Car Tires online?

[jaxduc]

I've had such great luck with buying my moto tires online I don't know why I don't just do the same thing with my car. Just buy them online and bring the weels to a shop and have them put on the new tires.
anybody doing this?
any website suggestions?

[zooom]

the "industry standard" as it were for that would be Tirerack.com but I ( from my professional POV) have an issue with people that come in with their own tires...well...several...

for example...if you buy the road hazard warranty from the online retailer, it is a pain in the ass to deal with from the installer side of things...and while we try and insulate the customer from that, it is not always easy or possible...

if you buy online...you never know what you are buying till you get them...the age of the stock...if it is a model that is nearing the end of its life cycle towards discontinuance or a multitude of other possibilities

people that have the tires shipped to an installer ( regardless of whether or not they have let that installer know what they are doing or not-usually not) and then dilly dally about getting their vehicle in for to have said tires installed and waste my shipping and recieveing time and space for something I make ZERO money on, but am forced to deal with the hassle of anyway...

lastly, I love when people have shipped in "blems" and don't want to understand why we will not install them, even after we try and explain it to them

just my .02 FWIW

[Skybarney]

^^^^^  What he said.  I have purchased from Tire rack before but the tires came on a shiny set of Weld rims for my old F150.  It was a weird closeout and I got the rims for only $50.00 each.  Mounted balanced and sent to my house, when I installed them myself. 

Other than buying tires and wheels already setup I would skip Tirerack.com.  On my Dodge Ram I run Nitto Terra Grapplers.  I get them locally from a little independent tire shop and they cost 400.00 less than 4wheel parts, Firestone or Big O.

Most of the smaller shops don't have huge margins and are much more flexible on pricing.  Make sure it is a dirty looking why in the hell would I ever stop there tire shop though!   

[jaxduc]

this is great advice.. I might just go to the bad neighborhood and look for a tire place and try to not get shot

[Skybarney]

this is great advice.. I might just go to the bad neighborhood and look for a tire place and try to not get shot

Works for me!  Best thing is that they appreciate the purchase.  The shop I go to for both my company trucks does not even need paperwork to rotate or balance.  No computers either.    

[the_Journeyman]

I buy from my local shops if I expect them to mount/balance.  If I'm doing my own, I buy from the shop I want to install.  Most local shops are competitive with online prices around here, so it's not work the hassle to buy online and mount/balance yourself unless you're got a decent tire setup in your garage.

JM

[Langanobob]

Around here, many local shops will match Tirerack's pricing which I don't think is all that great.   I like Tirerack's inventory, if I'm looking for a specific tire they almost always have what I'm looking for.  And their tire review/rating system can be useful.

The only good reason that I can think of for buying online is if you are really saving some worthwhile money and I don't think that's usually the case by the time you factor in shipping and the other issues with getting them mounted and balanced at a place that didn't sell you the tires.

Since I'm only a few miles from Tirerack I sometimes buy tires there for my pickup and pick them up myself to save shipping.  I mount and balance them myself (Dynabeads or similar) with my unspeakable Harbor Freight manual tire machine.  It's actually faster and less hassle to mount them myself than drive to a tire place and have to wait, but I still have to drop the old tires off at a tire place and get charged $2 or so each.

[yamifixer]

I have bought several sets from tirerack and discount tire direct with no issues. I have a local shop that mounts and balances for 75 bucks for all 4.

I think tirerack has a function that lets you search for a local garage that they will ship directly to for mounting.

[RAT900]

I use TireRack to benchmark prices then I go to the local dealer and negotiate something closer to reality than full retail

I am willing to pay more than TireRack prices to go thru the local dealer and give him/her business

as I like to keep Brick and Mortar commerce going and keep people in my community employed

Saving a couple of extra bucks is less important than keeping a neighbor in a job

[Triple J]

Saving a couple of extra bucks is less important than keeping a neighbor in a job

+1