My wife's 2002 Civic LX took on a screw on the right front. It was easily in a repairable area, but both front tires had a lot of shoulder wear and they'd never been rotated in maybe 30K miles over 5 years. The rears were in great shape since it's mostly garaged. My wife doesn't drive that much, but we take it out for long trips because it's got better mileage and because she can't drive a stick (i.e. my ride). I figured it was time to replace the two fronts, but first I had to put the compact spare on. I always heard it was better to have a compact spare on the rear with a FWD car since there's no rear diff. I loosened the nuts (not easy after five years) and then jacked it up. Thing wouldn't come off; I figured the steel wheel and hub rusted together and I don't want to chance having it slip off the jack by banging it loose. So I just put it on the front and hope my wife doesn't kill the diff since it will probably be until the weekend that I can take it in (my wife hates this kind of stuff). I tell her not to go on the freeway, and she doesn't particular like to in the first place.
I was looking for a decent priced tire since my wife doesn't really drive aggressively. There aren't that many good choices in the 185/70R14 factory size (Tire Rack only shows 16 tires for the size including winter, and a lot are OEM tires), so I figured we might as well go cheap. I wanted some specific tires at a decent price, and none of the places within 10 miles had courtesy rebalancing or this particular tire in stock. So I drive to a place I had my last tires installed - over a convoluted local route where I don't top 45 MPH and mostly drive at about 35. We get there with an appointment after asking if they had two of these tires in stock. I originally thought I could do the appointment online, but not the same day.
When I got there the service writer says what I already know - I should just replace the fronts, put the new ones in the rear, and rotate to the front. So we do the paperwork - $52 each tire, but then mounting/installation/disposal/tax bring the total cost for this pair up to $155. Not bad I guess. If I'd bought a pair from Tire Rack it probably would have cost $200 with shipping and getting some place to install them. I pay on the spot and take a spot in the waiting room with my kid is napping.
Since there's been some talk about tire places cheating about actually doing stuff, I get out of the waiting room with my kid once I notice my wife's car on the rack. They already marked the rears RF and LF with a grease pencil - I guess a cross is recommended if the tires aren't directional. The rears of course didn't come off easily. For whatever reason, they were fused together, and I'm guessing it had something to do with the drum brake and that it's been five years. The installer bangs it a few times and it finally comes off. He repeats on the other side and says a few words that I sort of wish my kid didn't hear. Then the installer takes a rotating wire brush to all four of the hubs (nice layer of rust clearly visible) as well as the mounting surface of the steel wheels. He hands the rears off to someone at the balance machine, and they're balancing the previous tires that I bought somewhere else. I wasn't sure about this, but they said no problem with a free courtesy balance even if I bought them elsewhere. The old tires with good tread are now on the front while someone else is mounting and balancing the new tires. So finally all tires are on the car, the installer drops the compact spare in the trunk, and hands the keys to me.
So it turned out fairly well. I didn't feel fleeced. The job seemed to be done competently. Nobody tried to sell me on any additional service, although the service writer did recommend a place for an alignment since this shop didn't have any alignment equipment. I probably could have gone to Costco, but I didn't want to wait for some tire that they may not have in stock and I'm thinking they don't typically rebalance tires bought somewhere else.
I was looking for a decent priced tire since my wife doesn't really drive aggressively. There aren't that many good choices in the 185/70R14 factory size (Tire Rack only shows 16 tires for the size including winter, and a lot are OEM tires), so I figured we might as well go cheap. I wanted some specific tires at a decent price, and none of the places within 10 miles had courtesy rebalancing or this particular tire in stock. So I drive to a place I had my last tires installed - over a convoluted local route where I don't top 45 MPH and mostly drive at about 35. We get there with an appointment after asking if they had two of these tires in stock. I originally thought I could do the appointment online, but not the same day.
When I got there the service writer says what I already know - I should just replace the fronts, put the new ones in the rear, and rotate to the front. So we do the paperwork - $52 each tire, but then mounting/installation/disposal/tax bring the total cost for this pair up to $155. Not bad I guess. If I'd bought a pair from Tire Rack it probably would have cost $200 with shipping and getting some place to install them. I pay on the spot and take a spot in the waiting room with my kid is napping.
Since there's been some talk about tire places cheating about actually doing stuff, I get out of the waiting room with my kid once I notice my wife's car on the rack. They already marked the rears RF and LF with a grease pencil - I guess a cross is recommended if the tires aren't directional. The rears of course didn't come off easily. For whatever reason, they were fused together, and I'm guessing it had something to do with the drum brake and that it's been five years. The installer bangs it a few times and it finally comes off. He repeats on the other side and says a few words that I sort of wish my kid didn't hear. Then the installer takes a rotating wire brush to all four of the hubs (nice layer of rust clearly visible) as well as the mounting surface of the steel wheels. He hands the rears off to someone at the balance machine, and they're balancing the previous tires that I bought somewhere else. I wasn't sure about this, but they said no problem with a free courtesy balance even if I bought them elsewhere. The old tires with good tread are now on the front while someone else is mounting and balancing the new tires. So finally all tires are on the car, the installer drops the compact spare in the trunk, and hands the keys to me.
So it turned out fairly well. I didn't feel fleeced. The job seemed to be done competently. Nobody tried to sell me on any additional service, although the service writer did recommend a place for an alignment since this shop didn't have any alignment equipment. I probably could have gone to Costco, but I didn't want to wait for some tire that they may not have in stock and I'm thinking they don't typically rebalance tires bought somewhere else.
