Walmart tire installation experience

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
I went to the local Walmart and talked to the people there. They seem competent and generally much nicer than Discount Tire. I'm going to give this a shot and see what happens.


That's been my observation. Tire store employees are some of the angriest people you will ever meet.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

A major reason that wal mart tire is a good choice, is that they can't try to upsell you, given their limited services. Also, I'm not for certain, but I think they are paid hourly, not by the job or commission on tire sales, which could explain the generally pleasant experience when going. Only downside is the wait, since they seem to be slammed at all times. Be prepared to wait, have a place in mind to walk to, or have a ride to pick you up.

 

[stephen9666]

My Walmart tire experiences have been mixed, at best. The last time they mounted the tire wrong the first time. I noticed before leaving and had them remount it the right way, but after doing that the tech admitted he didn't rebalance the tire after remounting it. Then a day later, before I had reinstalled the tire on the vehicle, the tire was flat. They argued with me about fixing it for free, even though it was clearly a defect or error on their part. It turned out to be a bad valve stem.

At another location I bought two tires and the counter staff was not friendly, but the tires were installed properly.

I'm really surprised to see people here claiming that Walmart staff are better than DT staff. The staff at my local DT are all very good and friendly. My experiences at multiple Walmarts have not shown that to be the case.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Originally Posted By: AmoryBlaine
A major reason that wal mart tire is a good choice, is that they can't try to upsell you, given their limited services.

 

[Skid]

I experienced so much [censored] at DT that I started doing tires myself.

 

[Alfred_B]

The tires were installed yesterday. The service was quick, curteous and took only an hour. I'll need to drive a little to see if the balancing was done correctly.

So far so good.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Did you go with Douglas Tires?

 

[AmoryBlaine]

I believe you. I just don't trust the large chain service shops, maybe it's unfair, maybe not. I've been B S'd by several, so now it's only locally owned, or Walmart where they won't upsell.

 

[Alfred_B]

Originally Posted By: AmoryBlaine
Did you go with Douglas Tires?


No, I don't think Douglas makes sport sedan tires. I needed 99V load/speed rated tires.

 

[SatinSilver]

What tire did you end up with?

 

[Alfred_B]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
What tire did you end up with?


Bought something called Nankang tires on sale at $64 per tire. I was suspicious even though they had good reviews on Amazon.

So far the tires are balanced well, they are quiet and dry traction is great. I haven't thrown the car around in rain yet but they didn't slide doing 80 mph on an exit ramp.

Went cheap this time and it seems to have worked. The speed rating is not as high as Audi recommends but it suits my current driving habits.