Buying tires tip

kpounds · 12-05-04, 02:49

I kind of ran into this by accident but thought it might be useful for people looking for good tires at a good price. There's LOTS of tire brands around but how to know which ones ride well, have long treadlife, handle well and are priced economically? There's a great website with MANY tire reviews by users and tire quality ratings in different categories at http://www.tirerack.com/

Go to the site, click 'Shop for Tires' or Products, Tires near the top. Search for your vehicle or the exact size of tire you're looking for. A listing of many brands will be displayed. Go through the reviews and find the best rated and well priced tire. Its sort of like having a consumer reports rating of tires by real users. Tirerack also sells tires. They can be the best deal, but have to add shipping and local installation costs. Seems like most Tire shops want from $10-15 per tire to install. Another option is after you find the tire you like, shop for it locally and compare the total price to Tirerack. Also the discount clubs (Sam's, Costco) sometimes have good brands and prices. We found that the Goodyear Allegra is actually a Sam's only version of the Goodyear Regatta 2, a well-rated tire.

Keith

HRP · 12-05-04, 04:19

Interesting sidenote: when I was looking for tires (Michelin A/W Sport Pilots), I got the price from www.tirerack.com and then checked with their listing for local installers. They matched tireracks's price which was over a thirld less than list; mounted, balanced, new stems, and installed.

kgb · 12-05-04, 06:19

I went to 1010tires.com for my reviews and bought some Hankook404's for winter. I got them from Discount Tire Direct and did not have to pay shipping.

White95Max · 12-05-04, 12:42

I ordered my Potenza RE950 Hi-Perf tires from TireRack. I got my tires in two days.
In the spring/summer, I'll be ordering my G-Force Sports 225/55Z/16 from TireRack, as well as my snow tires.

BTW, they have reviews for every tire I've looked at. The buyers rate the tire in many different categories and write a summary of their opinions.

zzyyzx · 12-06-04, 04:41

I bought my 17 inch wheels and tires there last year. Everything came mounted & balanced at a pretty good price. If you buy wheels though, make sure to thoroughly check for any damages.

Two of my tires had sustained substantial damage, hence why I oreded the wheels & tires. I had been shopping & waiting for shipping for about a week. I finally got the wheels and noticed a slight scratch on one of the wheels. I called their customer service, left a message and then put them on because I had urgent stuff to do. I know it's my fault for mounting the wheels, but I did what I had to do at the time. The next day they called me and told me that since I had mounted them, even after I had called them, I was up the creek. Kind of disappointing. But I'd still buy from them again. Good pricing & reviews.