Which Stores Drive the Best Tire Bargains?
Last updated November 2024
Our undercover shoppers found major price differences among tire dealers for the exact same sets of treads—we found we could usually save $500 or more by buying from a low-cost store.
The table below shows prices our undercover shoppers were quoted by a sampling of local tire dealers—including big chains, warehouse clubs, independent tire stores, auto repair shops, new-car dealers, and online sellers—for four specific models/sizes of tires: two sets for a Honda Civic and two for a Toyota Highlander. We asked each seller to quote prices for four tires for each model, including mounting, balancing, and disposal fees.
The table also reports Consumers’ Checkbook’s price comparison score for each store or chain. These scores show how each store’s prices compared to the average of all stores’ prices for the tires we shopped. We adjusted the scores so that the average of all stores equals $100. A score of $105, for example, means prices averaged five percent higher than the all-store average.
Note that for online-only retailers, which don’t offer installation, we added to their tire prices the average cost for installation quoted by local shops.
Here’s a rundown of what our undercover shoppers 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 $1,622 at Westside Tire—a difference of $692.
- Overall, Costco, Sam’s Club, Tires Plus, and the locations we surveyed for Firestone Complete Auto Care had the lowest prices, but we also found deals when shopping at some independent tire dealers, repair shops, and even new-car dealerships.
- Although Costco and Sam’s Club offered very low prices, a big advantage to using a conventional tire shop is that selection at warehouse clubs is fairly limited.
- Surveyed stores for other large chains operating in the Twin Cities area—Discount Tire and Walmart—also quoted prices that were lower than average.
- 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 Costco or Sam’s Club.
- 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. Here at Checkbook.org you’ll find ratings and comments from local tire buyers we surveyed to help with that. You’ll see that some tire shops get poor reviews from an astonishingly large share of their customers.
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-rated auto repair shop. Not all repair shops install tires, but many do.