Local Tire Shop Ripoff?

carpenj

carpenj

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Hey guys, I have a question for those more experienced tire buyers. I'm going to be buying my fiancee a new set of tires for her '09 Element 2wd on Thursday. I have pretty much settled on the Kumho Solus KR21's in 215/70R16. Tire Rack has them priced at $316 for a set of 4. My local tire shop just quoted me $675 for a set of 4 (installed, out the door)! Am I missing something here? Is it common to see such a massive difference in price? I know if I order them online I'll have to add tax, shipping, and installation - but I can't imagine that would amount to over $300. Thoughts, opinions?
 
webby

webby

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Local shops near me charge around $25-30 per tire for mount/balance/stems. So $100-140 for that. Then they usually charge a tire disposal fee to get rid of your old tires. Tax - whatever your sales tax rate is. Maybe ~$30-$35 in tax. There is a shipping estimator on tirerack that will say what your tax/shipping is. Check it out to compare.
 
Dar-Dar

Dar-Dar

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Tirerack is a whole sale retailer. Tireshops will always have the price closer to MSRP. You should just buy the tires from Tirerack and pay ~$85-$100 for mounting and balancing. Even then, you'll be saving well over $250.
 
Rudy@tirerack

Rudy@tirerack

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We normally have better prices. We have a recommended installer network and most of them install for $16-$18 each for tires this size. It sounds like you can save a lot of $$$ shopping with us. We also help the forum by sponsoring it which helps out the community. If you do purchase from us please reference the 9th Civic Forum.
 
VNPP

VNPP

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I recently had my tires removed, and then re- mounted and balanced in order to install my TPMS. The whole thing cost around $100, so I feel like buying from tirerack would be the cheaper option
 
carpenj

carpenj

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Monroe, LA
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Honda Civic Si
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Sedan
Rudy@tirerack said:
We normally have better prices. We have a recommended installer network and most of them install for $16-$18 each for tires this size. It sounds like you can save a lot of $$$ shopping with us. We also help the forum by sponsoring it which helps out the community. If you do purchase from us please reference the 9th Civic Forum.
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I placed my order with Tire Rack at around 11am CST today - hopefully I didn't miss out on any discounts! I'll have to go check the installer network and see if any are in my area.
 
Rudy@tirerack

Rudy@tirerack

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Send me a PM with your order # and I will make sure its marked as a referral from this forum. Thanks for your business!!
 
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carpenj

carpenj

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Monroe, LA
Vehicle Model
Honda Civic Si
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Sedan
I guess when all was said and done, the local tire shop wasn't a complete ripoff... they just couldn't compete with TR's prices, even with shipping (how they overnight 4 tires for $50 I'll never know) and install. I think my total ended up being just shy of $500, instead of 675.
 
Rudy@tirerack

Rudy@tirerack

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webby said:
Tirerack shipped the tires overnight for 50 dollars?
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Most of our ground shipping is overnight and $50-$60 is an average of what it runs for car tires. We are known to have some of the fastest shipping in the business. We have warehouses in CT, DE, IN, LA, NV, and GA so we can hit most of the country in 1-2 business days not including weekends.
 
squiggy

squiggy

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Rudy@tirerack said:
Most of our ground shipping is overnight and $50-$60 is an average of what it runs for car tires. We are known to have some of the fastest shipping in the business. We have warehouses in CT, DE, IN, LA, NV, and GA so we can hit most of the country in 1-2 business days not including weekends.
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When did you guys expand on warehouse locations? I seem to only recall IN and NV not all that long ago.
 
Rudy@tirerack

Rudy@tirerack

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squiggy said:
When did you guys expand on warehouse locations? I seem to only recall IN and NV not all that long ago.
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When we first started you are correct we had the Reno and South Bend, IN location we have been adding a location every few years since. This keeps shipping cost down if the warehouse is closer to you and of course improves shipping speed. Both are good for the Tire Rack and our customers.
 
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