You put in your vehicle year, make and model, how many miles you drive per year, and the ZIP code you drive in, and the system gives you a number of suggestions based on your input. You can prioritize handling, stopping distance, the life of the tire, and comfort and noise, and the system will give you a recommended list. Discount Tire offers free ground shipping in the 48 contiguous states. It has more than 600 stores nationwide, which sell a wide variety of tires (including Goodyear, Bridgestone and Firestone Tires). It’s owned by the TBC Corporation, which gets an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, though NTB does not have a separate BBB rating. Military.com provides discount information as a service to our members.
Goodyear doesn’t have stackable coupons, so make sure you choose your deal or discount wisely before completing your purchase. You can use its online search to find locations near you and then shop tires based on the year, make and model of your vehicle, by size and by tire brand. It advertises that it offers “brand name tires at the guaranteed lowest price,” and continuously runs deals, discounts and rebates on tires. It also offers tire and wheel packages and has a “visualizer,” which you can use to see what the particular tire and wheel combination might look like on your car.
We also spoke to Gene Petersen, tire program leader at Consumer Reports, about the testing. And we connected with Matt Edmonds, executive vice president at noted online tire retailer Tire Rack, for general tips on finding the right tires for you and saving money in the process. Firestone Complete Auto got “Good” scores on selection, free perks and installation time in the Consumer Reports study. In Consumer Reports’ survey, Costco scored only “Good” on selection, waiting area and installation time. It scored “Very Good” to “Excellent” in the other four categories.
You pay via credit card so you never have to have contact with the installer. The cost is the same as having the tires installed at a shop (and based on your vehicle). Start your tire search by using Costco’s tire selector tool where you can search for the right tires for your car with your year, make and model, license plate or size.
Get up to $175 cash back on select sets of tires when you purchase with the Goodyear Credit Card. When you pay for a tire install, you’ll get $80 off your set of tires at Goodyear. Whether you drive a sedan or a pickup truck, a sports car or a minivan, Goodyear has the tires to fit your needs. After all, more people ride on Goodyear tires than on any other kind. “There’s nothing wrong with 2-year-old tires that have been properly stored before being sold,” Edmonds says. He notes that proper storage means that the tires have been stored in a temperature-controlled space inside, out of the weather and sun.
For those on the hunt for a tire deal, Discount Tire does offer rebates and promotions that are always changing. You can see more about the most recent discounts and promotions here. Discount Tire says that if you’re not satisfied with your purchase, it will do its best to make it right. If you’ve bought tires online and they turn out to be wrong, you can return them, but the language in the return policy is a bit strict for Discount Tire Direct. You have to repackage them correctly with the original packaging or you could forfeit your return.
You can shop by vehicle type, tire size, tire type or brand on both sites. Once you’ve chosen your tires, the site directs you to find those tires locally and set up an appointment with the shop you choose. When you choose this option, you’ll notice that places like Costco show up as locations for installation goodyear all terrain tires (more on that below). While Bridgestone offers mobile installation (at no extra charge) in only one place in the country (Nashville), Firestone does not offer mobile installation through its site. Goodyear offers an online tire selector that you can use to choose the right tire for your vehicle.
You can also choose to shop in-store at a Discount Tire as well. NTB offers a unique feature in that when you purchase tires from it you get free, lifetime tire rotation at any NTB or TBC retailer. NTB locations only go as far west as Texas, however, and most locations are in the South and Southeast US. Goodyear has an entire Tire & Service Network that you can use to install any and all of your tire purchases on the Goodyear website. You can find a service center in your local area and schedule an inspection or a new tire installation with tires you’ve purchased from Goodyear.
The tire vendor also offers a pretty robust road-hazard warranty, too, for a price. While it offers a pro-rated and free road hazard coverage, it also offers a warranty that extends for three years. It covers road hazard damage for the first three years of tire ownership with its Certificate program that you can opt for when you buy and have tires installed at one of its shops. The prices can range from $10 to as much as $100 per tire, depending on how pricey the tires are. Earn cash back on select tires when you purchase items eligible for a rebate. When you purchase a full set of tires, you can earn money back on your purchase in the form of a prepaid card.