Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to John Welsh :
That's a little strange, because every indie shop where I have worked had zero markup on tires. We sell them for what we pay for them and only charge for mounting and balancing. We mainly sell tires to keep a current customer from going somewhere else and becoming someone else's customer. If you bring us your own tires it makes no difference to us. Heck we used to have people drop-ship their tires from Tire Rack to us, not as a "preferred installer" but as a shipping destination.
That said I have seen a trend in the last five or six years where people go to Costco for tires and come back to have us do the alignment and other services. Suits me fine
Tire Rack is often the same or cheaper than our local tire suppliers, but we're talking a couple dollars on a $180 tire. The part that amazes me is that if I order from TR before noon, I get them before noon the next day.
Same with my local shop. I've often had tires from Tire Rack shipped directly to them if my van will be there for annual inspection anyway. They have also said Tire Rack prices are often less than they can buy them for.
