Charging for mounting and balancing when buying new tires???

[Clay]

I don't buy a lot of new tires anymore like I used to when I had multiple toys, no wife, and no kids. But when I did it was common practice (or so I thought) for places to mount and balance tires for free if you bought them from their store. This was always a big factor when trying to decide between buying tires online or from a local store because no matter how good a price you got on the tire, shipping and mounting fees (usually around $20 per tire made it a bad deal, or at a minimum a wash.

Today I went to price tires for the wife's car and was really surprised that mounting and balancing was an additional fee, regardless that I would be buying them there. After looking online I could save a few bucks because of this but not enough to really make it worth while. Anyway, is this common practice now or are my memories just glazed over rainbows and unicorn farts??

 

[threefiftyfour]

Fairly common. Tire pricing has become so competitive that they have to build profit in where they can.

 

[hot rod al]

Walmart charges $5 a tire for mounting and balance. I recently bought new tires for my dually ram over amazon and all the bigger tire chains quoted me at least $20 a tire which is bogus. That $5 covers them removing the tire, breaking it down, installing new ones, balancing, and torquing them to specs. Can't beat that.

 

[hopper68]

You have to watch where you go. I go to a small independent garage and he prices tires mounted, balanced, new valve stems installed. People say they can get cheaper elsewhere but by the time you add the mount and balance and new valve stems there is no comparison. Plus my guy knows tires, unlike most of the help at chain stores.

 

[Ricnzak]

Wait till you see what a alignment cost these days!

 

[sinnful]

I agree. It wasn't to long ago that it was free. Times half changed quickly.

 

[bulldogg]

with new car prices, and the economy being bad, people are fixing what they have, so repair and replacement of parts are going up also. just like every thing shop around for best deals.

 

[Kaiser]

normally the charge 10-15 per tire and 3.00 per each old tire to dispose of it usually a local mom and pop will have a better deal. Also check out your local new car dealers I know the Ford dealer here in town is very hard to beat on tires

 

[CountryBoy19]

Hmmm... guess it depends where you go. I always get my tires from Zurcher Tire in Monroe, IN. One of the largest Firestone distributor's east of the Mississippi River and despite how large they've grown, they still treat you like their a one-bay, hometown shop. Free mounting & balancing on ALL tires you purchase from them. It doesn't matter if they are used tires that you bought for $20 ea, or new tires, it's free... IMHO, best place to get tires hands down...

 

[hornadylnl]

Just like free shipping, do you think free mounting and balancing is really free?

 

[shibumiseeker]

Tieman Tire in Bloomington or Bedford get all my business since they have always taken care of their customers. They've fixed and balanced all my tires at no or very low charge and you can hang out and talk with the guys while they do.

 

[IndyBeerman]

Walmart charges $5 a tire for mounting and balance. I recently bought new tires for my dually ram over amazon and all the bigger tire chains quoted me at least $20 a tire which is bogus. That $5 covers them removing the tire, breaking it down, installing new ones, balancing, and torquing them to specs. Can't beat that.

I would'nt trust most Wal-Mart mechanics to wipe off my windows if they worked at a full service gas station.

Back in the early 90's when I had my 88 Ford Ranger XST 4x4 they continuously marked it down that they checked my front and rear differentials and transfer case oil level.

Three days after I had an oil change I had a rear universal go bad, I had it replaced, guy asked me if I wanted the differentials oil checked. Told him it was checked 3 days ago. He kindly replies that there has not been a ratchet in that plug for a very long time because the plug was full and had a 1/8 layer of crud over it.

Needless to sat I went back to Wally World and blew them a ton of crap about it and never went back there.

Now that is out of the way...

I bought tires from Tire Barn back in December and got the best price of all the dealers I checked, plus....

Tire Barn does not charge for mounting, balancing and also provides the below:

FREE New Rubber Valve
FREE Lifetime Rotation (every 5000 miles)
FREE Nitrogen Inflation
FREE Tire Storage Bags
FREE Manufacturer’s Warranty Service
FREE Precision Hand Torquing

Why Buy From Tire Barn

 

[eldirector]

My local Discount Tire charges for mount/balance when buying new. After that, I've never been charged, even for tires they didn't sell me. I've dropped off trailer tires for new valve stems, my off-road tires to be re-mounted (37" tires), and random patch jobs, and they always take care of me free of charge. As long as they take care of me, I'll keep sending business their way.

Tire pricing is as competitive now as ever, especially with Internet sales. Services are the only real profits, so shops have to charge for whatever they can.

 

[Leo]

This is part of the "great discount dillusion" as written in an economic text book in the 1960's. The last set of tires I tried three places, and all had to order in the tires I wanted. Two were chains, one was an independent shop that also was a tire shop. Both of the discount stores had almost the same price on a set of four. Buy the time they got the "other" charges added up the price was significantly higher. $12 each for valve stems...give me a break. The local shop gave me a price that was a few bucks higher than the chain stores. When I asked for the total, he said, that IS the total. Fully installed. Taxes. Disposal. I was so refreshed I paid him the $35 or so more than the "discounters" . Before he gave the car back he had a kid vacuum my car and wipe the windows. Then, get this. He looked me in the eye and thanked me, shook my hand and told me he appreciated me. I started taking both cars there for oil changes too. Always treated me fair and never tried to sell my wife something that was not needed, like the chains do. I can afford $50 extra every other year to make sure the job is done right, by someone I trust.

 

[bobzilla]

Hmmm... guess it depends where you go. I always get my tires from Zurcher Tire in Monroe, IN. One of the largest Firestone distributor's east of the Mississippi River and despite how large they've grown, they still treat you like their a one-bay, hometown shop. Free mounting & balancing on ALL tires you purchase from them. It doesn't matter if they are used tires that you bought for $20 ea, or new tires, it's free... IMHO, best place to get tires hands down...

I hate to tell you this.... it's still not "free". You just pay more per tire. Take from me, I deal with this all day everyday, tires are competitive. We here at the dealer can usually beat the local chain store prices tire for tire, except on their cheapo chain only tires that suck. You can pay $5 at walmart and hope they did it right, you can pay $20 at tire chain and let them strip your lugnuts, or you can try somewhere else.

Basically, you get what you pay for.

 

[bobzilla]

I would'nt trust most Wal-Mart mechanics to wipe off my windows if they worked at a full service gas station.

Back in the early 90's when I had my 88 Ford Ranger XST 4x4 they continuously marked it down that they checked my front and rear differentials and transfer case oil level.

Three days after I had an oil change I had a rear universal go bad, I had it replaced, guy asked me if I wanted the differentials oil checked. Told him it was checked 3 days ago. He kindly replies that there has not been a ratchet in that plug for a very long time because the plug was full and had a 1/8 layer of crud over it.

Needless to sat I went back to Wally World and blew them a ton of crap about it and never went back there.

Now that is out of the way...

I bought tires from Tire Barn back in December and got the best price of all the dealers I checked, plus....

Tire Barn does not charge for mounting, balancing and also provides the below:

FREE New Rubber Valve
FREE Lifetime Rotation (every 5000 miles)
FREE Nitrogen Inflation
FREE Tire Storage Bags
FREE Manufacturer’s Warranty Service
FREE Precision Hand Torquing

Why Buy From Tire Barn

Still not free. they may not charge you directly, but they are still charging you.

Another thing... "nitrogen"... what a friggin SCAM. the air we breathe is 78% nitrogen. MEdical grade is in the 97-98%. Most manufacturing grade is 85-90%. Not to mention that the is already holding air before they fill because of the volume. So at BEST you're looking at 80-85% true nitrogen in the tires. Give me abreak. Scam-o-la.

 

[85t5mcss]

Long story short. It costs money.

Longer version. If they quote you $100/tire to get you in the door then they have done there job. Now they do it, and charge you an out the door price. They must make money to survive as well. I'm not sure of your job or company, but do they charge a fee just so they can break even on the bottom line? Nope, they strive to be profitable. Gimmicks on freebies is just to draw you in.

Free rotation is built into the original price, free valve stems is built in to the tire price, free warranty is paid by their supplier, hand tightened isn't any better than torque sticks but both are better than a straight impact (don't let anyone use a straigh impact to tighten lugnuts).

 

[jcwit]

Why does one always need new valve stems when having a tire mounted new or not. The old ones aren't leaking.

 

[Brandon]

I bought my F250's tires this past fall new from Discount Tire's website. When they arrived I took them to Tire Barn and paid 10 bucks (each wheel) for them to take the old tires off, mount and balance the new tires. They even kept the "best" tire from the 4 and mounted it on a spare rim and balanced it as well.
$40 out the door.

 

[85t5mcss]

Why does one always need new valve stems when having a tire mounted new or not. The old ones aren't leaking.

Simple. Preventive Maintenance. The rubber seals and stem are affected by atmosphere, UV, heat, and salt. Safety measure. And for related sales, of course.