Verdict on Sam's club or other big box tires?

[slag]

I stopped reading at your comment about nitrogen. From the studies that have been done the benefits are tiny compared to the inconvenience of not being about to refill your tires regularly at home or at the gas station.

Ditto

Most tires are filled with compressed air, which when dry consists of about 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent other gases by volume. Looks like I've been using nitrogen all along.

 

[bruceb]

I just put a set of 4 Pirelli P6 225/60-16 on my Grand Prix at Eurotire in Fairfield, NJ ... cost me $622 out the door, including the balancing and tire disposal fee. You do know that TireRack has some recommended installers and they can ship direct to them for you. Not sure if that would result in a discount for the install costs. As to tire quality, I am sure all the stores are getting full quality from whatever brand they buy.

 

[Lou Dastous]

I just had a conversation with a representative of Goodyear at their corporate office,she informed me that as they do make different tires under the Goodyear name for Sam's Club, these tires are made in the very same way as their other tires,she also stated that if you are buying a Goodyear name brand tire(ie.Wrangler,etc)you are getting the same tire that they would sell to any other dealer,so if a dealer tells you that Sam's Club tires are of a lower grade then they are telling you a fib just to get your business for more money,DON'T BELIEVE THEM ! ! ! posted 3/26/2019

 

[RLGL]

3) They use Nitrogen to inflate their tires. Some tire shops are still using regular air.

It really doesn't make a difference. I had Costco put a set on for me. when I got home I checked the torque and the pressure, both ok. This was last October. When the weather got cold I had to increase the pressure to get it back to spec. So much for nitrogen.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I stopped reading at your comment about nitrogen. From the studies that have been done the benefits are tiny compared to the inconvenience of not being about to refill your tires regularly at home or at the gas station.

It isn't that you can't refill them with gas-station air. You would not maintain the benefits, no matter how marginal, of nitrogen gas.

If I lose air nitrogen in a tire, I drive the two miles to my regular tire reseller and have it taken care of free under my tire warranty.

I've bought tires at COSTCO. I don't shop at Wal-Mart for political reasons, and it's a longer trip from home. Eventually, I bought tires at COSTCO and had them installed at Allen Tire in So-Cal -- particularly their local store in my town.
Given their service and their tire recommendations to me subsequent to the COSTCO purchase, I buy my tires there; have them serviced there; have all my brake and suspension work done there. It's a long-term business relationship. I'm in their database; they know everything I need to them to know; and they don't rip me off.

I use a separate auto repair shop for everything else. COSTCO is fine. Wal-Mart is your choice. But you need to have your ducks lined up about who does what, with which, and when.

 

[desy]

I would definitely do that. . . . but since my local shop which does all my other work including my seasonal changeovers and storage I still get them from there. A little more expensive but the relationship I have there has paid itself over

 

[ElFenix]

Why are we capitalizing COSTCO?

I buy my tires at COSTCO. I might get my next battery at COSTCO. When my tires are low I use my bicycle pump and put more air in them.

Edit: I see it wasn't COSTCO that did the suspension work. Pronouns are horrible.

 

[nOOky]

I've been using Sams Club for my tires for years, no problems. I always buy better tires (imho) like Michelins anyway, I don't skimp on tires. As for mechanical abilities even the local shop can miss a lug nut here or there, or a drain plug. I always check the lug nuts to make sure they are tight when I get home after having new tires installed, and I look under the car for oil drip after an oil change. Sams Club recommends you come back after a few miles and they recheck the lug nut torque, my local one has at least a competent mechanic I think, I chat with him while he's doing it to get a feel for what he knows.

My local Ford dealer has screwed up twice in the past, it seems like I always get the new guy working on my car when I go there.

 

[mindless1]

But how many people actually do, and how many technicians will actually look and say "hey, this tires 4years old already so you should pick out another set?" Having information available is useless if no one utilizes it.

It's just like with lugnuts, the technicians should properly torque them down and the customer should always check themselves before they start driving, but how many people actually do?

Obviously that is why it was mentioned. You tend not to need to mention things that everyone does anyway. However the important detail is ask about the date BEFORE buying the tires, before they've mounted them, even before you bother to go to the store if you can get them to check ahead of time before a potential commitment to buy if they're new enough.

Not quite the same with lug nuts because the average car owner doesn't own a torque wrench to check that while (hopefully) everyone has eyeballs to look at a date code to confirm the date the seller told them when they asked about it. Many shops do not let customers into the bays to play with their torque wrench to check that, something something liability of customer getting hurt in the shop area.

I just check the torque when I get home, to be sure some shop monkey didn't torque them till their impact wrench wouldn't go any tighter, to be sure they're at the right spec so there won't be any trouble removing them in the event of a roadside problem. I've often found them to be overtorqued but never loose... though I suppose it's possible.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy the same make and model major brand tires at Costco, Walmart, etc. as long as they're under 18 mos. old or priced low enough to offset the shorter anticipated lifespan. The whole binning quality to send to different retailers and wholesalers, I don't buy into that. A major manufacturer doesn't want to blemish their name, except you can sometimes find cheaper blemished tires, white lettering not quite perfect but so many these days have no white lettering nor whitewalls.

Plus, a tire that's defective will be a liability for the manufacturer. As far as using different rubber on the same make and model of tire, that makes no sense to have to set up a second manufacturing line to do that, would probably be more expensive than just using the same premium rubber for all of that model, and it would change the specs.

 

[KentState]

I've looked at Costco, but there doesn't seem to be much benefit over the other tire stores in town. Prices are pretty much equal and tire shops have a larger variety available. At least around here, they are also more loyal when things come up.

 

[Exterous]

I've looked at Costco, but there doesn't seem to be much benefit over the other tire stores in town. Prices are pretty much equal and tire shops have a larger variety available. At least around here, they are also more loyal when things come up.

I tend to buy Pirelli P7 all seasons and can almost always find them cheaper elsewhere than Sam's or Costco. The last ones I got at Walmart because those were less than Sam's for some reason.

 

[JEDIYoda]

So you think if i went to sam's and bought the exact same tire thats listed on tirerack, same model number, load and speed rating etc i should expect it to be of lesser quality?

No you will be just fine and you will get the quality that you pay for!!