New tires from the dealership

[rico387]

I’ve had rims on two different trucks scratched up by tire installers. I had them both note condition of the rims on the work order, prior to their guys starting. The small store denied the damage, resulting in small claims court. The dealer made it right without question. I don’t have to have the cheapest price in the world. I just don’t want to leave with my stuff in worse shape than before I got there.
I go to the dealer for tires now.

 

[EddieC]

I looked into both recently. Price was similar BUT when I asked about rotations and balancing in the future....Dealer said free rotation but charge for balance $69.00 in the future. Discount will Balance and Rotate for free every 7500 miles. Say a 60,000 mile tire, that is easy 6 rotations at total of $400.

Plus I can make an appointment at discount and they actually honor the time. Not endorsing Discount over the dealership but I have 5 vehicles and for have used Discount for over 20 years with never an issue. Maybe good luck on my part, but i'll take it and the nationwide coverage 6 days a week. Had good experience with Costco also but....have to be a member.

And it counts to account for the time you invest getting it done.

 

[EddieC]

Apparently you guys have a different caliber of car dealerships than we do, and I am not writing about pricing.....competancy and ethics.

 

[BourbonNcigars]

Assuming you have a good dealer (or tire shop), it's not just the pricing, but the support if you have a tire issue. I'll pay a little bit more (and did for the 4Runner) for tires if I can let the dealership worry with the potentially needed replacement or balancing issues vs buying online and having that responsibility yourself.

 

[mountie]

America's/ Discount Tire will honer any new tires you bring to them ...just as if you bought the tires there. ( Also their website is full of tires & ship 'em to them.
I bought a '93 Mercedes 500 SL with pretty new tires already on it. They gave me their 'Road Hazard' warranty on them for $20 each!
I had always considered the employees as "car guys"....

 

[Stbentoak]

I've bought tires from Discount and Sam's/Costco. Both are excellent places to buy, but by and large Discount has been the easiest to work with and always made things right and if you scrap a tire, chances are they have it or can get it tomorrow. Not always the case with Sam's/Costco.
The big thing that is hurting Discount right now is the basic lack of employees. Appointments are booked well ahead or sometimes just not available and when you get there, there is just one bay functioning instead of the usual 3-4. Also, even with an appt you may still wait 30-45 min. Just a sign of the times I guess..

With any of them I always get the 1st appt of the day. Best chances of keeping moving.

 

[mountie]

Because I live in Florida, the Discount Tire is fully staffed ( as is all businesses in this state )

Down here, "covid" is just an annoyance ..... Just as a flu season. ( except to the "woke")

 

[H1Chester]

I don't think I'll ever go to Discount Tire again. My biggest problem with them is that they only do tires which is dumb. I was always taught to get a new alignment whenever you get new tires. One Discount location they were alright, and helped me out with a wheel and tire issue with Custom Offsets. The other Discount Tire location was very pushy and suggesting I buy a whole set of tires when I didn't really need to. Custom Offsets is one of the worst businesses on the planet. They knowingly shipped me a bad set of tires that would not balance. I took said wheels and tires to previously mentioned Discount Tire Co. The service tech told me that whoever balanced the tires at CO before shipping was either blind or clueless. At that DT they were cool and let me come in the bay to document the specs off the road force balance machine. The tires CO sent were way out of spec and impossible to balance on the wheel.

 

[R32driver]

I've bought tires from Discount Tire as well as other independent shops in the past but the thought of going to a dealership for tires never crossed my mind because of the stigma that the dealership is always out to get you. This just doesn't seem to be the case for the most part. With my leveling kit install the labor rate was actually cheaper at the dealership than another indy shop I've used in the past.