How To Buy Tires Online

Tire Reviews

 

When buying tires online you should read plenty of tire reviews before you buy.  Especially if you’re going to buy really expensive tires. By expensive I mean any tire over $200 each. If you’re just going to buy the cheapest crap you can find, don’t bother buying online.

It will almost always be cheaper to buy cheap tires locally than online. The shipping cost’s are what kills the deal. But… if you’re looking for a set of Michelin PS’s for your Ferrari or Porsche, buying online almost always will save you some serious dough.

Tirerack and Discount Tire Direct are always within a few bucks of each other. Discount always say’s the freight is free which is total bullshit, they just add it into the price of the tire. I’ve compared a bunch of  tires at the Discount and Tirerack and the the price is always about the same total price. That’s the key, look at the total price, not just the price of the tires. Make sure to add in the shipping cost. Then you can compare and see what the best price is.

There is a certain amount of risk involved when you buy online, if you have a problem, all the money you saved is pretty much spent resolving the problem. Such as extra freight and labor to get and install a replacement tire. When you buy locally your local tire shop a lot of times will eat these costs when you buy from them. But will have no problem charging you up the ass when your tire from tim buck too go’s bad on you.

So you just have to weigh the risks when buying tires online. If you stand to save over $300 bucks, yeah, I’d take the risk too. But for a lousy $100? No. I’d support my local tire shop instead.