Getting someone who knows what they're doing in a Walmart automotive tire shop, is as unlikely as getting someone who knows what they're talking about at a gun shop.
Walmart Tire Experience: Never again!
- Thread starter DemoFly
- Start date
Here we go again and again. There are enough Walmart tire posts on this board that one knows their experince in getting tires installed is LOCATION DEPENDENT.
So-when you have a bad experience (and you know there is a 50/50% chance or more of this)-then come on here and gripe.
Yea-but the Reliant/Douglas/Dextero tires were so cheap I couldn't pass them up........
Now let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.......
So-when you have a bad experience (and you know there is a 50/50% chance or more of this)-then come on here and gripe.
Yea-but the Reliant/Douglas/Dextero tires were so cheap I couldn't pass them up........
Now let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.......
The tires Walmart sells are fine. It's getting those tires off the rack, and on to your car correctly, that more often than not is a lesson in futility.
Totally location dependent. My latest Walmart tire installation went without a problem. In and out in less than an hour, tires well balanced, rims not scratched. I picked the store with the highest star rating in my area, but it could just be pure luck. This was a welcome change after poor service received at two Discount Tire locations and an independent shop over the past 5 years.
Yeah, Walmart is hit or miss in the service department, even at the same store.
I've had some decent tire experiences and some terrible experiences where I had to call the store manager when I got home.
I have since found an independent guy who is also a TireRack recommended installer and can have my tires/wheels shipped right to his shop. My buddies and I are using him and we're extremely happy with the service he provides as he mostly does tires & alignments. He does other services too(brakes, oil/filter) but mostly tires, wheels and his shop ONLY does road force balancing.
I've had some decent tire experiences and some terrible experiences where I had to call the store manager when I got home.
I have since found an independent guy who is also a TireRack recommended installer and can have my tires/wheels shipped right to his shop. My buddies and I are using him and we're extremely happy with the service he provides as he mostly does tires & alignments. He does other services too(brakes, oil/filter) but mostly tires, wheels and his shop ONLY does road force balancing.
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You guys are scaring me. I got a great deal from WMT for tires on Black Friday, and they're sitting in my garage. Soonest I could get an appointment to mount and balance them is 12/18. That's not a problem, this thread has me spooked is the problem. I know it depends on the guy doing the job. Just looking at the shop and how they answer the phone along with this thread got me thinking now. Two local shops want $35/tire with disposal plus tax. Walmart is $80 for all four out the door. I might check one more place before I roll the dice.
yup you can say that about a lot of places now... I have seen this at local and chain tire stores also.....
There is no consistency anymore.
I grew up in a small town. There was more than one tire place but everyone I know still goes to one shop - is an Amoco station with two garage bays, and they do tires and oil changes. Must be the original guy's son, or grandson, or he found someone who cared to work it.
Those don't exist anywhere but a really small town anymore, probably because everyone wants to go to the shiny place, or the cheapest place, or the one with an add on the radio, or whatever.
I grew up in a small town. There was more than one tire place but everyone I know still goes to one shop - is an Amoco station with two garage bays, and they do tires and oil changes. Must be the original guy's son, or grandson, or he found someone who cared to work it.
Those don't exist anywhere but a really small town anymore, probably because everyone wants to go to the shiny place, or the cheapest place, or the one with an add on the radio, or whatever.
I edited this because I'm dumb, but you can read what I originally said from Capriracer.
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Just with every other purchase the cheapest option is not always the best option. I had four winter tires installed yesterday purchased from Tire Rack and used my local dealer $92.00 with disposal of old tires. Job took 90min I start doing math in my head what all has to get paid and who all gets paid I think it’s a great price or even wonder how they’re making money in this day and age.
i will say my local WM has been excellent over the years and never a issue with them over the years.
Ah ..... Mmmm ..... Not exactly
Ya' see, on a road force balance, you only need to reindex the tire to the wheel if the RoadForce value is above a certain level. Most of the time, no reindexing is necessary.
And tire shaving? There is a reason why tire shops don't do that - it isn't that effective.
And there is a reason why many shops use RoadForce balancing - because it is effective!
Unfortunately they’ve set you up for warped rotors. I’ve had a similar experience at a Pep Bros’. The tires/wheels went straight from the tire mounting machine to the car. Bypassing the balance machine. Had an argument with the “service manager” who resembled every meth addict on the street. I told him to pull the wheels and if they didn’t need to be balanced I’d pay double the balance costs. I won that one…
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I hear ya. There are certain things I don't mind paying up for. Having said that I had Mavis do mounting and balancing of tires for me years ago. Long story short they smashed and ruined not one, but four center caps on my van. Then told me after the fact they had a problem taking them off. Anyone with a tenth of a brain would have seen the problem after the first wheel. So that crosses Mavis off the list. Another local shop is known for trying to sell front end work that isn't needed, strike two. I could go on and on. I don't mind paying more for quality work, but paying more doesn't always guarantee higher quality work.
Thanks for the response. I'm the son of a retired attorney. My dad always had a counterpoint to everything right or wrong and it rubbed off on me.
If you have the people that know how to use the road force properly....and that is an issue at a lot of tire shops...
Has anyone had Walmart, (or any other discount tire places), bugger up nice wheels?
Well, my brother brings his nicer alloy wheel vehicles over here & we use hand tools/torque wrench to reinstall them because careless tire techs gouge the inside of the alloy lug nut holes with impact sockets, so, yes. I would say not ALL Walmarts are (likely) bad, but they go through people, so fast, that there's literally NO WAY to know...
