<p>I like the Tire Rack’s web site, but by the time you add in shipping and mounting/balancing costs (around here, $25-ish per tire if you don’t buy the tire there), it can easily add $40/tire to the cost, so you aren’t really saving anything.</p>
<p>If you are dead-set on some obscure tire no one get get for you locally, they might make sense.</p>
<p>We change our tires ourselves ( we bought rims for the snow tires to make it easier), & I really did research on what were the best tires. My H needed special tires for his car & the Jeep didn’t have ABS so I was really concerned about quality of tires & tire rack had a better selection than local stores. ( & it was so much easier than running around and getting talked into something I really didn’t want)</p>
<p>^^ You mean you bust the old tire off the rim, rip off the old balancing weights, replace the valve stem, mount a new tire on the rim, and have a balancer to be able to balance the tire? If so, I’m impressed.</p>
<p>Or do you really mean you put the already mounted and balanced tires/wheels on and off the car and do rotations yourself? I do that also since I can do it in my driveway quicker than having to take the car somewhere and I don’t mind doing it.</p>
<p>Or do you really mean you put the already mounted and balanced tires/wheels on and off the car and do rotations yourself? I do that also since I can do it in my driveway quicker than having to take the car somewhere and I don’t mind doing it.</p>
<p>^^this
;)</p>
<p>We get all our tires from Costco . How about this? If you have a blow out , they will pro-rate the cost of the new tire , and give you a credit for the time left on the tire that is being replaced . The last time I had a blow out , I only paid 16 for a new Michelin tire , as the bad tire had been recently purchased. I shop while I wait , so it’s not too bad . They call when my car is ready .</p>
<p>ek4 - </p>
<p>Another reason I often do the wheel changing myself is to make sure it’s done correctly. It’s surprising how many tire places don’t properly torque the wheels back on to spec which can cause some problems including damage to the wheel, broken wheel lugs, and the inability to get the wheel off if you get a flat in an inconvenient spot. </p>
<p>If I’m at a tire place I always make sure I request that they torque the lug nuts back on with a torque wrench rather than just using the impact wrench. A decent tire place will torque it anyway but they don’t all do it. I’ve found Costco to generally be good in this area and have found Discount to be good as well.</p>
<p>We bought 4 new tires from Costco about 6 months ago.
A few months later, I ran over a nail and shredded one tire.
Costco rotated my tires and replaced the shredded one for free.
I didn’t even have my receipt with me…they looked up my car on their computer.</p>
<p>The secret to avoiding a long wait is to show up 20 minutes before they open on a weekday, and be one of the first customers.</p>
<p>I use Tire Rack for any speciality tires. Costco is VERY adamant about only putting the manufacturer size and speed rating tires on the car. Sometimes these are overkill or not the best for your use. For my Scion the dealer spec was a very high performance tire that was noisy and had a hard ride. I wanted something a little less hardcore and they would not do it. So I got what I wanted from Tire rack and they work great. My Scion dealer did the mounting for a very good price and they always rotate them during a service.</p>
<p>I also got a very good price from our dealer to install and balance, so for us, Tirerack ended up being very comparable to Costco in price. Selection and convenience factor was much better, especially since I ended up getting a tire that Costco does not have in stock. The new tires are rated for my car, but give me a much better combination of ride/ performance in snow and rain than the original equipment, IMO.</p>