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Why Buy Your Tires at Costco
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Costco occasionally sends out Passport to Savings, which are glorified coupon books for their warehouses. One of the most important things about this book is if it lists a sale on tires – a frequent event. Buying tires at Costco is typically a little higher than a straight purchase from TireRack.com but after you factor in installation and disposal of old tires (at around $20 total per tire), many times the higher price is justified for the perks. For June, you can save $60 on the purchase of four Michelin tires which for some tires can mean “Buy 3, Get 1 Free.”
Why did I buy my tires from Costco?
- Lifetime Warranty Replacement – If for any reason your tire goes flat, Costco will attempt to repair the tire or give you credit for the percentage of tread that remains. If it goes flat and the tire is pretty close to full tread, they just replace it for free. My girlfriend’s Celica had what appeared like an intentionally slashed tire (she was driving on the NJ Turnpike in reality) and Costco replaced the tire free of charge. They’re not supposed to fix intentional problems but they let it slide – it’s pretty subjective I think.
- Lifetime Rotation & Balancing – If you figure a rotation and balance at around $15, you can actually stop being a cheapskate and rotation your tires on schedule. The only pain is waiting for the service to be completed, which is quick if you arrive early morning on a weekday.
- Inflation with Nitrogen – They use nitrogen which is supposed to keep pressure better than air with changing temperatures. It’s supposed to also stay inflated better. I don’t necessarily believe the hype but whatever. They also inflate to optimal pressures when they rotate and balance. WARNING: That’s why your tires have green inflation tube caps, you cannot put in regular air at the gas station!
The lifetime warranty is the primary reason why I pay the premium to get the tires installed at Costco. If you decide to use Costco, call ahead to make sure the tires are in stock. If they aren’t, all you need is your membership card and a deposit and they will order the tires in. Shipping is free and they usually arrive within seven to ten days. If you don’t happen to have the coupon, they have copies at the register and will probably scan it for you since, in theory since you are a Costco cardholder, you should’ve received it anyway (just tell them you forgot it).
I know of friends who get tires shipped to NTB or a local service station to get them installed but I don’t believe many of those have the warranty like Costco.
To see if you have a Costco nearby, use their Warehouse Locator.
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I’m pretty sure topping a nitrogen filled tire off with a bit of “regular” air from a gas station isn’t going to cause any harm. Seeing as the atmosphere is about 78% nitrogen by volume.
The main reason for using dry nitrogen to fill tires is to avoid oxygen and moisture. Oxygen and moisture can cause the tire to wear out faster along with other other bad things. The air from a standard compressor has oxygen and moisture. While topping it off isn’t the end of the world, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it “isn’t going to cause any harm”. CK – if you don’t know what you are talking about you should keep quiet.
Actually you CAN put regular air in Costco tire filled with nitrogen, it will reduce the % concentration of nitrogen but not really “hurt” anything or void any warranties from Costco. It’s stupid to drive around with low tires looking for a Costco with nitrogen. Just let then know that you have topped them off when they service your tires and they can purge them with nitrogen. Nitrogen is better but I would, and am, going so far as to say that regular air WON’T cause any harm, not significant damage anyhow… and I DO know what I am talking about.
Regular air can cause a tire to oxidize quicker and the moisture in our air will cause a tire to expand more when hot than nitrogen. Moisture and oxygen won’t cause a tire to wear significantally faster, however. Nitrogen just makes for a more consistent tire/contact patch while driving.
Costco does ROCK, though. They are open later during the week and on Sunday unlike most other dealers.
Costco is ok. The price of the tires is the best but the service is a pain. They don’t do appoinments so you have to show up and gamble. Also their technicians aren’t always the greatest. I bought a set of truck tires. One wheel would not balance, they told me my wheel must be bent and sent me on my way with vibrations (lots of weight added to minimize vibration). About 10,000 kms later, after running the “bent” wheel on the rear I decided to get the wheel repaired so I could rotate the tires to keep the warranty. Turns out the wheel is straight as can be…it is a bad tire (BFG AT). A real tire/wheel shop probably would have spotted that error from the start. So now I’m trying to deal with it. I think it must just be a company policy not to answer phones at Costco. So of course I have to drive to the suburbs to speak to someone about it, then probably wait awhile for that one tire to come in, then drive out and wait again for the install. When I factor in my time and the P.I.T.A. factor, I’ll gladly pay $100 extra for my next set of tires at my local tire/wheel shop.
Valuing my time at $20/hr (far less than I actually can bill for) I’m already in the hole compared to what my local tire shop would have charged me. Spending $1.50 to save $1.00 is no bargain.
I spent over $900.00 on 4 new tires with the $60.00 off Special at Costco on Saturday. I got home and was a little pissed off about spending all that money and getting these ugly green tube caps instead of black or silver. I pretty much didn’t stop complaining until my husband bought 4 chrome looking caps to replace them. We threw the green things in the trash and then I just read on the internet about this Nitrogen …….Save Fuel…….”Get the Green Cap” stuff. Wouldn’t you think someone at Costco would tell the customer???????? Does that mean I can only fill them up at Costco with special Nitrogen???????????? Does that mean I can’t pretend it’s a regular tire and use regular air???????????
Hi folks,
As a scientist with a lot of chemistry classes in my past, my friends have been asking me about paying extra for nitrogen in their tires. The short answer is that this is really good marketing and only a little science. Consumer Reports agrees. Even using dry nitrogen, you still have to check tire pressure at least monthly and fill up almost the same number of times per year. Tires will be damaged far more from being underinflated than they ever would be by mixing air with your nitrogen. Dustin is right- air is mostly nitrogen anyway. Use nitrogen only if it’s free, otherwise use air.
Let’s use some common sense. We’ve all been driving with moist air in our tires for years. My first car used nothing else and it never scared me. My rims never rusted out, so a little oxygen and moisture inside won’t kill them (or you). My tires always had their tread wear out from the outside, not the inside. Finally, if “moisture” was so very terrible for tires and rims, our cars would have warning labels that said “Do not drive in the rain.” (Not to mention that if “oxygen” was so bad, the warning labels would say “Do not drive your car on Earth.”, right?)
Nitpicker, fellow, if you’re going to correct others, at least try to have some facts on your side.
regards,
Jerry (BS, MA, AC, and MS, whoopee, if degrees impress anyone)
Tim, don’t deal with that tire man! Costco stands behind their products. Too bad they don’t answer the phone, missing out on a lot of sales/customers that way. Call the warehouse direct, speak with a manager there and tell them you can’t get in contact with the tire center. That will embarrass them (I know, shouldn’t have to go to that extent). As far as a “real” tire/rim shop goes, no one in the tire industry pays better than Costco. Let’s not forget business’s are made up of people. The company that pays the best, on average, will have the best people. Don’t be so eager to think a shop that sells rims AND tires will have any better training, this isn’t rocket science. A tire/rim shop, however, is more than likely making more money of you (higher markup) than Costco. They may sometimes have some cheaper tires but that’s exactly what you are getting… CHEAPER brands. Compare apples to apples and Costco will win everytime. I’ve been to other tire stores and their wait times are just as consistent (or inconsistent) as Costco’s… just like a freeway, sometimes they just get backed up, not really anyones fault… bottlenecks happen when 20 people all want service at the same time.
And Susie, just request Costco install BLACK CAPS next time. As far as can you inflate with regular air… see the half-dozen posts already … umm… posted. Or here’s a novel idea, ask your tire dealer, not some jerkeys on the internet! The costco’s I’ve been too have Nitrogen banners, brochures, etc all over the place (pay attention!). I agree though they should at least give you a brochure or something! (I got one when I bought my last set).
Jerry, I had a set of chrome rims that corroded internally and the chrome “paint” flaked off inside the tire and the exposed rim started to rust, corrode, oxidize. May have been excelerated by moisture? I know how much water I get out of my compressor at home when I run it, you might be suprised.
Costco tires does not honor their road hazard warranty!
Twice now they have asked me to purchase a new tire (first time was then my tires were ONE WEEK OLD) when I had a road hazard. They broke my wheel cover removal tool without replacing it or compensating me. This second time (this is WITH PROOF OF ROTATING TIRES and proper inflation) – 13,000 miles into a 45,000 mile set of tires — they insist that not just the road hazard tire is worn out (road hazard violates manufacturer’s 45,000 warranty) – but the other tire is worn out as well. Discount Tires said that the tires are not worn out at all.
BEWARE OF COSTCO TIRES!!!!
Costco does have good tire prices, no doubt. What people dont know about Costco is that if you buy a michelin or goodyear etc… from costco and you have a problem, you can only go back to costco if you need roadhazard warranty.
Major manufacturers add that into the average retailers price. Costco has made a deal to lower there price with the manufacterer by having there own
“roadhazard” if you are out of a costco area and you need another tire and costco says you have warranty you dont. when you show another retailer your receipt and its from costco you will be denied, same as if the were purchased from wal-mart.
As for the nitrogen, it a crock and just a consumer money grab. The difference is so minimal from air noone can tell. As for the wheel rusting on the inside and the chrome flaking off, well thats cause from the high rpm wire wheel and a air compressor without a air/water filter on it. You can not say that the condensation from the compressor (if properly serviced) is doing that to your wheels, if that was the point tires would have water in them from the condensation and your tires would never balance due to that.
Thanks. I tried them out today. Hope it works out.
Engineer talking here: The ugly green valve caps are just a sign to the Costco guys that they put the tires on. They are no different than standard caps. Costco is not so stupid as to get special valve stems made that would prevent you from adding air elsewhere.
Nitrogen leaks out slower than air, because air contains a small amount of hydrogen and helium which leak out faster because they are smaller molecules. The only advantage of nitrogen is the tires hold pressure a bit longer. The nitrogen separator/air dryer at Costco and tire stores adds the benefit of removing moisture and ozone, so you do get nice dry air in the tires that cuts down on rim corrosion, and ozone deterioration. Ozone is one gas that breaks down rubber rapidly. A tire store with a good moisture separator on their air compressor is just about as good. DO NOT PAY a PENNY EXTRA FOR NITROGEN; IT IS ONLY MARGINALLY BETTER. My tires do stay at pressure longer with nitrogen.
I find the nitrogen filled tires are much less suceptible to pressure variations resulting from temperature fluctuations. On very cold mornings, I do not have the TPMS trips as I do with other vehicles even with my TPMS set to trip at 10% below recommended pressure.