I have had very good experiences with Tire Rack when I bought winter tires, mounted on their own dedicated steel wheels. Their shipping was reasonably quick, and the way that they “packaged” the tires & wheels prevented any damage–at least for me.
That being said, I was able to beat TR’s prices by a signficant amount when I bought my Michelin Defenders a few months ago. Costco’s prices were definitely lower than TR’s prices, although Costco doesn’t do road force balancing, as TR does, prior to shipping. Luckily, these tires did not need road force balancing, so I was very happy to save over $100 by buying from Costco, rather than from TR.
I think that the biggest advantage for Tire Rack is for those who don’t live near tire retailers that have competitive pricing and/or a good selection of tire brands & models. Back in the days when I bought my winter tires from TR, getting winter tires from local retailers in my area was not an easy proposition. Now that winter tires are widely available, and now that Costco sells Michelin X-Ice tires, I don’t foresee having to buy from TR in the future.
It’s possible that they put 38 in all the tires, which is 8 pounds high and shouldn’t be done. And then one of the tires that’s on a particularly badly-bent rim is losing pressure due to that, so by the time you got around to measuring them it had lost a few pounds.
I had to buy one tire from TR recently (sidewall damage to a tire with less than a thousand miles on it - ouch.) They had the matching tire, shipped it out posthaste, and the installer we chose from their recommended list was a peach, a guy who had been in the buusiness for decades, owned his own small independent shop near us, and only worked three days a week, easing into retirement. He was careful, didn’t rush anything, and had a good senso of humor. I hope he’s still in business when we next need tires, but we drive so little it’s not likely unless we have another piece of structural steel attack a sidewall. While we were taking an elderly friend to the airport to catch a flight home to London that day. Oy. Luckily Hyundai still saw fit to provide a donut spare that got us to her flight and got us back home. No fun, though our guest was laughing, saying she knew we’d get her there, one way or another.
I’ve looked at Tire Rack a few times and I’ve ALWAYS been able to beat their prices. One thing I like about them is their accuracy of tires and wheels. They know what will fit. They also have software that allows you to look at new tires/wheels on YOUR vehicle with the Color option (factory color option only). That’s a nice feature.
8 years ago when this thread started, TireRack was the go-to source for specialy tires and wheel and tire packages and a good deal on everyday tires.
They still are the tops for winter tire packages or +1 or +2 wheel and tire buys. They will arrive complete, with centering rings, proper lug nuts, and will fit.
For garden variety tires, they can be matched or beaten on price these days. The reviews and tech info are still top notch.
Tire Rack has been my go to store for about 10 years. I get exactly the tires I want and have my top notch mechanics install them. Do I pay more? Probably. Is it worth it? You bet. I have about 43,000 miles on my 4 year old OEM tires, and I think I can get at least 50,000 miles before replacement. I’ll check Tire Rack when tread depth is close to replacement level.
Nowadays, I buy my tires at Costco, but about 25 years ago–before Costco carried winter tires–I bought my Michelin Arctic Alpin winter tires, and–later–Michelin X-Ice winter tires from Tire Rack. I opted for having them mounted on their own steel wheels, so that I could readily change them when appropriate. They arrived promptly, were perfectly-balanced, and were cheaper than the prices being charged by local tire dealers.
Nowadays, Costco does carry winter tires, but since I no longer have to go to work, I can just stay off the roads until they are cleared, and no longer see a need for winter tires.
I hear Costco prices are good. I just don’t have one near me that would make it worth me to join one. We have a place very similar to Costco called BJ’s which is owned by TJ Max corp. I use to buy tires from them until they turned over the tire department to Monro. For some reason when ever you brought your vehicle in for the free tire rotation they always seem to find something wrong. What a bunch of crooks. I stopped going and found this other place that sells tires. Little hole in the wall in an old factory, but they don’t pull that crap Monro does and their prices are EXCELLENT. BJ’s got so many complaints that they abandoned their partnership with Monro - at least in the BJ’s near me. But I’m not going back.
That’s interesting in regard to BJ’s. Many years ago, when both they and Costco were new to the area, I had a membership at both for one year in order to see which one l liked better (Costco was the winner, by a HUGE margin), but during that year I recall walking past the shop area at BJ’s on a few occasions and each time I was shocked by how grimy and debris-ridden their shop area was. By comparison, Costco’s shop area is spotless.
I suppose that the BJ’s shop was doing more than just tire installations, but–all the same–I would hesitate to use a shop that looked like the Coast Guard should be called in to investigate the oil slick.
I saw that Tire Rack article when it first was on the Car Talk site . My first thought was why did there not have a banner across the top saying ’ Paid Advertisment ’ . With all the links to prices I just could not take it serious .
A lot of that is a function of who manages the shop and local store top management. Any chain can have both well run and poorly run outlets. We had a Sam’s Club membership before the pandemic but let it lapse. Prices for most of our stuff are so good at Target and Aldi that we haven’t gotten a new club store membership.
There is no question about that. One can see it in terms of both comparative restroom cleanliness and having “sale” items available for purchase. In regard to shop cleanliness, I observed a slovenly appearance at two different BJ’s, but there could well be others where management made an effort to keep them clean.
