Cost of Tire Rotation and Balancing

I just paid $79.99 to have 4 wheels balanced (Avalon). I did see a Dealer special a while ago (since expired) for a price of $69.99. Haven't done this in quite a while and recall it being much less costly. Just curious--is this the current going rate everywhere else? My location is in the Boston area. How about tire rotation--what does that cost run? MLD

Reply to
MLD
Loading thread data ...

Free for me. I DIY, Only takes a good jack and 4 jack stands. If you bought your tires at most of the bigger places many even offer free rotations for the life of the tires.

Reply to
Steve W.

These tires came with the car. Thanks for the your answer--trying to figure out how to apply it to the questions at hand. MLD

Reply to
MLD

Simple, Buy a jack and a few stands and DIY. If you rotate them like you should you will have paid for the tools after the second rotation. AND as a bonus you can check over the brakes and other parts so you can tell if anything else is failing.

As for going rate. All depends on location and how many "free" services they offer... Locally most of the shops do a rotation, brake inspection and oil change for 75 bucks.

Reply to
Steve W.

"MLD" wrote in news:jbrbn9$4o0$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

$80 is pretty reasonable for a place that isn't going to use a cheaper price as a lure to get you in the door so they can try and sell you on other, more profitable stuff ("Oh, look, your windshield wipers are about to fall off, and your shocks are shot! Plus, your balljoints are worn and your calipers are seized! We just happen to have a limited-time special deal on all those right now...").

At a $100/hr shop rate, $80 gives the garage about 12-minutes per tire for balancing and rotation. That would include the time needed to pull the car into the shop, rack it, take it back down again, and park it back in the lot.

Reply to
Tegger

Maybe not too expensive considering you went to a dealership.

I think I paid about $10 per wheel to balance last time, and alignment runs up to about $50.

Reply to
hls

Wheel alignments/balance at the shop that we use are about $60. Tire rotation is about $2 per tire if the car is already up in the air for anything already such as the alignments or an oil change. So we usually rotate at an oil change.

-- Rik

Reply to
Rik Brown

Thanks for the answer. The place I go to is not a dealer but labels themselves as a "Dealer Alternative". They charge dealer prices, do comparable work and when one makes an appointment with them you get in on the scheduled time. MLD

.
Reply to
MLD

I'm beyond that now--used to line up 4 cars at a time and do the oil changes and whatever else was necessary one after the other. I don't put as many miles on my cars as I used to so if I amortize the cost over the time in-between rotation/balancing, oil changes etc it's not worth the effort of doing it myself any more. DIY is nice but isn't always the best or practical thing---I can't imagine having my Avalon off the ground supported by 4 stands. To me, that's a disaster waiting to happen In the past I utilized my spare tire--a lot safer than your jack stands. FYI, I have a set of ramps, a nice (garage type) hydraulic jack and a couple of stands. MLD

.
Reply to
MLD

$16 to balance at Discount Tire in Houston, early Nov., 2011.

Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

One nice thing about Discount Tire, if you bought tires there, they will rotate the tires in the future for free. I dont think it even has to be the same tires or car, but check for details.

Reply to
hls

Don't know about Costco. Sears used to have (and may still have, for all I know) the option of buying lifetime rotation and balance when getting tires there. I always get it (last time was a year ago), because the difference in price with just one balance is very small ($3 or $4 per tire). The total for lifetime rotation and balance was $12.25 per tire.

Reply to
Patok

The $16 includes Lifetime Spin Balancing, rotations, and valves according to the paperwork. My poor little Kia... I destroyed the LF tire hitting a curb at a construction site a year ago, the RF tire vs. a curb 6 months later, LR got shredded at a construction site in Nov and I replaced the RR at the same time. I also bought the free replacement warranty for $14 each since my tires don't seem to last long. Cheap one ply tires total $120 each with everything...

Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

"MLD" wrote in news:jbtsjr$6iq$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

On the scheduled time? Truly? That makes them BETTER than the dealer!

Reply to
Tegger

If you are having all 4 tires balanced then there is no cost to the shop to rotate the tires. Last time I had mine balanced it was around $11 a tire.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Sams club does. They will also repair tires free (assuming they are patchable).

Reply to
genius

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.