TIRES ??'s #@$%^%#%&# & SAM'S CLUB

[dseabaugh]

Wife told me not to give up on finding a GOOD set of tires . Guy from Tire Rack told me that he located a set of Pirelli Scorpions for me so I told him to put them on a truck. shipped today. Paid an extra $18. 00 per tire over the other quotes, but suppossedly these tires actually exist so that they could ship. Why does everyone tell you they have the tires on the phone and when you go to pick them up they don't and want you to order them? I have 5 trailers, 2 trucks, 3 tractors, a workman, 3 lawnmowers and a car. with up to 10 tires on one vehicle; that is a lot of tires. Do think I would actually come back? Hope I can live with driving on a foreign tire. Guess it doesn't matter since I drive a mexican truck.

 

[surfbeetle]

Man I love Costco and my Michelins...

 

[ssanders60]

Sam's Tires

I always buy my truck and car tires at Sam's also for my daughters

Jeep. You have to know what tire you want and you can do that on

their webb site. The only thing I've seen Sam's not do and that is pay

for breaking a lug on a wheel when taking the tire off of a car they

have never serviced. That's fair enough.



I have seen blemish tires sold at Sears years ago, but the blemish might be in

whitewall or some other insignificant area, but never a serious blemish that

would be hazardous, after all that would put the manufacturer at risk.



Save your money, buy at Sam's.

 

[Skydiver]

Let's please put something to bed. BFGoodrich does not make a cheaper version of there tires for Sam's and Walmart. They are the same BfG tires you would get anywhere else. My wife works at BfGoodrich and they do not do that. They also have not sold blems(even cosmetic) in years due to liability and quality control. Tires that are defective in any way are destroyed and recycled. They don't even offer them to the employees anymore. The reason for the lower prices for Sam's and Walmart is that they are the #1 and #2 volume retailers of BFG tires. They buy in such large numbers that no independant retailer can negotiate such pricing. If you have a warranty issue with a dealer simply contact BFGoodrich. Dealers who tell you the tires are different are not trustworthy and should be avoided. BFG actually suggests employees buy from Sam's to save money and give's memberships to employees.



As for doing business with Walmart and Sam's, good luck. Both our local Walmarts are staffed with people who don't even know what a load rating is. The Sam's is somewhat better as they do employ a few ex-BFG employees, but I have yet to do any business with them.



It should also be noted that current availability issues may also be attributed to production issues. The recent oil issues have affected availibility of the petroleum byproducts that are used in tire production. The local plant was recently shut down for 2 weeks because of the shortage.

Dodge Warlock lives about 20 miles from me. I believe what he says.

 

[EricBu12]

All I have ever bought from is Discount tire co. Save for my Michelin 19. 5" tires. . I bought them from a Michelin Truck tire dealer.

 

[surfbeetle]

I don't know about other parts of the country, but in So California, we have Discount Tire which is also America's Tire.

 

[muchsnow]

Man I love Costco and my Michelins...

But what sucks about costco is that if the tire you order is not on the door placard, they will not mount them.

I went to pick up a set that I ordered for my wifes 1999 2500, Michelin 235 80r 16 (taller) and they wouldn't mount them. So I had to leave them on the floor and get my refund (wasted two weeks waiting for them to show). Totally UNSAT in my book.
Now I've ordered them through Wally World... ... ... ...

 

[dseabaugh]

Scorpions showed up today and I checked each one to make sure they were the load range E and they are now loaded in the bed with the rims to go to the tire shop in the A. M. . Warranty card says they have to be rotated and inflation checked every 4,000 miles and has a place for a tire dealer to fill out that they did it at each milestone.

 

[surfbeetle]

muchsnow,

Glad to hear your input, I have not had that experience as I have only bought the Michelins that they had in stock on the rack. I will definitely keep that in mind when I get tires on my VW. Stock size for that is 165-70-15 and I plan to get 205-60-15s on wider rims, so I am sure that would be an issue for them.

 

[seafish]

But what sucks about costco is that if the tire you order is not on the door placard, they will not mount them.



I went to pick up a set that I ordered for my wifes 1999 2500, Michelin 235 80r 16 (taller) and they wouldn't mount them. So I had to leave them on the floor and get my refund (wasted two weeks waiting for them to show). Totally UNSAT in my book.

Now I've ordered them through Wally World... ... ... ...

Not quite true--they will NOT mount them on the truck; Cosco tire manager told me that if you bring your wheels in, they will mount and balance them on the rims, but you need to take off and put them on the truck. I realize that doesn't work for everyone, but it can work for those of us with A HD jack and jack stands. That all said, I pay my local tire guy about $15 more per Michelin then at the Cosco, but he always does me right.

 

[SBeretz]

I ordered from treadepot.com and got my tires fast and they asked how many miles my truck had on it when I ordered it. I kept the receipt with the mileage, so hopfully, if they don't make it 40K I can get the next set at a pro-rated cost. They were easy to deal with and gave me the best price available for the Toyo's. I tried Les Schwab when I was in Idaho and they wanted over 50. 00 more a tire. Scotty

 

[River-Runner]

... ... I tried Les Schwab when I was in Idaho and they wanted over 50. 00 more a tire... ..... Scotty

I know Les Schwab, a Northwest based retailer, is not usually the low cost source, but I will never go anywhere else. I've had great luck with their Toyo tires.



They provide a lifetime road hazard (no questions) and free flats and rotation - plus service with a smile.



Plus - When my wife has had problems on the road, no matter which location, the staff at Schwab treats here like a Queen - she always gets the service and advise I would give her if I was there.



Great people to work with and worth the difference to me.



RiverRunner

 

[dpuckett]

dseabaugh- next time give my girlfriend a call at Advanced Automotive. They opened a new account with some warehouse and can get all the major brands. I'd recommend the ceramic balancing beads- Roger's machine never could get my 1stGen dually wheels and tires balanced. A pack of balancer beads made it ride smooth as a Lincoln.



Daniel

 

[muchsnow]

Costco bypassed,...

Not quite true--they will NOT mount them on the truck; Cosco tire manager told me that if you bring your wheels in, they will mount and balance them on the rims, but you need to take off and put them on the truck. I realize that doesn't work for everyone, but it can work for those of us with A HD jack and jack stands. That all said, I pay my local tire guy about $15 more per Michelin then at the Cosco, but he always does me right.

Went to Discount Tire, payed less out the door, were road force balanced amd road hazard insured. AND they did all the work... . go figure... .

 

[HBarlow]

Since this ancient thread has already been resurrected and will probably be read by several I will comment.

SAM's Club sells tires for informed buyers like myself who understand the issues underlying tire purchases. Ordinary retail stores sell tires for those who are uninformed and don't understand the issues.

SAM's sells the identical quality tires some of you buy at your local Rip Off tire retailer except for a couple of small issues.

One, SAM's Club tires are often labeled with a different model number to separate them from the regular retail Michelin, Goodyear, or BF Goodrich tire that a Michelin or Goodyear tire retailer will sell because SAM's sells their tires discounted and provides their own warranty service although they are still ultimately backed by the manufacturer.

I can assure you their tires are of equal quality, perhaps even better judging from the tire mileage I get compared to what most of you report from your tires. I've been buying Michelins at SAM's Club since back in the middle '90s and have had a lot of experience with them and know the crew in my local store very well. As I have written many times, I routinely achieve over 100k miles of service with the Michelins used on my duallies.

Two, tire installers at SAM's Club work on a salary and have no incentive or reason to lie to their buyers to sell them what the salesman wants them to buy for higher commissions unlike the employees in a retail tire store who are notorious for lying to customers to sell them brand X junk. I read their quoted comments here all the time. "My tire dealer recommended I buy brand X because they are made in the same factory as Michelin/Goodyear/Firestone (you pick one) and better than whatever and will do blah, blah, blah. "

Three, SAM's Club sells no off-brand no-name cheap tires like retail tire stores do. SAM's Clubs sell only Michelin, BF Goodrich (owned by Michelin), and Goodyear. I have not checked lately but don't think they even sell Bridgestone tires.

 

[jhenderson]

Believe it or not , the last time I bought tires for my truck I got the best deal at Sears. I wanted Cooper ST's. I ordered them at Sears.com and they were delivered to my local store in 3 days. They mounted and balanced them, and disposed of my old tires for less than $30 more than the best deal I could find just to have them shipped to my home. That included 7% sales tax. I was pleasantly surprised with both the price and the service.

 

[GHarman]

I dont let Sears come any where near my Vehicles. I do buy batteries from them but their customer service attempted rape goes back a long time. I'm not interested in retraining a Sears rip off artist!!!! GregH