Interesting tire shopping drama I'm in the middle of...

[bull]

My Durango has three of the four OE Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires on it that are pretty worn out plus one Goodyear Tracker 2 that was a free replacement thanks to Walmart's "expert" tire technitions who screwed up a flat repair. I decided a long time ago I was going to get a new set of tires this fall so I've had lots of time to prepare. What I've discovered is that tire shops apparently have a lot of wiggle room on their prices and in many cases are willing to negotiate and compete with other shops, especially if they are a rival brand.

A little history:

First off, I began researching the best SUV tires according to the reviews on tirerack.com. Turns out that the Firestone Destination AT and the Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor are tied for first in the best all terrain tire category.

So I got my first quote from a Firestone dealer: a set of 4 for $532. Right off the bat that beat the hell out of any Wrangler price I could find after checking with six places. Then, a new Goodyear store opens in my area and they are hungry for sales so I stop in there and get a quote from them for $704 (after a mail in rebate). Still a bunch higher than Firestone so I wait. A few weeks later I call the Goodyear guy back (I really want the Wranglers) and tell him about my Firestone quote. He says ok, I can get you the Wranglers for $651 and then he asks me to make sure the Firestone ATs can be used as "traction devices" in the snow. So I call Firestone back to verify this info and they tell me that the price of rubber has gone up and the old quote of $532 is no longer valid and has increased to $612 plus $87 for the road hazard add on. So suddenly the Firstone tires are $699 and the Wranglers are $651 so I call the Goodyear guy and tell him to get them in stock, I'm ready to buy. Then, on a whim I call five more Firestone dealers for quotes and one of them turns out to have a quote that's substantially lower ($488) because they're having a buy 3 get one free sale. So today I called Goodyear back to find out if they can beat $488 and I'm waiting to hear back.

Anyway, I didn't know that this went on so I just wanted to let you guys know that tire prices are not set in stone and you can get good deals if you really take your time and shop around. Also it doesn't hurt to pit one shop against another, just like buying a car. If the Goodyear guy can beat $488 I'l be really surprised but if he does that means he will have dropped more than $250 off his original price of $744 quoted on Aug. 4. I'll keep you posted...

[White trash]

Tyres "Tires" are an expensive investment alright, one too many people skimp on I can tell you from my experience in managing a tyre store.

Just one question. Have you thought about the ethics involved on asking a supplier to order stock in and then ask him to discount that by almost $200? I'd be a little pissed if it happened to my store, I'd essentially have taken your word that we had an agreed deal at the original price when you asked me to order the stock.

Just a thought.

[bull]

Tyres "Tires" are an expensive investment alright, one too many people skimp on I can tell you from my experience in managing a tyre store.

Just one question. Have you thought about the ethics involved on asking a supplier to order stock in and then ask him to discount that by almost $200? I'd be a little pissed if it happened to my store, I'd essentially have taken your word that we had an agreed deal at the original price when you asked me to order the stock.

Just a thought.

Order stock in? Are you saying I should feel bad for asking a Goodyear store to transfer Goodyear tires from another Goodyear store? Does that not happen like, what, every day? Maybe two or three times a day? I guess I really am a heartless ogre if that's considered unethical. Maybe I should be pissed that he didn't give me his best price up front? By your standards it sounds as if he tried to scam me for about $115. But that's ok, right? It's ok to milk the customer for all he's worth but not ok for anyone to inconvenience the saintly tire guy with a bothersome stock transfer. Don't worry, white trash, I'm sure a week from now the guy will sell them to some hapless impulse buyer for the original $744 he quoted me and all will be as it should be.

BTW, he did drop his price by another $12.

[Rolling_Thunder]

Whisky Tango - I see your point but then again if thats what it takes to make a sale      

[White trash]

Order stock in? Are you saying I should feel bad for asking a Goodyear store to transfer Goodyear tires from another Goodyear store? Does that not happen like, what, every day? Maybe two or three times a day? I guess I really am a heartless ogre if that's considered unethical. Maybe I should be pissed that he didn't give me his best price up front? By your standards it sounds as if he tried to scam me for about $115. But that's ok, right? It's ok to milk the customer for all he's worth but not ok for anyone to inconvenience the saintly tire guy with a bothersome stock transfer. Don't worry, white trash, I'm sure a week from now the guy will sell them to some hapless impulse buyer for the original $744 he quoted me and all will be as it should be.

BTW, he did drop his price by another $12.

Please don't take it as a dig Bull, coz it certainly isn't that. I'm sure that over there tires are probably sold in much higher quantaties and god knows the prices are great. For example we'd pay probably $250-$300 per tire for Wranglers here, depending on the size.

From my perspective though, having managed a tire store in years gone by, a set of RV tires was that may sit for 6-12 months before anyone enquired about them again was a big investment to the store. Of course, although we were Dunlop and Goodyear dealers, we were stilll an independantly owned shop and the money to purcahse stock had to come from somewhere. I do agree though, competition is healthy and makes sure the important person (the customer) gets the best deal possible.

Just looking at it from the other side of the coin is all

[bull]

I certainly didn't force them to transfer the tires in fact I didn't even ask. They offered to transfer them and as far as I was concerned I was going to buy them. It dawned on me later that I hadn't really checked on enough Friestone prices.

What I don't get is why they have to charge so much more for the Goodyear tires? It's not as if they actually cost much more to make, and if the Firestones are rated the same how can they demand more money? It wasn't until recently that the Goodyear Silent Armor tied the Destination at #1 anyway. It used to be at #3 behind the Perelli Scorpion and the Destination.

[White trash]

We have the same issue over here regarding huge differences in tire prices for seemingly a similar product.

BFG, for example, are horendously expensive when I'm told they're one of the best priced tires in the US. Also, the Firestone RV tires we get are a grossly inferior product to the likes of Goodyear, BFG or Bridgestone. They're marketed as a budget tire and perform as such.

[bull]

I initially wanted the BFG AT but refused to pay $800+ for a set of tires. I think they are awesome tires but they didn't rate as high and cost almost twice as much.

[White trash]

I initially wanted the BFG AT but refused to pay $800+ for a set of tires. I think they are awesome tires but they didn't rate as high and cost almost twice as much.

Now THAT's a hard pill to swallow. I had BFG A/Ts on a Landcruiser I bought, they'd done 30000 miles when I got it, and did a further 20000 before I sold it. Loved 'em.