount Tire. Tire Kingdom is owned by Sumitomo. Discount Tire is privately owned.
But there are several companies that have names very similar to Discount Tire and they are sometimes confused.
What are you correcting?
Their relationship is well documented, they are simply a recommended installer and thus give discounts to mount tires purchased from DTD.
As stated previously this frequently gives them a chance to sell alignments, etc.
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
What are you correcting?
Their relationship is well documented, they are simply a recommended installer and thus give discounts to mount tires purchased from DTD.
As stated previously this frequently gives them a chance to sell alignments, etc.
Sorry, but "relationship" sure sounded like more than a "Recommended Installer". Thanks for clearing that up.
What are you correcting?
Their relationship is well documented, they are simply a recommended installer and thus give discounts to mount tires purchased from DTD.
As stated previously this frequently gives them a chance to sell alignments, etc.
Sorry, but "relationship" sure sounded like more than a "Recommended Installer". Thanks for clearing that up.
I wouldnt even have a clue where I would get tires like the ones I have locally without paying out the nose. DTD and TR FTW.
DTD slightly more than TR, though. I like their service and prices better.
DTD slightly more than TR, though. I like their service and prices better.
What I do is shop online and then find a store that has the tires I want.
I've purchased tires online 3 times now. Tirebuyer.com is what I used because they have free shipping most of the time. I saved a bunch compared to Tirerack.com. I started out looking online and then found the tires I wanted at local shops and compared out-the-door prices. I made alot of phone calls checking prices before buying online but went that route because it was cheaper. The other thing to do is get a quote on the install of the tires from a few different places. I checked about 5 places and found a brake shop that'll install my tires for about $12 apiece. Most places want your business and will beat a competitors price so don't be afraid to tell them you can get it done cheaper somewhere else. That's what I did. Even with the additional $48 for install I'm still getting my tires cheaper by buying online. You really have to shop around though and do your homework, there are some good deals out there if you take the time to look. But honestly, most times it will cheaper to just buy from a dealer because of the shipping costs and install price. But like I said, Tirebuyer.com usually has free shipping and then it's up to you to find a place to do the install. Put in a little extra research time and you can save some $.
I buy my tires at the local Firestone shop. I pay a few dollars more per tire (which can add up), but I trust the shop and they have an alignment rack. Even when they're faced with a car that has 410k miles on it, they don't have the urge to sell me ball joints, bushings, shocks, etc.
I've not had good experiences with franchise places like Les Schwab; I brought a flat repair into them once (I didn't even know they did repairs for free). They told me the sidewall was cut and the tire was unrepairable. I KNOW the tire wasn't cut when I brought it in.
I've not had good experiences with franchise places like Les Schwab; I brought a flat repair into them once (I didn't even know they did repairs for free). They told me the sidewall was cut and the tire was unrepairable. I KNOW the tire wasn't cut when I brought it in.
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Originally Posted By: leeharvey418
Originally Posted By: JustinH
Its nice to save that 8.75% on a few hundred bucks.
Yeah, it would have been nice to save the almost $60 that I paid in sales tax for the Nokian WR G2 SUVs on the RAV4, but Tires By Web is in Lansing...
I drove from Ypsi to their store in Owosso to get the Vredestein Quatrac-3 tires mounted/balanced/installed on my wife's car for the same price as they would have shipped them to me, then I would have had to find a local place to do the extra work for extra money. The gas cost less than the local labor.
Originally Posted By: JustinH
Its nice to save that 8.75% on a few hundred bucks.
Yeah, it would have been nice to save the almost $60 that I paid in sales tax for the Nokian WR G2 SUVs on the RAV4, but Tires By Web is in Lansing...
I drove from Ypsi to their store in Owosso to get the Vredestein Quatrac-3 tires mounted/balanced/installed on my wife's car for the same price as they would have shipped them to me, then I would have had to find a local place to do the extra work for extra money. The gas cost less than the local labor.
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
I've bought tires from discounttiredirect.com before. They have a greater selection of tires than the Discount/America's Tire stores themselves, and you can still have your tires installed there and maintain the warranty, since it's still within the same company. I've only done this once though, since I can usually find a good selection and a good price locally, which I prefer to do. Sometimes the smaller family-run places can have a greater selection than the bigger stores too.
Can you confirm you save the sales tax this way? And also that your local store would take complete care of you if there was any issue ie return the new tires for you for free, get new tires in. In other words they would do the same for you as if you had purchased the tires from them directly?
I discovered Discount Tire Direct after I'd already gotten America's Tire to price match the lowest internet price I found. Was kicking myself that I paid the sales tax on $800 worth of tires.
I've bought tires from discounttiredirect.com before. They have a greater selection of tires than the Discount/America's Tire stores themselves, and you can still have your tires installed there and maintain the warranty, since it's still within the same company. I've only done this once though, since I can usually find a good selection and a good price locally, which I prefer to do. Sometimes the smaller family-run places can have a greater selection than the bigger stores too.
Can you confirm you save the sales tax this way? And also that your local store would take complete care of you if there was any issue ie return the new tires for you for free, get new tires in. In other words they would do the same for you as if you had purchased the tires from them directly?
I discovered Discount Tire Direct after I'd already gotten America's Tire to price match the lowest internet price I found. Was kicking myself that I paid the sales tax on $800 worth of tires.
Personally, I've bought tires online and get the local tire store warranty taken care of due to defect, but I go to a franchise of the same chain (Just Tire, which is good year, for my Dunlop defect).
My plan usually involves getting the tire installed at Walmart anyways, so regardless of where I buy the tire from I probably will be on my own, and have factored in this risk when I buy online.
My plan usually involves getting the tire installed at Walmart anyways, so regardless of where I buy the tire from I probably will be on my own, and have factored in this risk when I buy online.
"I've just had to go through this process of deciding to buy locally, or buy online, at either TireRack, or Discount Tire Direct."
Me too. I have a local shop that I like very much but do not give much business to. I drive Hondas and do all the routine maintenance myself so I usually only go to them for inspections and (every few years) tires.
So, I went to my mechanic and asked him about the tires he sells (primarily Nokian). While I love their snow tires, I was a bit tepid about their all-season tires (fair to poor experience a decade ago). They were honest with me and said their experience with recent Nokian all-season tires was somewhat disappointing. They recommended I buy Bridgestone Ecopia tires from Tire Rack and have them install them. They said their profit margin was very close to buying them directly from the anyway.
So, I just bought 4 Bridgestone Ecopia tires for the Civic from Tire Rack and had them mount and balance them. But when I buy my snows (Nokian Hakka Rs) in another 3 weeks, I will buy them directly from my mechanic.
Me too. I have a local shop that I like very much but do not give much business to. I drive Hondas and do all the routine maintenance myself so I usually only go to them for inspections and (every few years) tires.
So, I went to my mechanic and asked him about the tires he sells (primarily Nokian). While I love their snow tires, I was a bit tepid about their all-season tires (fair to poor experience a decade ago). They were honest with me and said their experience with recent Nokian all-season tires was somewhat disappointing. They recommended I buy Bridgestone Ecopia tires from Tire Rack and have them install them. They said their profit margin was very close to buying them directly from the anyway.
So, I just bought 4 Bridgestone Ecopia tires for the Civic from Tire Rack and had them mount and balance them. But when I buy my snows (Nokian Hakka Rs) in another 3 weeks, I will buy them directly from my mechanic.
I am facing this now as I am looking at buying 4 new tires. The major tire places in my area are Les Schwab, Commercial Tire, and Big O Tires. I have not tried negotiating, but this is pricing on the tire I am looking at.
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus 245/45/18. At DTD $283 each, free shipping. Total OTD without Road hazzard - $1132.00 (No Sales tax, free shipping).
Email I received from my Local Big O:
"Once again i would like to say thank you for your intrest in Big O Tires, I would be glad to assist You once again in your intrest in OUR tires.
Michelin- $421.95 each (4)=$1687.80 casing disposal $10.00 tax=101.86 total=$1799.66"
DIFFERENCE OF $668 !!!
Not sure if I will go with this tire, but heard it is a great one.
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus 245/45/18. At DTD $283 each, free shipping. Total OTD without Road hazzard - $1132.00 (No Sales tax, free shipping).
Email I received from my Local Big O:
"Once again i would like to say thank you for your intrest in Big O Tires, I would be glad to assist You once again in your intrest in OUR tires.
Michelin- $421.95 each (4)=$1687.80 casing disposal $10.00 tax=101.86 total=$1799.66"
DIFFERENCE OF $668 !!!
Not sure if I will go with this tire, but heard it is a great one.
Troyh,
I would go with DTD, as on top of the much lower price, and free chipping, and no tax, you also get a $30 Gift card if you fill out the online rebate form, and submit it.
Then, when you get the tires, and the gift card a week or two later, you can take both to your local tire shop, and have the tires installed, and use the gift card to decrease the price by $30.
I did this recently with 3 sets of snow tires purchased for my household's 3 cars. My RX-8 cost about $80 for the tires to be installed, and I got $70 back in gift cards, so installation for my car was $10 after everything was said and done.
If you searched all their offerings in that 245/45-18 size, there's a couple that on top of the $30 gift card, there's also a $50 gift card, so you would wind up with $80 in your pocket, which should cover install fully.
BC.
I would go with DTD, as on top of the much lower price, and free chipping, and no tax, you also get a $30 Gift card if you fill out the online rebate form, and submit it.
Then, when you get the tires, and the gift card a week or two later, you can take both to your local tire shop, and have the tires installed, and use the gift card to decrease the price by $30.
I did this recently with 3 sets of snow tires purchased for my household's 3 cars. My RX-8 cost about $80 for the tires to be installed, and I got $70 back in gift cards, so installation for my car was $10 after everything was said and done.
If you searched all their offerings in that 245/45-18 size, there's a couple that on top of the $30 gift card, there's also a $50 gift card, so you would wind up with $80 in your pocket, which should cover install fully.
BC.
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