tirerack.com not really the greatest deal

I bought the same exact 4 tires localy for $283.31 with free lifetime balancing and rotation. Have them on since Feb'03.....21000+miles now. For the price, I think they are a bargain concerning how well they performed wet and dry...no snow here, and quiet too.

Yep. For my last tire purchase I printed the tirerack pricing page and took it to my local tire dealer (Big-O). They actually beat tire-rack's pricing as the local clerk could see I was on the fence about where to purchase and she didn't want to lose me as a customer.

The funny thing was, if I had ordered from tire rack, I would have had the tires sent to my local Big-O store for mounting/balancing anyway. That made it easy. I added up everything the tires would have cost me from tirerack: tires shipping tacked on mount/bal from the local Big-O and the clerk matched (or beat) that number.

Tire rack is great for this (getting tires locally at deep discounted prices). mikey.

Todd H. wrote:

I didn't print the Tirerack pricing page, I just called Big O because I was planning to have Tirerack ship the tires there for mounting, but Big O still beat the Tirerack price.

Thanks for the heads-up! I'm thinking of getting winter specific tires for this winter. A week after I bought the STi I changed the "summer" tires to an all season tire. There are times when the snow is particuarly bad so that a studded snow tire would be better. I'll see what Big-O can do for me on a set of Blizzaks. I am also thinking about putting the snow tires on a different set of rims. Last time, Big-O didn't have any rims that would work. ; - (

BlueSTi "Scary-Fast"

The Tire Rack really works best when it comes to expensive tires (over $100 each) but it's not a great bargain when it comes to lower priced items ($50-70). If you're getting a set of Bridgestone S-03 Pole Positions, I'm not sure that the dealers are going to be willing to price match.

However - part of my calculation includes sales tax, where Tire Rack is out of state. The first time I bought a set of Dunlop SP Sport

9000's I went to a local chain, which could get them to me faster for a slightly higher overall price. The next time I tried to get a set, I couldn't find any local shop that would come even within $40 each of what the Tire Rack was charging. I figure the overall cost to me was still about $120 less.

Find another place to have the tires mounted & balanced.

There are two shops nearby my place that charge as follows:

Shop A - $3 tire mounting, $8 balance, or $20 lifetime balance & rotation - they don't care if the tires are new or used or purchased elsewhere

Shop B - $3 tire mounting, $8 for mounting tires not purchased there, $8 balance, $25 lifetime balance & rotation, not available on tires not purchased there

So for five minutes of work, Shop A can make $11 while Shop B makes nothing since I won't go there. Who's the smarter business owner?

Cheers,

David

Todd H. wrote:

Most tire places will stick it to you if you bring in tires they didn't sell you, and rightly so because labor charges alone won't pay all the bills. I don't know if this is true for Tire Racks so called "affiliate dealers". Of course here in Canada, Tire Rack isn't a viable option at all anyway.

I believe SOA has an arrangement with TireRack. You buy the tires at the Subaru dealer.

I have yet to find a place that wasn't happy to install tires I brought in myself or had delivered to them. The first time I bought from the Tire Rack (in '96) the labor charge for mounting was $15 when it would have been $10 if I bought tires there; I had the tires delivered to the installer (a Tire Rack "affiliate"). The second time (in 2001) the local Goodyear shop was willing to mount them for $20 when their regular charge was $15. Tire disposal fees were the same.

I don't believe for a second that businesses aren't more than willing to take your money and be happy about it. If it's the difference between making a small profit or making no profit at all, they'll take the small profit. If it's the difference between paying an installer to sit idle for 10 minutes or having him install "someone else's tires", they'll more than likely choose the latter.

I didn't say they wouldn't take your money, but that $15 they charged you is $15 in their pockets. If they tell you to take a hike and serve the next guy in line that actually bought his tires there, that's not $10 in their pocket, that's $60+$10. If they see that this is becoming a reoccuring thing I garuntee you they will come up with a double charge for outsourced tire mounting or even refuse to do it. It happens at every tire retailer, once they smarten up and realize that their guys are basically working to keep tire rack or someone else in business that is undercutting them. There's a reson these places are willing to match or beat Tire Rack, $10 less than Tire Rack is still $50 more in their pocket than if you buy them from Tirerack and still bring them to this shop to install.

$15 or $20 a tire is not a profit by any stretch of the imagination unless it's a one man show and his shop sports a floor jack.

-- ____________________ Remove "X" from email address to reply.

However - mounting doesn't really cost them anything other than the price of the valve stem, given that their employees are paid by the hour. Of course I didn't have the highest priority, but the place was two blocks from where I work, so I could pick it up any time. I could have easily gone to one of four tire installers in the neighborhood.

Ever heard of the way the airlines do business? Their highest discounted airfares are actually less than their average costs per passenger. It's a simple matter that once they determine that a plane isn't going to be full, they want to get people on to defray their fixed costs. Sometimes a planeload loses money, but if they don't get that additional person on the plane, that's $150 (or whatever) less than they're going to get.

I paid $20 to have my snows from Tirerack put on at Belle Tire here and $10 to have my regular tires put back on. I bought Michelin Arctic Alpins from Tirerack, which came mounted and balanced on steel wheels.

June

locally:

quicker

ignore

"affiliate

Yes, but for much more than you can get them from Tirerack directly yourself. I was given a quote from the Subie dealer for the snows I wanted and it was $450 more than I bought them for myself, and I noticed that he went to the Tirerack site to set the price.

June

locally:

quicker

ignore

However, I suspect that you're on the hook to pay for regular balancing/rotation, right?

That's the "rub" that started this thread. :-)

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USA

Yeah, I am, but rotation is free because the car is still under warranty.

June