Lessons Learned: Searching for Winter Tires Edition (Bonus - Gratuitous Snow Drifting Photo Dump)

"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt) 12/21/2015 at 16:54 • Filed to: Winter Tires

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December is almost over, and New England hasn’t seen any snow yet. But I still need snow tires for when the inevitable occurs. I called a few local tire shops today to get a quote on “4 of the cheapest winter tires you have, please!” as I unabashedly put it. Surprisingly, the quotes I received were all over the place.

I’m looking for a set of 225/50/17s. Of course, the most outrageous quotes I received were from independent tire shops. After explaining to me that I could save money if I ordered slightly narrower tires (215s) with a higher sidewall, one shop quoted me at $104 per tire. That was the lowest price per tire anyone offered me today. But they were pushing a “deal” that included mounting, balancing, and an alignment.

“We’ll take $20 off each tire so you’re essentially getting an alignment for free!” he said. “Awesome, how much will that run me?” I asked. “That’ll be $739!” he replied eagerly. And that was the point at which I decided I was done talking with those people, because the average quote I received was around $650.

The best prices I found were a little under $550. Two out of the seven shops I called gave me a quote within that ballpark. Both of them were large chains. If I end up buying brand new tires, I’ll go with one of those options. That said, I have a feeling I can save a ton of money if I find tires on Craigslist. One of those chain stores charges $100 to mount and balance 4 wheels. So, if I can find a set of winters for under $400, I can undercut the lowest quote by at least $50.

Fortunately, Craigslist is chock full of winter tires right now. (Pro tip - if you’re searching for winters on Craigslist, just enter “winter” and the size of your wheels. Don’t bother entering exact sizes - I typed “winter 17” into the search field and found dozens of high quality ads). $400 dollars seems to be the magic number for a set of lightly used winter tires in my size. With a little haggling, that leaves me at around $450 after mounting and balancing. If the right set of tires pops up nearby, they will be hard to resist.

So, to recap - the highest quotes I received were $750, a whopping $300 more than simply mounting and balancing a good set of used tires from Craigslist. The cheapest quotes were around $550, or $100 more than the ~ $450 used market route. The essential question is: Am I willing to spend an extra Benjamin for the convenience and peace of mind that comes with a set of brand new tires?

The answer is: Definitely. I think I’ll end up going with the brand new tires. Winter tires are all about confidence behind the wheel. I’d rather have a brand new set than a potentially questionable set from Craigslist. Plus, given the amount of gas/time I’d spend searching for the right set of tires, my net expenditure wouldn’t necessarily be that much lower than $550.

If you’re in the market for winter tires, call as many tire shops as you can. As I found out, prices can vary by 20-30% depending on where you call. Craigslist is your best bet if you’re trying to save money, but unless you’re willing to buy a set of winters with a significant amount of wear, you won’t necessarily save that much. Finally, if you have larger wheels, your selection will be smaller and more expensive everywhere you go. At over $200 per tire, that 30% price difference can turn into an alarmingly large number, so calling around becomes even more worthwhile.

HammerheadFistpunch > Noah - Now with more boost. 12/21/2015 at 17:06

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Winter tires are pricey, granted I got nice Blizzak WS80, but with steel wheels the cheapest I could find was $680 before shipping, I ended up spending $760 local (with VW money)

Noah - Now with more boost. > HammerheadFistpunch 12/21/2015 at 17:22

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Yeah I was surprised by how expensive they were. Though there was actually set of used blizzaks for sale nearby priced at $400. Too much wear for my taste unfortunately.

HammerheadFistpunch > Noah - Now with more boost. 12/21/2015 at 17:23

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With winter tires, if there isn’t a LOT of meat on the tires, its not worth it.

Noah - Now with more boost. > HammerheadFistpunch 12/21/2015 at 17:30

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Agreed. I want to get a handful of seasons out of this purchase!

TahoeSTi > Noah - Now with more boost. 12/21/2015 at 17:31

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you know winter tires should be replace at 6/32 - 5/32 and that they lose 80% of their snow traction in the first 20% of wear...there is a reason people sell them on craigslist. Just buy a set of these new http://generaltire.com/tires/winter/a…

They are cheap enough....and they just got me out of a over a foot snow in my Subaru....my drive way is 200ft long with a 12% grade, I plowed right out of it with these....Don’t mess around with tires...after all.

“The Tires are the thing on the car that make contact with the road”

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > HammerheadFistpunch 12/21/2015 at 17:32

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Yep... that’s why I recently went the Nokian“4 season tire” route... paid a bit more, but then I only need one set.

So overall, it’s cheaper.

Noah - Now with more boost. > TahoeSTi 12/21/2015 at 17:34

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That’s a thought provoking statistic. My car is RWD so definitely, I’d feel more comfortable with fresh rubber.

TahoeSTi > Noah - Now with more boost. 12/21/2015 at 17:37

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The altimaxes are usually under $100/tire...i think I picked up 8 new tires for like $650-$700 when I bought two sets last year.

DrScientist > HammerheadFistpunch 12/22/2015 at 14:17

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i randomly picked up a car&driver while buying oil at walmart (aside: walmart, as much as i hate supporting the giant stores, has WAY better pricing on synthetic oils than anyone else) that had a winter tire review.

anyway, dont want to make you lose confidence, but they ranked the ws80s 4th, behind 1st nokian hakepalita(or whatever that’s called), 2nd the michelin xi3 (which i had and do feel is a great tire) and something else third.

they said the blizzak was as good as the nokian in stopping distance on snow and ice. but said they were surprised at how the nokian, michelin (and whatever that 3rd one was) had improved since their last test.

anyway, have you driven anything other than the blizzaks? and how do the ws80s compare? i’ve had blizzaks, pirellis (which seem like garbage) and the michelins.

HammerheadFistpunch > DrScientist 12/22/2015 at 14:26

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I’m not too worried, they seem solid

DrScientist > HammerheadFistpunch 12/22/2015 at 14:32

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yeah.... i’m sure they’re head and shoulders above any all season.