i'm in the market for new tires and i'm probably going to end up getting falken ziex 512's. i've got a set of falken 502's that i've had on my car since 2001 so i'm a little scared something bad will happen pretty soon. i was wondering if it would be better to order the tires online through discount tire or just drive down the road 2 miles and get them at their store. i'm assuming the tires will be priced a little more at the store since there won't be a shipping cost, but which place would i be better off getting them through? would the shop mount and balance the tires for free if i ordered them through the online store?

 

yes, the actual discount tire store is obligated to mount the tires up for free, but you arent covered under the lifetime free mainatance on the tires which is flats, airchecks, inspections, rotations and rebalancing

 

just went to discount tire and got a quote for about $600 on tires ($680 w/ road hazard). the guy told me they would charge $6/wheel to remove old tires and $20/wheel to mount and balance new tires if i ordered them online. if they are obligated to mount my new tires for free then it will be cheaper to order online. the price came to $581 shipped w/ road hazard online so i can just rotate the tires myself if it saves me $100.

 

you can rotate yourself, but you cant balance, and that costs around 20-25 bucks or so, and factor in about 2-4 rebalancings in the life of those tires

thats why direct appears less than the stores, they just have the price of the tires themselves, none of the labor factored in that the stores have

your choice

 

I get all my tires from Discount (the local shop) and have been very satisfied. I get my tires balanced & rotated every 7000-7500 mi. included in the purchase price. Last time I bought tires, the price included everything, tire, mounting, balance, road hazzard, etc. The tires I bought were cheaper w/ everything than another tire shop w/ tire only price. The only thing I don't like is the wait for balancing, 1-2.5 hrs. If they don't have the tires you want, they will get them usually w/in a week.

 

i work for a discount tire store and another thing you have to think about is the road hazzard with us is you buy the coverage which i think is like 6 bucks a tire or so(i work in the back so i am not for sure on the price) but say you get a nail in the sidewall and the tire is half worn anyother tire shop would prorate and make you pay for half of the new tire you would need where our store would put one on for free. just something to think about.

 

1-2.5 hours for balancing?! what, are you getting the road force ride match balance?!

i can roto/balance something like an fbod in 15 minutes myself once it gets in the bays

 

It takes that long b/c I usually go on Sat. morning, their busiest time.

 

ah..yea, saturdays are HELL