I've had wonderful success using TireRack and have ordered and recommended ordering many sets of tires from them. The savings have been considerable. However; I have noticed that in my area that the recommended top installers don't include rotating or are charging a $9.99 fee per tire to include. Since I usually rotate my tires, this offsets any savings by purchasing on-line. Sorry to discover that. Ed
TireRack
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costs rotation also includes free balancing
My local Town Fair Tire will beat any on line or local retailer deal. And since they stock the tires I'm looking for there is no delivery fee. And they also include lifetime rotation and a $49 four wheel thrust alignment if you need one. I find the best deal possible wherever, then bring it to TFT to beat.
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
My local Town Fair Tire will beat any on line or local retailer deal. And since they stock the tires I'm looking for there is no delivery fee. And they also include lifetime rotation and a $49 four wheel thrust alignment if you need one. I find the best deal possible wherever, then bring it to TFT to beat.
The only problem with them is that they don't offer life time balancing, just rotation. Places like BJ's and Costco do lifetime balancing and rotation. It's a free front wheel alignment. I just get the 3 year alignment warranty from Goodyear which is around $170.
My local Town Fair Tire will beat any on line or local retailer deal. And since they stock the tires I'm looking for there is no delivery fee. And they also include lifetime rotation and a $49 four wheel thrust alignment if you need one. I find the best deal possible wherever, then bring it to TFT to beat.
The only problem with them is that they don't offer life time balancing, just rotation. Places like BJ's and Costco do lifetime balancing and rotation. It's a free front wheel alignment. I just get the 3 year alignment warranty from Goodyear which is around $170.
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
My local Town Fair Tire will beat any on line or local retailer deal. And since they stock the tires I'm looking for there is no delivery fee. And they also include lifetime rotation and a $49 four wheel thrust alignment if you need one. I find the best deal possible wherever, then bring it to TFT to beat.
The only problem with them is that they don't offer life time balancing, just rotation. Places like BJ's and Costco do lifetime balancing and rotation. It's a free front wheel alignment. I just get the 3 year alignment warranty from Goodyear which is around $170.
My local BJ's doesn't own an alignment machine. So that was a biggie on my last 2 sets of tires going to Town Fair. BJ's had the best prices though...and TFT ended up matching/beating them.
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
My local Town Fair Tire will beat any on line or local retailer deal. And since they stock the tires I'm looking for there is no delivery fee. And they also include lifetime rotation and a $49 four wheel thrust alignment if you need one. I find the best deal possible wherever, then bring it to TFT to beat.
The only problem with them is that they don't offer life time balancing, just rotation. Places like BJ's and Costco do lifetime balancing and rotation. It's a free front wheel alignment. I just get the 3 year alignment warranty from Goodyear which is around $170.
My local BJ's doesn't own an alignment machine. So that was a biggie on my last 2 sets of tires going to Town Fair. BJ's had the best prices though...and TFT ended up matching/beating them.
I quit using the Tirerack.
High dollar tires like Michelin Pilots or Goodyear Eagle F1 series have a lot of markup. I have gone to tire shops and negotiated the same price vs buying them from the Tirerack and having someone install them. Discount Tire for one. Try it sometime.
High dollar tires like Michelin Pilots or Goodyear Eagle F1 series have a lot of markup. I have gone to tire shops and negotiated the same price vs buying them from the Tirerack and having someone install them. Discount Tire for one. Try it sometime.
I found that discounttiredirect.com has better prices when you factor in shipping. I love ordering online because I can research tires and pick exactly the one I want. No sales tax and you know exactly what you're going to pay and can compare prices without high pressure sales tactics. I have no need for lifetime balance/rotation, as I can do rotations in my driveway for free. Lifetime balance, to me, is a gimmick-- if the balance is done correctly, it should be good for the life of the tire.
Recently, Tirerack has opened up a distribution center in Denver, which has made shipping either free (if I spend an hours drive going to get them) or a few bucks a tire if they're shipped 70 miles to my door. I do have to pay Colorado state sales tax, which is 2.something percent, pretty reasonable. That has made Tirerack just as affordable as Discounttiredirect-- it's hit and miss depending on the tire.
I don't use any recommended installers, I take them to a local installer that charges about $10 a tire for mount/balance.
Recently, Tirerack has opened up a distribution center in Denver, which has made shipping either free (if I spend an hours drive going to get them) or a few bucks a tire if they're shipped 70 miles to my door. I do have to pay Colorado state sales tax, which is 2.something percent, pretty reasonable. That has made Tirerack just as affordable as Discounttiredirect-- it's hit and miss depending on the tire.
I don't use any recommended installers, I take them to a local installer that charges about $10 a tire for mount/balance.
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
My local Town Fair Tire will beat any on line or local retailer deal. And since they stock the tires I'm looking for there is no delivery fee. And they also include lifetime rotation and a $49 four wheel thrust alignment if you need one. I find the best deal possible wherever, then bring it to TFT to beat.
This is true, but bring a high tolerance for really bad customer service. Not sure about the Old Saybrook one, but I have a long history to 'putting the hate on them' from decades of one story after another. References on request. They hire people and give them no stake in the business and it shows.
Tire Rack has a CT warehouse; after adding up all the bother of ordering and picking up, or ordering and shipping and installing, it just wasn't worth it.
My local Town Fair Tire will beat any on line or local retailer deal. And since they stock the tires I'm looking for there is no delivery fee. And they also include lifetime rotation and a $49 four wheel thrust alignment if you need one. I find the best deal possible wherever, then bring it to TFT to beat.
This is true, but bring a high tolerance for really bad customer service. Not sure about the Old Saybrook one, but I have a long history to 'putting the hate on them' from decades of one story after another. References on request. They hire people and give them no stake in the business and it shows.
Tire Rack has a CT warehouse; after adding up all the bother of ordering and picking up, or ordering and shipping and installing, it just wasn't worth it.
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I've never found Tire Rack to be competitively priced on anything I've wanted to buy. I have bought from Discount Tire direct two or three times.
Now we have Discount Tire stores in my area, so I'm done ordering online for now. They'll match or beat anything, and during sales they're pretty much unbeatable.
Now we have Discount Tire stores in my area, so I'm done ordering online for now. They'll match or beat anything, and during sales they're pretty much unbeatable.
I always buy from Tire Rack. When my tires get close I start looking, and there is usually a high-end tire on mega sale. The trick to buying tires is to not be in a rush.
This last time I got 4x $300 tires for just under $600 to my door.
This last time I got 4x $300 tires for just under $600 to my door.
I have been using Tirerack for 15 years, and they have been excellent to me. Rather than spend hours trying to negotiate a price, and being subjected to bait and switch at the tire shop, you know exactly what you are getting. Most tire places will try to substitute another brand or model tire in place of your getting a Tirerack purchase, so they can make more money. But if you just move forward with Tirerack it saves a lot of time. The service writers are essentially well informed salesmen, and they have methods to try to sway you away from Tirerack to something that has higher markup: when they see your a Tirerack customer, they automatically know you are a well-informed consumer and probably an auto enthusiast, so they tend to back away from high pressure sales tactics.
Tirerack customer support is excellent: many years ago I had problems with Goodyear Wrangler RT/S LT tires on a Suburban. I kept getting a hard ride and what felt like out of balance, but I watched them balance it perfectly. I called Tirerack and spoke to customer support- they escalated it to a really good support rep, and he volunteered to pay for road force balancing of all 4 tires. My shop found that 3 of the tires were bad- way outside of the limits- its been a while but I think they said many of the tires generated 80-120 lbs force when the limit should have been under 20 lbs (correct me if I am wrong). So Tirerack replaced 3 of the tires, sent them out ASAP. My shop mounted those tires, and all 3 of those tires were also bad on the road force testing. They sent out 3 more tires, and a few of those were bad. At this point my Tirerack rep called Goodyear and forced the local rep to go out to my shop, and called Hunter and requested they send out a tech to verify the calibration of the Hunter GPS 9700 road force balance machine. The balance machine was found to be perfect, and the Goodyear rep validated the tires were in fact way out of spec. After about 7 days of this in and out of the shop, I finally got 4 good tires.
Now- this sounds like Tirerack was shipping me bad tires, but their reps went out of their way to help me, and they paid the shop for all of the labor. A few weeks later, the Tirerack rep called me back and informed me that Goodyear found a serious flaw in their factory that made this specific tire and size, and a sample of the tires found a high out of spec issue, along with a few other complaints from shops about "hard to balance, high vibration" issues. The problem was reported to me that "some machine that builds the carcass of the tire was improperly calibrated" and a large number of tires were bad: it was not a safety issue but ride quality issue due to irregularity of the tire carcass. I got the impression that it could have been as high as 1000 tires. They did a quiet recall of a large run of tires across North America, and refunded my original purchase price, and gave me a significant credit towards future Goodyear tires. The Goodyear rep called me and thanked me for my persistence as well.
I had a prior issue a long time ago with a major tire retailer , and the [censored] I had to fight with them over what was a very simple problem was extreme. Comparing that to the great service I got from Tirerack was wonderful. They helped me every step of the way, paid for everything and then some, and as a result also prevented up to a thousand other customers from suffering the same problem. The shop I deal with is a high end repair shop that does not stock tires but does have a road force balancing machine, so I consider them to be neutral observers.
TL;DR - had huge problems with tires, and Tirerack supported me and got the right people to investigate, and was instrumental in helping the manufacturer prevent a serious PR issue.
Tirerack customer support is excellent: many years ago I had problems with Goodyear Wrangler RT/S LT tires on a Suburban. I kept getting a hard ride and what felt like out of balance, but I watched them balance it perfectly. I called Tirerack and spoke to customer support- they escalated it to a really good support rep, and he volunteered to pay for road force balancing of all 4 tires. My shop found that 3 of the tires were bad- way outside of the limits- its been a while but I think they said many of the tires generated 80-120 lbs force when the limit should have been under 20 lbs (correct me if I am wrong). So Tirerack replaced 3 of the tires, sent them out ASAP. My shop mounted those tires, and all 3 of those tires were also bad on the road force testing. They sent out 3 more tires, and a few of those were bad. At this point my Tirerack rep called Goodyear and forced the local rep to go out to my shop, and called Hunter and requested they send out a tech to verify the calibration of the Hunter GPS 9700 road force balance machine. The balance machine was found to be perfect, and the Goodyear rep validated the tires were in fact way out of spec. After about 7 days of this in and out of the shop, I finally got 4 good tires.
Now- this sounds like Tirerack was shipping me bad tires, but their reps went out of their way to help me, and they paid the shop for all of the labor. A few weeks later, the Tirerack rep called me back and informed me that Goodyear found a serious flaw in their factory that made this specific tire and size, and a sample of the tires found a high out of spec issue, along with a few other complaints from shops about "hard to balance, high vibration" issues. The problem was reported to me that "some machine that builds the carcass of the tire was improperly calibrated" and a large number of tires were bad: it was not a safety issue but ride quality issue due to irregularity of the tire carcass. I got the impression that it could have been as high as 1000 tires. They did a quiet recall of a large run of tires across North America, and refunded my original purchase price, and gave me a significant credit towards future Goodyear tires. The Goodyear rep called me and thanked me for my persistence as well.
I had a prior issue a long time ago with a major tire retailer , and the [censored] I had to fight with them over what was a very simple problem was extreme. Comparing that to the great service I got from Tirerack was wonderful. They helped me every step of the way, paid for everything and then some, and as a result also prevented up to a thousand other customers from suffering the same problem. The shop I deal with is a high end repair shop that does not stock tires but does have a road force balancing machine, so I consider them to be neutral observers.
TL;DR - had huge problems with tires, and Tirerack supported me and got the right people to investigate, and was instrumental in helping the manufacturer prevent a serious PR issue.
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Originally Posted By: 92saturnsl2
I found that discounttiredirect.com has better prices when you factor in shipping. I love ordering online because I can research tires and pick exactly the one I want. No sales tax and you know exactly what you're going to pay and can compare prices without high pressure sales tactics. I have no need for lifetime balance/rotation, as I can do rotations in my driveway for free. Lifetime balance, to me, is a gimmick-- if the balance is done correctly, it should be good for the life of the tire.
Recently, Tirerack has opened up a distribution center in Denver, which has made shipping either free (if I spend an hours drive going to get them) or a few bucks a tire if they're shipped 70 miles to my door. I do have to pay Colorado state sales tax, which is 2.something percent, pretty reasonable. That has made Tirerack just as affordable as Discounttiredirect-- it's hit and miss depending on the tire.
I don't use any recommended installers, I take them to a local installer that charges about $10 a tire for mount/balance.
I guess my installers all balance incorrectly. Whenever-I have a re-balance and rotation, I always (without exception) find the ride smoother than before. AND-there is zero costs for this service after the initial install.
I found that discounttiredirect.com has better prices when you factor in shipping. I love ordering online because I can research tires and pick exactly the one I want. No sales tax and you know exactly what you're going to pay and can compare prices without high pressure sales tactics. I have no need for lifetime balance/rotation, as I can do rotations in my driveway for free. Lifetime balance, to me, is a gimmick-- if the balance is done correctly, it should be good for the life of the tire.
Recently, Tirerack has opened up a distribution center in Denver, which has made shipping either free (if I spend an hours drive going to get them) or a few bucks a tire if they're shipped 70 miles to my door. I do have to pay Colorado state sales tax, which is 2.something percent, pretty reasonable. That has made Tirerack just as affordable as Discounttiredirect-- it's hit and miss depending on the tire.
I don't use any recommended installers, I take them to a local installer that charges about $10 a tire for mount/balance.
I guess my installers all balance incorrectly. Whenever-I have a re-balance and rotation, I always (without exception) find the ride smoother than before. AND-there is zero costs for this service after the initial install.
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My closest shop, and the shop I prefer to deal with is a Tirerack recommended installer. The above problem I cited happened around 2003 or so. I get all my tires from Tirerack, and they are always competitive.
this is a question of you get what you pay for. I've commented before but time is a factor. a lot of the places with lifetime balance usually are volume business and are 3 to 4hours to do your "free" service or are quicker to disappoint you in other customer service ways.
It's not an apples to apples comparison if the paid service has you out a lot faster or if it's a small surcharge on work you already will bundle like oil changes.
finally if you are in the don't need to rotate camp then going to the chain means you're puting up with hassle for something you aren't going to use.
It's not an apples to apples comparison if the paid service has you out a lot faster or if it's a small surcharge on work you already will bundle like oil changes.
finally if you are in the don't need to rotate camp then going to the chain means you're puting up with hassle for something you aren't going to use.
I use Discount Tire for our tires for our regular cars, and TireRack plus a local high end installer for high end sports car tires. The advantage of TireRack for a less volume oriented tire is that they still sell enough that you'll get a tire that's been manufactured recently. A friend got what he thought was a good deal on similar high end tires from a smaller local shop, only to find that the dates of manufacture on the four tires were between six months and three years ago.
The high end installer charges about $200 for all four, but I get someone who knows how to correctly install a 35 series runflat, road force balancing, and glassy smoothness at 150 MPH, in addition to no worries about the rims being scratched or the car being lifted incorrectly.
The high end installer charges about $200 for all four, but I get someone who knows how to correctly install a 35 series runflat, road force balancing, and glassy smoothness at 150 MPH, in addition to no worries about the rims being scratched or the car being lifted incorrectly.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
I used them once for tires. Bought Dunlop Singature for my Passat 1.8T. After 10K tire could not be balanced. got really [censored] off, but it was all Good Year abysmal quality as I would learn soon with their Eagles that replaced Dunlop's.
Anyway, I started to order brakes and brake fluid from them since they carried ATE products. Now you cannot find even that on Tire Rack. I always used ATE before moving to the States. Their brake fluid is second to none. Their rotors are always top notch quality, as well as pads. The fact that more or less 90% of German cars come with their calipers, complete brake system tells a lot. Now they are not selling even that. They sell brakes but not something I would be interested in.
On other hand, manager at local Discount Tire will get any tire I want, take my old tires and give me some credit for them. Plus I keep local guys working.
Anyway, I started to order brakes and brake fluid from them since they carried ATE products. Now you cannot find even that on Tire Rack. I always used ATE before moving to the States. Their brake fluid is second to none. Their rotors are always top notch quality, as well as pads. The fact that more or less 90% of German cars come with their calipers, complete brake system tells a lot. Now they are not selling even that. They sell brakes but not something I would be interested in.
On other hand, manager at local Discount Tire will get any tire I want, take my old tires and give me some credit for them. Plus I keep local guys working.
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
My local Town Fair Tire will beat any on line or local retailer deal. And since they stock the tires I'm looking for there is no delivery fee. And they also include lifetime rotation and a $49 four wheel thrust alignment if you need one. I find the best deal possible wherever, then bring it to TFT to beat.
This is true, but bring a high tolerance for really bad customer service. Not sure about the Old Saybrook one, but I have a long history to 'putting the hate on them' from decades of one story after another. References on request. They hire people and give them no stake in the business and it shows.
Tire Rack has a CT warehouse; after adding up all the bother of ordering and picking up, or ordering and shipping and installing, it just wasn't worth it.
I've been going to the Old Saybrook TFT since I moved to the area in 1991. Have had at least a dozen or so sets installed on in that time. I can only think of one time where I was disappointed (scuff a brand new wheel). I have used the New London store years ago, but don't even remember if they were a TFT back then (Firestone dealer?). Did have a couple of customer service issues with them years ago and just haven't gone back since the other store is much closer now.
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
My local Town Fair Tire will beat any on line or local retailer deal. And since they stock the tires I'm looking for there is no delivery fee. And they also include lifetime rotation and a $49 four wheel thrust alignment if you need one. I find the best deal possible wherever, then bring it to TFT to beat.
This is true, but bring a high tolerance for really bad customer service. Not sure about the Old Saybrook one, but I have a long history to 'putting the hate on them' from decades of one story after another. References on request. They hire people and give them no stake in the business and it shows.
Tire Rack has a CT warehouse; after adding up all the bother of ordering and picking up, or ordering and shipping and installing, it just wasn't worth it.
I've been going to the Old Saybrook TFT since I moved to the area in 1991. Have had at least a dozen or so sets installed on in that time. I can only think of one time where I was disappointed (scuff a brand new wheel). I have used the New London store years ago, but don't even remember if they were a TFT back then (Firestone dealer?). Did have a couple of customer service issues with them years ago and just haven't gone back since the other store is much closer now.
I stopped buying from Tire Rack when freight for a set of $300 tires was almost $50. Apparently,they've recently changed ( or are changing ) that model and are now more in line with others who price competitively and have free or nominal shipping rates.
My local tire stores including Discount Tire ( America's Tire here ) will usually match or beat the TR price or have better sales. If I get in there early then I typically don't have to wait more than an hour for mounting and balancing tires, so I think the service argument is dependent on you to some degree vs. whether it's a high volume shop or not. Lifetime balancing or other add-ons don't mean much to me because I've rarely had to have it done and their pricing doesn't differ from the other shops for having it.
The best deal here is a used tire shop that's been in business over 30 years, carries name brand tires with at least 75% of their tread left. I bought a pair of almost new ContiProContacts for a VW I was selling which ran me $113 included mounting and balancing. They use a new Hunter RoadForce balancer machine. You could probably say that Tire Rack and Discount Tire both suck if you have repeated good experiences with a shop like that.
My local tire stores including Discount Tire ( America's Tire here ) will usually match or beat the TR price or have better sales. If I get in there early then I typically don't have to wait more than an hour for mounting and balancing tires, so I think the service argument is dependent on you to some degree vs. whether it's a high volume shop or not. Lifetime balancing or other add-ons don't mean much to me because I've rarely had to have it done and their pricing doesn't differ from the other shops for having it.
The best deal here is a used tire shop that's been in business over 30 years, carries name brand tires with at least 75% of their tread left. I bought a pair of almost new ContiProContacts for a VW I was selling which ran me $113 included mounting and balancing. They use a new Hunter RoadForce balancer machine. You could probably say that Tire Rack and Discount Tire both suck if you have repeated good experiences with a shop like that.
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