If you want to save some money on your next set of tires you will need to do some research before you drive into your local tire store. Otherwise you will get stuck in that familiar pattern and end up paying more than you really wanted. You know how it goes. You get to the front counter, someone shows you some tires, you pick the cheapest ones, they don’t have them in stock, you pick the next cheapest, then the salesman points out how this *really good* tire is only a few dollars more, on special. You start feeling peer pressure because there are people in line behind you so you just say “OK” and pull out your wallet and start the process of convincing yourself that you really did get a good deal.
Ask me how I know.
If you want to avoid the usual, if you want to avoid spending almost $700 on a set of tires for a little sub-compact, then you need to be prepared and you need to give yourself time. I love to use Discount Tire because it is convenient and they really do have good service. I have had many flats fixed or repaired over the years, and air pressure, rotation and balancing are all included when you buy your tires from them. And they usually give a decent discount when you bring in a set of tires that may have worn down ahead of their normal warranty numbers. And yet I really did spend nearly $700 for my last set of tires, which will have maybe 500 miles on them when I sell the car this month. No, I didn’t do my research, did I?
Your first problem here is the vast amount of tires that are available. Dozens of manufacturers and brand names are out there, and each one of these has a bewildering array of sizes and types and tread patterns. The easiest choice is whether to buy a passenger car or truck tire. Once you are past that, you need to think about the weather where you live. Dry weather and wet weather have different needs, but all tires need to be able to handle water on the road. The farther north you live, the more you need to consider all-weather or winter tires. And if this vehicle regularly goes off of the pavement, that’s another entire category of tires. After that, most of the choices are marketing hype and prices and mileage warranties.
A good place to start is Consumer Reports. They do unbiased testing on tires. You will have to pay, but you can purchase an online subscription and keep it for 30 days for under $10, well worth it to help you narrow down your choice for cheap tires. As recently as October of 2010 Consumer Reports showed that even a good ultrahigh performance tire could be found for around $100. They also noted that prices differed from outlet to outlet and, seemingly, week to week.
