PSA: Walmart ain't the best place to get your tires mounted

[TridenT]

No longer is it <$40 to get 4 tires mounted, balanced, old tires disposed of, and for new valve stems. It's about $80. They require lifetime balance/rotation for each tire. ($9/each + tax)

Didn't know this until I had them mounted and balanced on the car... :thumbsdown:

BUT, on the upside for me, I needed that stuff anyway. I'm going to be putting over 15,000 miles on these tires without any access to jacks or jackstands. (Traveling all over the USA)

 

[halik]

I don't think I've paid less than 15-18 a corner in years.

 

[someone16]

$80 is reasonable to unmount your old tires/put new ones in. What tire size you are running?

I can't imagine them making any making doing it for $40

 

[tortillasoup]

No longer is it <$40 to get 4 tires mounted, balanced, old tires disposed of, and for new valve stems. It's about $80. They require lifetime balance/rotation for each tire. ($9/each + tax)

Didn't know this until I had them mounted and balanced on the car... :thumbsdown:

BUT, on the upside for me, I needed that stuff anyway. I'm going to be putting over 15,000 miles on these tires without any access to jacks or jackstands. (Traveling all over the USA)

Is this a new policy? That's total BS that they would "require" lifetime rotation when in fact they always charged for tire rotation. Ima call my local walmart tomorrow and see if this is a nationwide policy. Which Walmart did you have your tires mounted at? For $20 a tire, I can have that shit done at America's Tire for $16 per tire and they fix flats, free rotation, etc.

 

[TridenT]

Is this a new policy? That's total BS that they would "require" lifetime rotation when in fact they always charged for tire rotation. Ima call my local walmart tomorrow and see if this is a nationwide policy. Which Walmart did you have your tires mounted at? For $20 a tire, I can have that shit done at America's Tire for $16 per tire and they fix flats, free rotation, etc.

Yeah, it's a newer policy. Apparently it happened a while ago and when I put on my tires there last time I must have barely made the cut.

 

[Jimzz]

Buy the valve stems at eBay and take them with you, save a little bit on that as well.

 

[tortillasoup]

Buy the valve stems at eBay and take them with you, save a little bit on that as well.

Yeah I do this as well except when you buy valve stems you need to make sure they use EPDM rubber. I currently buy my valvestems from napa as I can get a pack of 4 for like $2 but if I can find a high quality reputable brand for less somewhere else, I'll try that as well.

But OP is correct, Walmart has increased the price of their Mounting and Balancing of tires as I've confirmed by calling the Walmart in my area and they also mandate this "lifetime Balance/Rotation crap" which costs more and this totally sucks!

Their prices in my area are as follows: $5 mount, $9 balance, $3 PER STEM, $1.5 disposal=$15.5. So assuming my local America's Tire will still let me mount and balance tires on my vehicle for $16 per tire (I had to haggle that out of them) this kinda makes going to walmart pointless as I still have to buy my own valvestems which while not too expensive, puts it close to matching/exceeding my local tire shop's mounting price.

Walmart Tire Mounting Price Guide:
http://www.walmart.com/cp/1087266

 

[JulesMaximus]

Christ you guys are a bunch of cheapskates...

 

[Insomniator]

That doesn't sound bad at all. The local highly revered place I go to charges 20 bucks a corner and doesn't give you lifetime anything.

There is another local place that charges 45 a corner, now that is LOL worthy to me.

 

[TridenT]

Christ you guys are a bunch of cheapskates...

Some of us don't have a lot of money. >.>

 

[kitatech]

After 10k I went back to the used tire place that sold me 2 like new pull offs for $35/ea otd, and they rebalanced/rotated the tires for $40.

 

[Wuzup101]

I generally pay about $20 a corner to have tires mounted / balanced and they come with lifetime rotation (I usually have it done at sears). My local sears also allows me to be under the alignment lift with their mechanic so that I can have my alignment setup the way I want it (outside factory specs). They have also removed a few cracked lugnuts (the stupid locking ones) for me free of charge and generally been pretty awesome. Thus - they get my repeat business.

 

[JMapleton]

How often do you really get your tires mounted anyway?

 

[TridenT]

How often do you really get your tires mounted anyway?

Doesn't matter. It still costs money and is another expense on a car. It all adds up. I'll likely be getting my tires mounted again in a year and a half. I'm going to be putting 6,500+ miles on them in the next month on a road trip and then I'm going to be putting over 15,000 on them over the summer due to a long road trip around the USA.

 

[tortillasoup]

If your tires are only lasting 30K miles, you're buying shitty tires. Either buy used high quality tires in good shape or just fork over the money for tires that have a 60-100K mile tread life warranty. I like the Hankooks, the Michelin Defender looks interesting but my experience with Michelin is that as of late their tires are aging/weather cracking really badly for some reason so they may be a poor candidate. When I say aging, I mean I've got tires that are 2 years old and they already look like they're 10+ years old.


BTW, did you ever replace that PCV valve like was suggested to you TridenT?

 

[dawp]

after hearing a few horror stories about the work done by the auto dept. at walmart that is the last place I would take my car to get worked on. I wouldn't even let them check my oil.

 

[DaTT]

If your tires are only lasting 30K miles, you're buying shitty tires.

This statement is false....unless we're talking all season.

 

[waggy]

Farm and fleet was still $10 and they had free puncture repair.

 

[TridenT]

My tires are the highest rated all seasons on tirerack and were the best all seasons by consumer reports... Hankook H727's. They don't last that long though. Between 35,000-45,000 is what you might get out of them. I can't remember my cars mileage exactly, but I got <45,000 out of those tires. Closer to 38,000 if I am remembering mileage correctly.

I changed them when they were barely at the top to just below of Lincoln's head on a penny. I knew the tires wouldn't last 7,000 more miles in the reliable way that I needed. EDIT: They weren't down to the wear-markers yet, but getting there.

 

[tortillasoup]

My tires are the highest rated all seasons on tirerack and were the best all seasons by consumer reports... Hankook H727's. They don't last that long though. Between 35,000-45,000 is what you might get out of them. I can't remember my cars mileage exactly, but I got <45,000 out of those tires. Closer to 38,000 if I am remembering mileage correctly.

I changed them when they were barely at the top to just below of Lincoln's head on a penny. I knew the tires wouldn't last 7,000 more miles in the reliable way that I needed. EDIT: They weren't down to the wear-markers yet, but getting there.

Oh damn I have some friends that got those H727s and they seem to be getting great mileage out of them. Since you replaced them before they were down to the wear bars, I'm assuming you didn't have them warrantied.

 

[steppinthrax]

I would not go to Walmart to get tires mounted period. I imagine them fucking something up real bad. I would think they would compensate you well. But in the end what do you ultimately want a $100.00 Walmart gift card with a fucked up car that requires $1,000 worth of work, or a good reliable tire install with reliable tires.

 

[TridenT]

I would not go to Walmart to get tires mounted period. I imagine them fucking something up real bad. I would think they would compensate you well. But in the end what do you ultimately want a $100.00 Walmart gift card with a fucked up car that requires $1,000 worth of work, or a good reliable tire install with reliable tires.

Honestly, I don't think Walmart is that bad. I think most auto mechanics are just as reliable, if not less.

 

[KentState]

If your tires are only lasting 30K miles, you're buying shitty tires.

Huh? The Michelin tires on my car only lasted 18k and they run $1800/set.

 

[rh71]

^ summer rubber goes away faster than summer itself. Unless you're tracking a car, I don't see a point to the extra expense.

I love mud & snow rated all-seasons - no need to change twice a year like people stuck with summer/winter sets. Also have to have space to store the extra set. Lucky I don't live where there are snowy winters too.

 

[someone16]

I would not go to Walmart to get tires mounted period. I imagine them fucking something up real bad. I would think they would compensate you well. But in the end what do you ultimately want a $100.00 Walmart gift card with a fucked up car that requires $1,000 worth of work, or a good reliable tire install with reliable tires.

It's not any different at other shops. It's always going to be the high school kid/apprentice doing the tires. You can't really mess up a tire install unless you've got super low profile tires.