No more Tire Rack purchases for me

[CJH]

I buy Kumho Ecsta tires from TireRack for my 2000 Honda Civic Si. My local Honda dealer mounts and balances them for $10. They do not charge me for disposing of the old tires. I have never had any balancing problems. I have done this for about 5 sets of tires and no problems. There are such thing as blems and seconds, but the tires I get from TireRack are first rate. Of course the local shops hate Tire Rack because Tire Rack is eating their lunch. I have never had my car realigned (80,000 miles on it) and it tracks fine and the tires wear evenly.

I don't think you can blame Tire Rack much for tire problems...they don't make them...they just sell them. Of course you can blame them for how they handle the problems.

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Originally posted by boone88rr:
It costs $20 per tire to have them mounted. Plus shipping charges. Plus the cost of a balance and alignment. Plus the cost of throwing away your old tires. In the end how much are you really saving? Anything? And you're recieving tires that have balancing problems. Hmmm, sounds like a great deal to me.

If you buy the tires from a local shop they give you a free alignment, mounting and balancing. There is more to it then just the price of the tires.

Lawsuits? Do you understand what a blemish is? The manufacturer simply can't sell them for full price. I didn't say "defective".

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[BrianWC]

Yup, Kuhmo's at tire rack are a great deal. I have a set that cost me $140 on my wife's Honda and I always paid 'bout $200 a set for the ones on my saab.

 

[FowVay]

I buy from the Tire Rack for several reasons. But the main reason that I buy from the Tire Rack is because I simply don't want the local tire garages touching my car.

They don't seem to understand what a lift point was intended for. Both of my cars have specific rubber pads used for lifting the car. Every garage in town just sets the car on the lower skin panel and calls it good.

They don't know how use a torque wrench. They believe that 200 lb/ft of torque is the minimum required to keep my wheels on.

They don't seem to understand that it isn't OK to lay the polished and coated outer surface of the wheel on whatever loose wrench or hammer they may have laying around. This scratches the surfaces and simply bugs the heck out of me. It's like getting door dings I guess.

I do my own balancing and pay the fee for tire disposal which runs $2,00 per tire in Georgia. So it costs me $8,00 extra every 60,000 miles for tires.

It is truly difficult to put a price on satisfaction. Of course that door swings both ways and if you're not satisfied with the transaction then it's difficult to justify mail-order when you've had a bad experience.

 

[Colt]

quote:

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Originally posted by FowVay:


They don't know how use a torque wrench. They believe that 200 lb/ft of torque is the minimum required to keep my wheels on.

It is truly difficult to put a price on satisfaction. Of course that door swings both ways and if you're not satisfied with the transaction then it's difficult to justify mail-order when you've had a bad experience.

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I was surprised that the Firestone dealer used a torque wrench on my Explorer.
As yopu said nobody does.
I've never seen anyone use a torque wrench on wheels before.

The Tire Rack does have some good prices.
If I ever buy from them again it will be a Bridgestone/Firestone product.
My problem was easily taken care by the Firestone dealer.
No hassle-Immediate replacement of tires.
I was stunned.
Maybe other tire stores lke GoodYear would do the same but I know Firestone backs their product even buying online from Tire Rack or Discount Tire.
Also the Firestone manager said he could come no where neart the Tire Rack price for the Bridgestone Dueler Alenzas.
He was amazed and then I of the $75 rebate I recieved too.
He was showing the Tire Rack paperwork to many of the serfvice guys.
He said the set would have cost me aound $150 more for tires and installation over what I paid for tires,installation and shipping.

 

[Dominic]

2 sets of tires, both in the performance catagory for my camaro and NO problems. ****, my M550s dont even flatspot like others noted.

I think for mainstream cars, going around town and getting a good deal is fine. For performance cars there is a lot to save on tirerack.

Btw, if you pay more than $10 to mount/balance you need to find another shop.

 

[rjundi]

SOrry about your bum luck.

I always have your fear of a bad set from tirerack.com . I have only had incredible luck from them.

I think if you live where there is little competition for tires they make sense. However in urban areas you can find prices reasonably in check with tirerack.com .

 

[Bamaro]

The tires you get from Tire Rack are no different than if you buy them from a bricks & mortar place.

 

[alreadygone]

For what it's worth,,,,

1.Been selling tires for over 30 years.
2.Been mounting and balancing for $10. ea (carry ins)For the past 15 years. Probably won't go up any time soon.
3.Sell blems(allways tell customer what they're getting) every chance I get to buy them. They're COSMETIC blemishes. Scrub one curb and you got a "blemish" tire.
4. Been using a torque wrench since "hubless rotors" (read FWD) became popular, approx 20 yrs.
5. If you are willing to give 3-4K for a quality balancer to set in your garage, you probably need the services foa good psychologist much worse than you need mine!
6. Anyone in the area wants to buy online and bring 'em to me for M&B, Come On!! Almost the same profit as when I sell and no inventory investment,or warranty **!

Bob

Bob

 

[dailydriver]

quote:

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Originally posted by alreadygone:
If you are willing to give 3-4K for a quality balancer to set in your garage, you probably need the services foa good psychologist much worse than you need mine!

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I was thinking the same thing (double that or more for the new "road force" units). But then we must remember where we are, this is BITOG after all, the epitomized home of automotive OCD maniacs!!

(BTW; I'm just as guilty as he is what with REDLINE oil!!!)

 

[VTEC01EX]

I buy from Tire Rack because the only tire guy I trust in my county doesn't sell tires on the premises. He works out of his home garage, but he torques everything to spec, lifts the car properly, balances perfectly every time, inflates everything evenly, and has no problem checking everything out again if something isn't right. Thankfully, I've never needed to test him on that last statement, because everything has always been right, down to the ft/lb or PSI. Every major chain has either tried to rip me off, done a **** poor mount/balance job, done a "courtesy inspection" and told me that my blinker fluid was low, or some other ********. I'm never going to an NTB/Tire Kingdom/Sears Auto/Pep Boys/Firestone ever again (in fairness Discount Tire has been better than average).

 

[FowVay]

Geez, if you guys think it's strange to own your own tire balancer then I certainly won't mention some of my other tools that I have in my garage.

I am very thankful that I'm in a position to own such equipment. I guess you'd think I was nuts for balancing my own crankshafts too?

 

[dailydriver]

quote:

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Originally posted by FowVay:
Geez, if you guys think it's strange to own your own tire balancer then I certainly won't mention some of my other tools that I have in my garage.

I am very thankful that I'm in a position to own such equipment. I guess you'd think I was nuts for balancing my own crankshafts too?

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If you balance enough setups, it becomes more than worth it. Even if you don't, given the thread starter's ongoing problems, maybe it is worth it even for infrequent balances.

 

[Thatwouldbegreat]

I have to say that tirerack.com and tires.com [ Discount Tire online ] both deliver excellent product and outstanding customer service.

If I had a problem like yours... I'd escalate the problem within Tire Rack and have them call tag the tires.

I would ask Tire Rack for a major discount on a wheel and tire package to make up for the problems.

Tire Rack will Force Balance the tires and you should have top notch results.

The shipping charges can be waived, the tires and wheels can be greatly discounted, and you can reasonably ask for free road hazard and a $100 discount on a future purchase.

I think the numbers should work out.

If you still have problems after this, then you have to look at alignment and suspension parts.

 

[vet]

There's no inherent reason to get an alignment when you buy new tires. If your old tires wore evenly don't waste the money.

 

[vet]

Forgot to mention, Costco's price on Hydroedge out the door beat Tire Rack's.

 

[Razl]

I've bought 4 sets of tires and two sets of wheels from the Rack. My Avons had a balancing issue. Local tech determined right rear tire was "out of round" with the Hunter balancer. New tire was shipped and mounted within 5 days...no additional cost or further issues.

I'm convinced most of the balancing issues are the fault of the tech, not the physical tire.

 

[Colt]

quote:

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Originally posted by Razl:
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I'm convinced most of the balancing issues are the fault of the tech, not the physical tire.

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I've found that to be the case with my problems.

 

[BrianWC]

I just picked up a Kuhmo Ecsta 711 at tirerack for $57. Then I went to get it balanced and found a practically brand new Michelin MXV4 (OEM) for my car tire mounted and balanced for $30 total. By the way, if you buy a new wheel/tire combo from tire rack and they come from the shreveport wharehouse, keep in mind they get them mounted and balanced at this same place I go for less than $5 per tire.

 

[bretfraz]

I'm with Colt - No more Tire Rack purchases for me.

In the past 18 months I've bought 14 tires from them, 10 of them Kumho truck tires for service vehicles. Of those 10, six of them have had tread separation issues. Two of the six have had the treads peel right off while driving. Think of the Ford Explorer/Firestone debacle and you'll get what I'm saying.

I called Tire Rack who gave me a call tag to send back the tires. After sending them back I received this notification:

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We have issued a credit of $48.14 toward your account as of today's date. If you paid in the form of cash or check, your reimbursement check will be sent in the next 14 days. If you paid with a credit card, the credit was issued to your bank with today's date.

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They said Kumho would not issue a credit or warranty the tires whose tread peeled off like a banana because there was no tread left for them to measure. The other tires that had bulges and obvious belt separation issues were included in that $48.00 refund.

I know this could have happened to any tire bought from anywhere, but one of the now obvious negatives of buying online or mail order is the lack of personal attention and involvement when a problem arises. I really feel if I'd bought these locally and had the same problem, the problem would have been handled more to my satisfaction. I have other job responsibilities than just fleet management so it's not like can sit around and harass Tire Rack to lean on Kumho.

I buy a ton of stuff from online vendors and as a consumer I love what the technology has done for me. But as a business person, there is a definite risk to buying items online. And now that I've been able to use TR's pricing as leverage to get a better price from local tire dealers, the real advantages to buying tires online are pretty slim from my vantage point.

 

[racer12306]

sorry about your luck.

ive bought two sets of tires from tirerack, both with great experiences. both sets were yokohamas. the price is great, even after shipping and mounting and balencing.

for example: my 2004 dodge neon comes with 185/60/15 Goodyear Eagle Ls tires. the biggest pieces of crap ever. it is also an oddball size. the local tire places only offer 3 different tires in that size, and they are all $400+ a set. i went to tirerack.com and started looking around. for $53 a tire i could get yokohama avid trz tires. this tire had great reviews, it was cheap and supposidly good in snow. so i bought 4 and had them shipped to my parents house, total: ~$260. then one day i put my car on my dads lift and threw the wheels with current tires and new tires in the back of the truck and took it to the local shop, ~$50 later i was all set. so for ~$310 i got better tires for my car. i saved ~$90, more if you factor in that the new tires are better.