Need To Buy Tires?
 

I had an experience today which demonstrated just how non-competive some our local merchants are.

I found I had a non-repairable tire with a nail in the sidewall. A major tire store on 441 quoted a price of $364.76 for a replacement tire. (It was an expensive Michelin tire.) Actually, their initial quote was well over $400 and they came down to their "best price" when I questioned it.

I knew I had paid far less "up north", so I called my regular tire dealer--TireRack.com in South Bend, IN. In minutes I placed an order for the Michelin tire I needed. For a price of $258.90, the tire will be delivered to my house via UPS in three days. The local tire dealer's role will be reduced to mounting and balancing the tire on my car. Price paid to the local tire dealer will be $19.25. Savings to me--over $100!

I strongly recommend TireRack.com Visit them at http://www.tirerack.com/ and navigate to the tires you need. You won't find cheaper prices or better service and they'll ship your tires same day. All you'll need to do is find any one of dozens of shops that will mount and balance the tires.

It's nice to avoid being taken advantage of at times.

I used them also several years ago for 4 corvette tires. They are pretty famous with people in "the know". I too was very satisfied. I didnt realize they were in South Bend however. I grew up 15 miles from South Bend.

jeffy

Not knowing your vehicle or tire size, I can't make a comparison. But have you cross checked Costco for your Michelins?
http://tires.costco.com/TSSapp/TireLanding.xhtml

Tire Rack
 

:agree:

Jeffy,

Without a doubt Tire Rack has the best price. I had 4 run flats (run flats have an inner liner) drop shipped to my corvette dealer for installation. Saved several hundred dollars.

Me 2 - spent my summers at grandma & grandpa's house in Hudson Lake.


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My son recommended tirerack.com to me. He ordered a set of tires from them and was very satisfied with the service and the price. They shipped the tires directly to the local tire dealer that my son had chosen which was very convenient.

Man I agree with you here. I have ordered from Tire Rack numerous times. The best part is if you order a wheel and tire set. They come mounted and all. all you have to do is put them on the car and roll. This is the best way to order. They are very informative on the phone also. They can tell you what will fit and what they recommend. The web site is very good also.


Great Info!!

I have also ordered tires from tirerack.com. I had them drop-shipped to a local shop that mounted them on my wheels. I never imagined that I could save money by ordering tires on the Internet, but it's true.

I also found their comments section to be very helpful - user-to-user messages. They helped me decide not to buy a set of the same tires that I was replacing. Instead, I bought a set that cost less, but had better reviews by users.

Tirerack is GOOD
I still work only about 3 miles from their GIANT warehouse in South Bend.
I used their user reviews and bought some tires with better ratings than tires costing three times the cost. I had them do the work because of proximity but I know others that had them shipped and they were also very happy.
Read their reviews and buy there. :agree::agree:

No, Kayaker, I had not checked Costco. Even though the closest one to The Villages is about an hour and fifteen minute drive, I LOVE the place.

Just for the heck of it I checked Costco for the 18-inch Michelin tire I was looking for. They didn't have it in stock at the store, but it could be ordered online and delivered to the store. Then I'd drive down there to have the tire installed. The Costco online installed price including Florida sales tax was within a couple of bucks of what I will pay to have the tire shipped from The Tire Rack (no sales tax) and then pay the local tire dealer to mount the tire and balance it. And I can have it done locally, rather than having to drive to Altamonte Springs to get the work done.

But, for the benefit of those reading here, both The Tire Rack as well as Costco look like they are excellent options to local tire dealers if one wants to save some serious money in buying tires.

I also just bought a set of golf cart tires and after re-thinking what I did, an online check showed that I could have gotten a new set of four tires mounted on four fancy aluminum wheels for about the same price that I paid the local Tire Kingdom dealer for four tires alone a few weeks ago. Proves I was a dum-dum on that transaction.

Thanks for the Costco tip.

Did you use Costco or The Tire Rack for the golf cart tires?

Post Script
 

My original post was posted late Tuesday afternoon. Tire Rack had estimated that the tire I ordered should arrive at my house in The Villages on Friday. Tonight (Wednesday night) the doorbell rang and the UPS driver had dropped off my new tire--only about 27 hours from when I placed the order.

I'm sure the major name tire dealer on 441 will be surprised when I show up tomorrow morning to have them mount and balance the new Michelin tire. It was only yesterday afternoon about 3:00 PM when they gave me the outrageous price--over $100 more than I paid Tire Rack--for the new tire.

Some days people can be very happy campers. Today is one of those days!

P.S. I didn't use either Costco or Tire Rack for the new golf cart tires, gemorc. Neither of them sell golf cart tires. But when I called Tire Rack to inquire, they referred me to another online store, Tires Unlimited http://tiresunlimited.com/ Their prices for golf cart tires are very attractive. Later, I also found the Golf Cart Tire Store http://www.golfcarttirestore.com/ They sell both golf cart tires and wheels at attractive prices.

Good to know. Thanks!

Good Info as always VK. The thing I like about Tire Tack also is,, not only tires. but brakes and all. You can call Tire Rack and tell them the vehicle you have and what you thinking about doing and they can help alot.

I will have to check out the site for the Golf Cart Tires and wheels.