Comments on: Buying Tires at Costco

By: Victor

Victor — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:54:00 +0000

Costco’s so called “lifetime rotation and balancing ” is really only good for five years or 60,000 miles. I just brought my van in to get the free rotation and balancing and they refused to do it because the tires were bought more than five years ago. I hardly drive this van so there is almost no wear on the tires, so its not like they were worn out. And they make you wait so long most customers will probably give up using the free service.
I checked with Discount Tire and they said their lifetime rotation and balancing really is lifetime, no time limit.

By: Michaeil

Michaeil — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:39:15 +0000

Anyone know if they use Road Force balancing at Costco? I was told that this is considered necessary nowadays to get proper balanced wheels.

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By: Ernie

Ernie — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:59:04 +0000

Hmmmm. I switched from Discount Tire many years ago because every, and I mean every time I was in the store to buy tires the guy waiting on me would take a phone call and talk for however long it took to whoever it was asking about tires. Then he would finish my order. I found that unacceptable. I switched to NTB and had stellar service until about the time they were bought out and the service and their integrity dropped significantly. I will try the Costco solution.

By: Ozzy

Ozzy — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:34:16 +0000

Tampa, that CONSUMER REPORTS TEST was not a real world test and really misses the point of Nitrogen. I would like to see if tires leaked less pressure when DRIVEN ON rather than just sitting statically. Yes Nitrogen should bleed/seep less through the natural pores in rubber (of a tire) and the pressure should fluctuate less with changes in temperature but those are only added/side benefits. The real reason much of the industry is switching to Nitrogen (with Costco leading the way) is because of that little tire pressure sensor attached to your wheel. All new cars and most trucks are now required to have a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) due to the TREAD act passed by congress in response to the massive Firestone tire recall in 2000. That sensor is an electronic device and would not be happy existing in a tire filled with air containing a lot of moisture. Ever fill your tires at a gas station? Bad idea, push the tip of the nozzle with a pen or you keys first and see how much water vapor shoots out before doing so. Many gas stations, and repair shops for that matter, have poor or poorly maintained equipment for removing water from their air compressors. When air is compressed the moisture condensates in the tank and must be removed or it will rust out the tank internally and spew that water into your tires. For this reason almost all air compressors have a pressure relief valve on the bottom to bleed air/drain water. Costco uses a device that bleeds the water automatically from their compressors a few times each hour. The machines that produce Nitrogen remove almost all the moisture during the Nitrogen manufacturing process. Costco has been using Nitrogen for many many years and is always looking out for their customers’ best interest whether they know it or not.

By: Clue

Clue — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:20:28 +0000

No offense Jake, but I’m quite sure that I never patronized the particular location that you managed and I’m very, very glad! In over 25 years of buying my tires at Discount Tire, I have never waited more than maybe an hour-ish. They have most often had me in and out the door for inspections, rotations, small repairs etc. in 15-20 minutes, maybe 30 if they are very busy. For full sets of tires, about 45 minutes-to-an hour has been the rule.

There have been maybe 4 or 5 occasions over the years when I’ve arrived at one of Discount’s locations and they’ve told me straight up that feel that they are too busy to give me service that is both fast and high-quality, and they let me make the call as to whether to stay or come back later. I have always chosen the latter and upon my return I have always been treated like royalty. I have found that they appreciate good customers every bit as much as I appreciate great service.

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:31:29 +0000

You people who are complaining about a 2-hour wait at a tire store obviously don’t have much experience with tire stores! I managed a Discount Tire store in Texas for many years. A 2-hour wait for service is not uncommon at Discount Tire or its competitors. It’s the nature of the business. Costco’s wait times are not unusual.

By: Tampa Slim

Tampa Slim — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:39:45 +0000

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2007/10/tires-nitrogen-.html
This is a consumer reports blog regarding nitrogen versus standard air. From what I read – the results are so tiny and nebulous to even worry about. Good marketing, little science.
It’s basically a push!!!

Regarding Road Hazard Warranty – Costco’s Warranty is tightly written and no better or worse than a Standard Warranty issued by a Tire Center. Warranties have “out’s” in them, such as the user MUST at all times keep his tires properly inflated. Who can honestly say they do that 100% of the time? So again no benefit for outside or inside Costco Tire Purchase.
Most all Tire Centers (as well as Costco) offer free tire rotation and pressure checks, so it’s another push. My experience has been that Tire Centers are quicker than Costco for a standard rotation.

So IF a Costco is properly located to your home and IF a Costco has a well reported Tire Center and IF you can get a decent coupon discount, you’ll be better off going with Costco.
But if you have to drive a long ways, don’t want to wait, or the Tire Center has poor management or over worked guys in there, I’d shop around.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:34:49 +0000

I use Costco for tires because, like you said, they’re cheap, and they’ll honor the warranty even if you lose your receipt!

I’ve been to the Austin location four times (three of which were to take advantage of the road hazard warranty), and the wait has varied between two to four hours. I’ve tried early evening and late evening, and those have been worse than the morning, for me. I’ll typically hop over to the Arboretum and work from Primo 360, or have a friend drop me off when the work is done. I’ve never done the rotation though; it’s just not worth the time to get a ‘free’ rotation.

By: Clue

Clue — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:39:00 +0000

Nitrogen’s benefits have not been proven to be especially useful in passenger cars, for a number of reasons. A product is only as useful as its particular application. That said, using nitrogen probably isn’t going to hurt anything, its just of dubious actual benefit in passenger vehicles.