by Kevin Brasler

Last updated November 2024

Checkbook's undercover shoppers collected price quotes from a sampling of tire dealers in seven major metro areas for four specific models/sizes of tires. We included in our survey big tire chains, warehouse clubs, independent tire stores, auto repair shops, new-car dealers, and online sellers. We asked each seller to quote prices for four tires for each tire model, including mounting, balancing, and disposal fees.

Here’s a rundown of what we found:

  • Major price differences, with some outlets charging hundreds of dollars more than others for the exact same set of tires. For example, prices for a set of four Bridgestone Alenza Sport tires for the Toyota Highlander ranged from $930 at Costco to more than $1,400 at several other outlets—a difference of more than $450 or more.
  • Overall, warehouse clubs BJ's, Costco, and Sam's Club consistently quoted the lowest prices.But we also found deals when shopping at some independent tire dealers, repair shops, and even new-car dealerships.
  • Although warehouse clubs offered very low prices, a big advantage to using a conventional tire shop is that selection at warehouse clubs is fairly limited.
  • Online-only sellers also offered consistently low prices—with vast selection. These retailers ship tires to your home or to a local shop for installation. Among them, we found that prices at SimpleTire.com and Tirerack.com were the lowest. But once we factored in installation costs, the average prices offered by all internet-only sellers were higher than what we could get from warehouse clubs.
  • Stores that had low prices for one tire model tended to be competitive for others, but you can’t count on that. Some stores quoted low prices for one tire model but average or higher-than-average prices for others.
  • When shopping for price, specify exactly what you want. If you want mounting, balancing, and valve stems to be included, make sure quoted prices include that. And because there are so many tire models, many with very similar names and specifications, double-check the tire model by comparing its parts number.
  • Stores tend to specialize in certain brands, order some upon request, and refuse to handle others. They are likely to offer their best prices for their specialties.

You’ll also want your tires installed well. One way to make sure you get a good price on tires and quality installation is to order tires from a low-priced online seller (for the four models of tires we shopped, SimpleTire.com and Tirerack.com offered very low prices), and have them shipped to a top auto repair shop. Not all repair shops install tires, but many do.