Is it worth paying an extra $60-$70 per tire and get the lifetime rotations, balancing, road hazard, etc. from a store?
If ordering online and then bringing the tires to the local shop - do they typically charge the same for mounting, etc. as they would for tires you buy directly from them?

Seems like ordering online offers some good value, but am I going to get nickeled and dimed when bringing the tires in to get put on?

 

When I bought my Revos, I had done buisness with "The Tire Rack" before and was going to buy from them. I was at a tire shop I had done buisness with before and told them I was going to buy from "The Tire Rack" and what would it cost for them to mount and balance the new tires? The tire shop sold me the exact same tires for the same price and threw in mounting and balancing, plus rotating and warrentee are local.
You might ask.

 

I bought my tires from Sears and they matched an online price. Print the internet deal and see if your shop will match. A lot of shops will jump at the chance to steal an internet sale. Even if they can't match it, they should be able to get close and you can try to work a deal on mounting & balancing.

 

WE offer mounting and balancing on our wheel and tire packages. WE also have pretty competitive prices. If you buy tires off the net and try to get some shop to put it on, they will typically give you a descent deal in hopes that next time you will come to them for the tires. So if i were you i would ask around and see what the local shops can help you out with.

 

I recently purchased 4 new BFG G Force T/A KDW's 285/55/20's off e bay for $599.+ 105 shipping , Tire Rack was $888. + 74. shipping, Town fair Tire would match tire rack, but wouldn't consider matching the buy it now e bay deal. So there was a $258. savings. that will more than pay for the balancing and 4 wheel alignment after mounting. so I wont get a Road hazard warantee but Ive had decent luck in the past, so Ill keep my fingers crossed.

 

$60 to $70 a tire is ridiculous. They can get closer on price than that.

 

285/55/20 BFG G Force KDW Town Fair tire $264. ea , Tire rack $222. ea, E bay with buy it now $176.ea including the shipping, Town fair would match tire rack but not the E bay deal. so thats a savings of $46. per tire x 4 =$184 that will more than pay for mounting , balancing , and a 4 wheel alignment. I would have prefered to get it all at the same place even at a little higher cost because my time is money also. But I believed this amount of savings was worth the time Ill spend running around. ============= ======

 

In person is only important when you have a problem with the transaction that needs to be resolved. But when that is the case, it is nice to be able to walk into the place where made your purchase and speak to someone directly.

If the prices end up not being to far apart, I would vote for in person. Sometimes its worth spending a little more occasionally to keep you local guy around and to have a working relationship with him.

Sometimes you just get such a good deal going online you can't pass it up.

In the long run though, it seems like the old sayings are true, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and you get what you pay for.

Just my opinion, whatever that is worth.

 

I'd try to get a place to match the deal. When I got my tires I payed 8 bucks extra for road side and hazard. Sure enough I got a nail in my tire. Patched/plugged for free. I like knowing I can do that...

May be cheaper in the short game... but its the long game that counts...