Internet tire buying

My experience buying tires from The Tire Rack

1. Car: 2004 Impala SS
   
2. Miles: 40,000
   
3. Tire size: 235/55ZR-17 (Tire Codes)
   
4. All about tires and wheels
   
5. Original Equipment Tire: Goodyear Eagle RS-A
   
6. Installer:
   Plymouth Tire & Auto Center
   2995 Harbor Ln N
   Plymouth
   763-551-9800
   
7. Comments:
   
   
   
   1. I had projected that I would need to buy tires this year, but had hoped to wait until the Fall, but ...
      
   2. A shimmy developed in the right front that turned out to be ...
      
   3. Ply separation on the tire
      
   
   
8. I purposed to buy a tire as good as the original equipment tires and the same size, load rating, and speed rating (in my case, the speed rating is "W")
   

Vendor	Brand	Price
Midas	Goodyear Eagle RS-A	$ 306.00
Tires Plus	Bridgestone, Turanza ER300	$ 239.99
Tire Rack	Michelin Pilot Sport A/S	$ 201.00

1. Internet buying really facilitates price comparison of "apples to apples" (same size, same performance, etc)
   
2. I've had some negative experiences at my local tire store that seemed to me to border on "bait and switch" (eg. "we don't have the original size, but we have this size in stock").
   
3. Tire Rack had the Goodyear tire at $ 217 and the Bridgestone for $ 161
   
4. I chose the Michelin from Tire Rack. I've had excellent experience with Michelin in the past and that weighed heavily on my decision
   
5. I ordered the tires last Saturday. They were shipped directly to a local installer (Tire Rack has a recommended list in one's zip code). I chose Plymouth Tire and Auto at Hwy 55 and Fernbrook (by the Perkins and Wells Fargo). Tire Rack will ship the tires where you want: your home or your installer. I chose to have them shipped to the installer. I called ahead last Saturday and talked with a manager at Plymouth Tire and Auto and he confirmed that I could ship the tires directly to them.
   
6. I did have a shipping charge of $ 47.00 but I did not have to pay Minnesota sales tax (6.65%)
   
7. I bought the road hazard insurance (optional) of $ 97.00 for 4 tires.
   
8. I saved $ 60 in sales tax (so basically the shipping ($47) / sales tax ($60) is a wash
   
9. The tires were shipped from South Bend Indiana on Monday and arrived at Plymouth Tire and Auto on Wednesday. I could have had them installed Wednesday after work (as they are open until 7) but I chose to have them installed this morning.
   
10. Installation was $ 30 per tire (included $ 2.99 for new tire stems and $ 2.00 for Hennepin County tire disposal fee). This is a fee one would have regardless of whether I bought them at a local tire store or over the Internet. Tire Rack was up front about these prices (posted on their site) and when I called Plymouth Tire and Auto before I ordered, they confirmed these prices
    
11. We dropped the car off at 9 a.m. and they called at noon to say the car was ready.
    
12. We picked up the car at about 1:30
    
    

We did have one problem: the installer did not reset the tire air pressure monitoring system so after we drove about 10 miles, the dashboard LED indicated that inflation was low on one tire. We drove back to Plymouth Tire and Auto to have the air pressure checked. Each tire was at 30 psi. We looked at the owner's manual and saw that we needed to reset this system.

Conclusion: I saved approximately $ 100 per tire (x 4 = $ 400!). I was able to buy the correct size and quality of tire as I had originally. This was my first time buying tires via the Internet. I am pleased and I expect to utilize this method (and vendor) in the future.