Costco Tires???

<p>Has anyone ever bought tires at Costco? Wondering how they measure up in terms of price, quality etc. </p>

<p>Being honest I don’t know much about tires, but my car needs at least two and before I send H out to price out some, I wondered if they are competitive.</p>

<p>I got a good price on very good tires, and trouble-free installation. Were you looking for more than that?</p>

<p>for the same brand and model, they are very competitive.</p>

<p>Costco sells tires made by other companies like Bridgestone, Michelin, etc.</p>

<p>So quality is not really something Costco-specific.</p>

<p>Personally I like Town Fair Tire because of all the extras (free mounting, free lifetime rotations and balancing, etc), but I don’t know how their prices compare to Costco.</p>

<p>I try to even out the wear so I replace all four at once.</p>

<p>For the past 15 years, we’ve bought all of our tires either at Sams or Costco. Great service, good prices (they don’t nickle & dime you for the installation extras.)</p>

<p>I’ve purchased tires at Costco before and it was fine. The prices are competitive just like almost everything at Costco. The tires I purchased were name brands (Michelin, etc.) so there’s nothing special about the tires - they’re the same as you’d find anywhere. </p>

<p>The upsides of getting tires at Costco -

  • Prices are competitive.
  • Returning for flat repair etc. is no hassle other than wait times (see below).</p>

<p>The downsides of getting tires at Costco -

  • It always seems busy and the wait time long for them to mount the tires. I’m sure it varies with the particular location and time you’re there but that’s been my experience after multiple times.
  • They have a pretty limited selection of tires on hand and although they can get some other types, it seems to take them longer than other places.</p>

<p>If you have a Discount Tire in your area check with them as well. They generally have competitive prices, a greater selection than Costco, and I’ve found them to be more quick to mount and service the tires. I’ve found their employees to be truly interested in helping. They’re also great if you bring a tires back for a flat repair or something. They’ll also deal a little bit though so if you find them more convenient make sure you know what Costco or others are charging for the same tire. It’s been no more expensive for me to buy tires at Discount Tire versus Costco.</p>

<p>For my next tires I’ll go to Discount Tire over Costco (as I’ve done the last few times) but they’re both good choices.</p>

<p>Costco has good price on tires usually a little better than other tire store especially when using the coupon. However, there is not a great selection, they only carry maybe one or two brands/models for each size.</p>

<p>Usually, there is coupon that comes out every month or two for a set of tires (all 4) for maybe $70 off or so. They charge small mounting fee which includes free lifetime rotations, balancing and road hazard (prorated). I have gone back and get free rotation and replacement due to road hazard with no problem. Also they say that they fill all tires with Nitrogen which supposed to help increase gas mileage or something like that.</p>

<p>^^ Definitely look for those coupons ttparent referred to (they rotate between brands each month or so - Michelin one time, Bridgestone the next, etc.) but I’ve found that if Costco has the tires for the $70 off then the other tires stores tend to also and if they don’t, some will match the price anyway (like Discount).</p>

<p>Before investing too much time, give your local Costco a call and find out whether they even have tires suitable for your vehicle. Despite the plethora of Priuses and Outbacks around here, the last time we put new tires on our cars they didn’t have tires for either of them. (And truly, it is a remarkable parking lot around here that doesn’t have a whole bunch of Outbacks, most of them green, and an assortment of Priuses.)</p>

<p>You can actually do that at costco.com.</p>

<p>I bought my last tires at Costco. They did not have the Michelin tires I needed but were happy to order them. I wanted to get my tires at the local place I have used for the last 20 yrs but I saved over $400 by using Costco. My local place did not have the tires in stock and they would have charged me for delivery on the order since their regular supplier did not have my tire.
H priced out tires for my S’s Volvo at a place similar to Discount (can’t remember the name but a chain). They beat Costco in price that time.
Find out what tire you want and call around.
As far as service goes I find the people working at my local Costco to be nice and helpful. The place we got S’s tires at I won’t go to alone. My independent tire shop I loved the service people but H chose Costco based on price. If you go with Costco you can usually call them and they will tell you the least crowded time to go.</p>

<p>I did check online and they had options come up for my model/year, etc. of car. </p>

<p>We’ll see what the tire “boss” says. :)</p>

<p>Costco also offers free tire rotation when you purchase a set. The only problem I’ve seen with this free offer is everytime I want to have it done it takes OVER an hour of wait time. People start “lining up” for the tire center to open a good 30 before the store opens but it still takes an hour if you get there 30 minutes early. Average wait time mid-day is 1.5 to 2 hours. I usually just pay my dealer the $20.00 to have them rotated when I get the car serviced. </p>

<p>I purchased a set of BF Goodrich tires at Costco a couple of years ago but was not happy with the gas mileage on them. After about 2,000 miles I returned to the store and they exchanged them for a set of Michelins. I only had to pay the difference AND they gave me the $70.00 off coupon which I didn’t have on the original purchase. I only had to pay the installation.</p>

<p>Discount Tire has usually proven the better deal for us, and just plain easier to do at Discount than Costco. Same services, etc, and Discount has always been super nice about fixing flats for us free of charge even if the tire didn’t come from them. I’m a fan.</p>

<p>

I did something similar although I bought BFGs at Costco (because they didn’t have the particular Michelins I wanted), I drove them for a bit, probably no more than 100 miles or so, but didn’t like them because they were too noisy (SUV tires). I was on my way back to Costco to arrange for them to order the Michelins which would have taken several days to get in and decided to give something a shot. I swung into the Discount Tire which was on the way to Costco and which had the right Michelins in stock, and asked them if there’s any way they’d give me some credit for the BFGs and sell me the Michelins and what would it cost me. I was willing to take some loss but Discount Tire bought the BFGs from me for exactly what I paid for them at Costco and sold me the Michelins for the same price they would have been at Costco and in less time than going to Costco to arrange the swap I had the tires I wanted.</p>

<p>I was very impressed with them.</p>

<p>We’ve had several great experiences at Tirerack.com. Their selection is extensive and the site is extremely user friendly. Even if you don’t end up ordering from them, you can check out the tire reviews and get knowledgeable advice on the phone. Prices are low and they will ship to a tire place, service station or dealership of your choice.</p>

<p>We have 5 cars (4 kids all driving) and have purchased all of our tires from Costco since they opened here in the mid 1980’s. We’ve never had a problem, ALWAYS use the coupons, and have frequently taken advantage of their road hazard warranty to replace punctured tires for free or discounted price. I seem to attract nails and other pointy objects… We’ve learned to keep our original tire receipt in the glove box for the warranty. Will be bringing our prius there this weekend for a new set, as a matter of fact.</p>

<p>We’ve always had great luck with Costco tire service. Several years ago we hit a piece of freeway junk and mangled one front tire that was only a few months old. Costco replaced the tire with only a slight charge for the pro-rated use. They didn’t care that it was our fault!</p>

<p>First off…I love Costco…having said that I stopped buying tires from them. The quality was great, the warranty better than industry average and the pricing a few bucks less than the independent store. The problem was an average 2.5 hr wait for rotations! With 4 cars in the family that was way more time that I was willing to spend. (and spend I did because the only place to go while waiting was…Costco).</p>

<p>With the independent I now make an appointment for rotation and I’m in and out in about 30 minutes.</p>

<p>We have been buying tires from [Tire</a> Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels](<a href=“http://www.tirerack.com/index_w.jsp]Tire”>http://www.tirerack.com/index_w.jsp).
Good selection- we have bought tires from Costco in past however- but yeah, can be a long wait.</p>