EdwardNorth

Hey all,

Costco is having a sale this month for up to 80 bucks off of a set of 4 Bridgestone or Michelin tires. I went ahead and ordered my Bridgestone S03 Potenza Pole Positions in the 245/45/16 size all around, and with the full $80 discount I'm getting them shipped, taxed, installed, and everything else for $816.44 total.

Other places I called (like Sears) wanted like $225 per tire and after shipping, installation, and everything else, it would have cost over a grand. How does this Costco price compare to other deals some of you have got?

I can't wait to get them installed! I'll definately have to break my 1/4 mile virginity once these are on and get my first timeslip.

If any of you are Costco members, or are just looking for tires and want a Costco membership, I'd highly recommend doing it before the sale ends on June 27th.

For those of you who have S03's, how have they been performing as well as holding up for you?

neofreak

Costco does this occasionally. At least once a year I suspect.

I couple years ago I got 4 RE730's for whatever they cost -$80 or -$100.

I skipped the next time I saw it.

dis1

Not a bad price but I'd still go with the tire rack. After shipping and mounting it might be $20 or $30 more total but I honestly wouldn't trust Costco to mount my Rx-7 tires.

EdwardNorth

Why's that? Do you know of anyone with any bad experiences with them?

adam c

iTrader: (2)

Mounting and balancing does not require a genius. I have had Costco mount tires on more than one car, with no problems.

AMRAAM4

nice tire but too heavy, I think there are better and cheaper choices.

rynberg

A very good deal, but I would also be wary of Costco mounting them. Performance shops typically are more careful with your wheels, do a better job balancing, and try to hide the weights for you.

Also, my sister went to Sam's and she drove out of there with all four tires at 50 psi.....

dis1

lol, whatever. I have seen scratched rims, bent rims, improperly balanced tires and improperly installed valve stems as results from mounting and balancing. The bad thing is that I suffered all of these things personally. (Not all at once.)

Bottom line is that, sure, you can go to jiffy lube for a simple oil change or Costco for some tire mounting but even though these things don't require a genius they do require somebody with an IQ greater than that of an ape.

But hey, maybe I'm just really unlucky. I personally now get my tires mounted at a wheel refinishing shop. I figure since they fix the screw-ups of other shops they will know how to avoid making those same mistakes.
dis1

EdwardNorth

How much does it typically cost to have tires mounted at higher quality shops?

I'll try to watch them working if I have it done there. I'll also be sure to bring my "measuring stick" to make sure my pressure is good when they're done.

REFLUX

My tires are always inflated at that pressure
50psi max is what it reads on the sidewalls

maxcooper

I took my daily driver to Jiffy Lube once and they pumped the tires up to the max rating from the sidewall, too. I explained to them that that was the "don't run more pressure than this or the tire may pop" pressure rather than the optimum pressure and they just gave me blank stares. They didn't understand, at all. I bet there are many people out driving with their tires at the max pressure. Poor souls.

-Max

EdwardNorth

One way or another, if they F up your rims they're responsible for replacing it. I don't consider this to be the same as taking your FD to a Mazda dealer for mechanical repairs.

If I feel comfortable with who's doing the job when my tires come in (and I can watch), I'll have it done there. Otherwise I'll just pick up my tires and go somewhere else for the installation.

PVerdieck

There have been a few horror stories with Costco. I was having them look at a flat and talking to the guy there. They had some real losers in other locations. One guy totally forgot to put the lugnuts on a car when the owner drove away. Fortunately he didn't make it out of the lot before the wheel came off.

PVerdieck

I have been happy with my S03s. I put some on at 8K miles. I forgot to rotate. The fronts still had good tread at 26K, one rear was below the indicators, and the other had been replaced, so it was in great condition.

Just remember not to push the carin the corners until you get 500 miles on those new tires.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

I got Toyo T1s in large 18" sizes locally for under $200/tire.... could have done S03's, but they are awfully heavy tires by comparison.

EdwardNorth

That reminds me, I forgot to mention that I will be bringing the wheels to the store already off of the car. I need to do an oil change anyway so I will throw my FD up on jackstands at home, take all 4 wheels off, and then reinstall them with the new S03's myself.

Hopefully that in and of itself will greatly reduce the chances of anything bad happening.

dis1

Yea, I did this once... I still got screwed. The shop I go to, as I said, is a wheel refinishing shop. They don't cost much more than other places. If I remember correctly I think they charge $15-20 a rim. Costco is cheap at around $6 I think. I took my Mx-3 to Costco once. They gouged the wheels to get the old wheel weights off but I expected problems and basically didn't care because the wheels are already crap. As another person here said the shop is responsible for replacing/fixing it but do you really want to deal with it? I know every time I had problems it wasn't worth the $10 I saved. Not only that but many of these people consider damage to the rims normal and look at you like you are crazy when you complain. Either that or they are like "we didn't do that, you brought it to us like that."

EdwardNorth

Can I do most/all/any of the prepwork myself? Like remove the old weights and even the tires completely? Or would that require access to a machine to do?

I called a performance shop near me (Munks) and they said it would be like 140+ for the job! No way. Goodyear quoted me 22 bucks a tire and Belle Tire quoted 14.50 with wieghts on the outside, 5 bucks more for weights on the inside. What's the big difference with where the weight is? (I'm a tire n00b)

Would you guys trust normal name-brand tire shops, or do you insist on "performance" shops?

Thanks for the replies.

rynberg

I would trust a name brand tire shop over Costco, probably. Weights on the inside don't mar the outside of the wheel and aren't easily visible. Don't know why they cost $5/wheel though.

dis1

I don't think you can remove the tires without a machine unless you cut them off. Honestly I wouldn't trust name-brand tire shops but they may be better than Costco. Many of my problems were at name brand shops.

As for the wheel weights that is a cosmetic issue. The important thing is to make sure they use a good tire balancing machine and not a "static" balancer. I had this once before I knew what to ask for.

$140 is too much. Try calling a wheel shop or a few other performance shops. You can also ask questions about their service at the normal shops. Ask questions about how they prevent scratches and if they do dynamic balancing. Check out http://www.discounttire.com/dtc/broc...ireBalance.jsp Most do but if they hesitate and don't know what you are talking about chances are they aren't up to the job. But the first step is educating yourself so you can spot the morons.

Basically find a place you can trust. This might be a performance shop or it might be Costco. It's up to you to find out what type of people they have working there and if they know what they are doing. I got sick of searching so I drive over an hour to get my tires mounted at the wheel refinishing shop I use. Personally I ALWAYS get burned unless I go to the best place possible.
dis1

EdwardNorth

Good advice, everyone. Thank for the replies.

I'll post how it went and where I went when the order arrives and my FD gets its new shoes!

Trout2

iTrader: (5)

Around here I can go to a couple of competent independent tire shops that sell decent wheels so they know how to handle them. Mounting and balancing is about $50-60 with tax.

I've been real happy with Toyo T1-S in 245/45/16 that cost around $640 with shipping plus mounting and balancing.

Jack

Jack

EdwardNorth

I was just thinking, how about a Mazda dealer? Will they do installation, and are they usually pretty careful?

rynberg

Most service departments/shops do not have the tools/experience to mount tires and balance wheels. There is nothing manufacturer specific about it, just take it to a place you trust.

adam c

iTrader: (2)

This is a little off topic, but here's a place that sells the Toyo T1s for $118 (245/45/16). That seems like too good of a price. I wish I had seen this before I bought my tires.

http://www.ec-securehost.com/OnlineT...Toyo_T1-S.html