New car owner here, what's a good site for buying tires online?

[jcy]

I need to buy some tires for a 2017 540i and don't have a clue on how to judge whether or not a website is reputable.

Thanks,

jcy

[kevinb1994]

I need to buy some tires for a 2017 540i and don't have a clue on how to judge whether or not a website is reputable.

Thanks,

jcy

Nice, my dad drives a 2016 Z4. I'll recommend that you use a site like Tire Rack.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'll second Tire Rack.

[JayhawkCO]

And third it.  Way easier to do it that way.

Chris

[renegade]

Discount Tire.  Don't fall for the credit card trap, though.  Synchrony Bank sucks!

[hbelkins]

Your big issue may be finding someone who didn't sell you the new tires who's willing to install them for you, even at a premium price.

Walmart carries a big selection of tires, and I think they offer home delivery on them instead of having to have them shipped to the store and installed there.

[Takumi]

I've used both Tire Rack and Discount Tire's website in the past, and both were good. I currently work at a corporate tire shop owned by Bridgestone, and we've gotten Tire Rack and Simple Tire orders shipped to us for installation. (I am, however, on the way out of the job.)

[Dirt Roads]

Your big issue may be finding someone who didn't sell you the new tires who's willing to install them for you, even at a premium price.

I'll second this opinion.  But if your auto mechanic also sells tires, they will likely agree to install tires from an online dealer if they can't come up with a better deal (or in my case, couldn't purchase them from their tire suppliers).  I remember getting a great deal on an almost-new, never-sold pickup truck.  The day after the truck came home, I had to fly to New York and I saw the same set of tires "on sale" at TireRack in SkyMall for $444 a pop.  Worse, the tires wore out at about 37K miles (which was not much more than 18 months).  After looking for a replacement, I went directly to TireRack and only paid $149 a pop, plus $39 each to install.  Not sure how the price came down so much, but I didn't get much better wear and found a different brand that I could get from both my mechanic and the local tire dealer (best price wins).

Side note.  Back in those days, TireRack didn't charge sales tax.  We had an awful sales tax rate here in those days, so I had to pay an additional 8.75% consumer use fee at tax time.  Nowadays, we have a 7.5% sales tax (which is still the worst in the state).  It's only 6.75% next door in Alamance County.

[NJRoadfan]

Check your local tire stores pricing if they sell the brand you are looking at. Many of them tend to beat or match Tire Rack's price.

[bwana39]

Tire rack ships to the Bridgestone / Firestone centers.  If you have a tire store you do business with they may can order what you need and not mark them up as much as they do the stock ones. 

I know a guy with a used tire place and he will order me anything for 15% markup + mounting and balancing.

[kphoger]

Yeah, my mechanic is a Goodyear shop, but I buy my Kumho tires through him.  Then I don't have to find someone else to mount them.

[hbelkins]

I'm very price-conscious, but I would hate to order a set of tires online and then go to a tire dealer with four new tires and say, "Will you put these on for me?"

My brother did give me four tires off an old truck of his that I took out the road to a garage to have mounted, and they only charged like $10 a tire and that included balancing and new valve stems.

[Brandon]

Discount Tire.  Don't fall for the credit card trap, though.  Synchrony Bank sucks!

Depends on how you use it.  I've gotten the 6 months interest-free when buying tire, and have never paid Synchrony a cent in interest.

Nice thing about buying from a tire shop like Discount Tire is that the tires will be sent directly to the store, and they will take off and dispose of your old tires properly (most states prohibit used tires from landfills), and then put on your new tires properly (including replacing the TPMS sensors in the tires).

[hbelkins]

Discount Tire.  Don't fall for the credit card trap, though.  Synchrony Bank sucks!

Depends on how you use it.  I've gotten the 6 months interest-free when buying tire, and have never paid Synchrony a cent in interest.

Nice thing about buying from a tire shop like Discount Tire is that the tires will be sent directly to the store, and they will take off and dispose of your old tires properly (most states prohibit used tires from landfills), and then put on your new tires properly (including replacing the TPMS sensors in the tires).

My dad always kept all his old tires. And kept his used motor oil. They were great for starting brush pile fires. Throw a couple of tires on top of a big old pile of limbs and branches, douse the tires with oil, and set fire to it. Then rake through the ashes to get the wires (cords/belts) from the tires out of there.

[Rothman]

Discount Tire.  Don't fall for the credit card trap, though.  Synchrony Bank sucks!

Depends on how you use it.  I've gotten the 6 months interest-free when buying tire, and have never paid Synchrony a cent in interest.

Nice thing about buying from a tire shop like Discount Tire is that the tires will be sent directly to the store, and they will take off and dispose of your old tires properly (most states prohibit used tires from landfills), and then put on your new tires properly (including replacing the TPMS sensors in the tires).

My dad always kept all his old tires. And kept his used motor oil. They were great for starting brush pile fires. Throw a couple of tires on top of a big old pile of limbs and branches, douse the tires with oil, and set fire to it. Then rake through the ashes to get the wires (cords/belts) from the tires out of there.

Egads.  Never needed much myself to burn brush, let alone torching rubber.

[texaskdog]

Discount Tire.  Don't fall for the credit card trap, though.  Synchrony Bank sucks!

They are ripoff artists.  They warrantied my tires for 40,000 and at 17,000 told me I needed all new ones.  Their "warranty" was 10% off.  I should have gotten 4 new ones, even at a prorate they should have been more than 50% off.  They are great with if you get a nail in your tire.  I went to NTB and they charged me the same as the "warranty".  Bad news.

[texaskdog]

Your big issue may be finding someone who didn't sell you the new tires who's willing to install them for you, even at a premium price.

Walmart carries a big selection of tires, and I think they offer home delivery on them instead of having to have them shipped to the store and installed there.

Great prices but the guys installing them are often dumb as a box of rocks. 

[Sani]

If you have a Costco membership, they have tire centers at almost every store. Their selection is limited compared to a tire specialty store, but they include free rotation and balance for the life of the tire. They have a sale right now for $110 off any set of four Bridgestone or Michelin tires, or $150 off a set of four Michelins over $700. They always have one or the other on sale. If you don't have a membership but you get the Executive membership in order to buy the tires, you'll be well on your way to earning back the cost of the membership, too.

[kphoger]

If you have a Costco membership, they have tire centers at almost every store. Their selection is limited compared to a tire specialty store, but they include free rotation and balance for the life of the tire. They have a sale right now for $110 off any set of four Bridgestone or Michelin tires, or $150 off a set of four Michelins over $700. They always have one or the other on sale. If you don't have a membership but you get the Executive membership in order to buy the tires, you'll be well on your way to earning back the cost of the membership, too.

Are they the same quality as those same brand names at actual dealers, though?

For example, Goodyear tires sold at Wal-Mart are cheaper/poorer models made specifically for that market.  The ones you buy at a Goodyear shop may cost more, but they're also better quality and will last longer.

Most people just see the brand name and assume everything under that label is the same quality.  Nope.

[WillWeaverRVA]

If you have a Costco membership, they have tire centers at almost every store. Their selection is limited compared to a tire specialty store, but they include free rotation and balance for the life of the tire. They have a sale right now for $110 off any set of four Bridgestone or Michelin tires, or $150 off a set of four Michelins over $700. They always have one or the other on sale. If you don't have a membership but you get the Executive membership in order to buy the tires, you'll be well on your way to earning back the cost of the membership, too.

Are they the same quality as those same brand names at actual dealers, though?

For example, Goodyear tires sold at Wal-Mart are cheaper/poorer models made specifically for that market.  The ones you buy at a Goodyear shop may cost more, but they're also better quality and will last longer.

Most people just see the brand name and assume everything under that label is the same quality.  Nope.

I've gotten tires from Costco on a few occasions (for both myself and my wife's cars) and have never had an issue.

I second Tire Rack, and Discount Tire isn't bad if you don't let them give you the run-around and don't fall for the credit card trap.