Discount Tire bought Tirerack???

[A930Rocket]

Anybody hear about Discount Tire buying Tirerack?

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/news/icymi-tire-rack-purchased-discount-tire/

[Sooner or later]

Read about it a couple of days ago. Seems like a perfect match.

[RANDY P]

Oh God I hope not.

rjp

[slow&rusty]

Interesting...Discount Tire will now be the number one tire retailer by far, basically the Autonation of tires. I hope that translates to better buying power and pricing for us.

[masraum]

I've gotten nothing but great service from Discount Tire in the past, although I prefer to not take the Boxster to them unless I'm desperate and don't have other options.

I used to use Tire Rack a lot, but haven't in many years.

[matthewb0051]

I find Discount Tire hit or miss. It may be down to which location I visit though. There are two (actually 3) about the same distance from me. Of the two I use, one is a little older and closer to a not great part of town. The other is new as is the stuff around it and it seems to be better.

Usually when I'm unhappy it is because they do the exact opposite of what I asked. For example, last summer I asked them to not mount the rear spare to the back cargo door of my daughter's Land Rover because the tire cover has to go on first and I wanted to do that part myself due to its age and a little dry rot. Get there to pick up and the dang spare is mounted to cargo door. Just extra work for me and those things are heavy especially at the mounting height. The guy was trying hard though, "we thought we would save you the hassle of mounting it".

My wife reminded me a few weeks ago ... 'you are dealing with guys that just graduated from High School'. Not in a disrespectful way just that I should adjust my expectations as they are all pretty young. This was after the guy couldn't figure out how to get in my 20 year old Range Rover cargo area and left the driver's door open when he finally got the spare out. I went out a few minutes later and there is the driver's door just wide open. Meanwhile the latch for the cargo area is on the cargo door...

All that said, I will take Discount Tire any day over NTB. ANY DAY

[stomachmonkey]

Never had a bad experience at a Discount Tire.

Any differences between locations is mostly a reflection of the management in that shop and not necessarily a fair representation of the brand.

Far far better than the local Firestone and Goodyear shops.

[cstreit]

My local discount tire is great. Hope this doesn't translate into raised prices everywhere though...

[RANDY P]

I hate visiting Discount. Discount Tire is a high-pressure sales org- every time I go in there they have to give this long-winded doom and gloom speech about the importance of tires. Couple that with the horrible work ethic and attitude of today's typical 20-something it's just a crappy experience. Such a hassle walking in there.

They also have the weight and load info on my 1989 C1500 all messed up. Guess what? They won't touch my single cab C1500 2WD truck with 20" wheels with XL rated 1700 LBS tires on all 4 corners- says the front axle weight of my truck is 'too high for the tire rating'- they think the front axle of that truck 3500 LBS. They even sold me the former 17" wheels on it, even lower load rated tires prior; then changed policies making them unable to service the set of wheels and tires they sold me.

****ing idiots.

rjp

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Whatever you do, don't use Vulcan Tire, vulcantire.com Ordered snow tires and took close to three weeks for them to ship and this was after they confirmed the tires were in stock in Tennessee.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

All that said, I will take Discount Tire any day over NTB. ANY DAY

NTB is sooooo bad! I wouldn't trust them to change the tire on a wheel barrow without fargin something up. I really have had the worst experience their of anyplace that I've ever been or seen or heard of.

[RBNetEngr]

I don’t mind that Discount Tire is buying Tire Rack provided that they let Tire Rack continue to do what they do. The race and car club sponsorships; the in-depth tire test reports; the wide variety of parts other than just tires that they sell for many makes and models; the great pricing; well-stocked warehouses; fast shipping; great website to shop and compare tires; will ship to the installation shop of your choice with a negotiated installation price; the partnership with mobile installers who will come to you and install the tires…

Don’t sacrifice all these great services to sell me a tire for $3 less…


-rb

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

I hate visiting Discount. Discount Tire is a high-pressure sales org- every time I go in there they have to give this long-winded doom and gloom speech about the importance of tires. Couple that with the horrible work ethic and attitude of today's typical 20-something it's just a crappy experience. Such a hassle walking in there.


rjp

Don't forget about the 'certificates' that magically appear on the bill. They don't even bother to ask.

I just bought a spare tire for my son over Thanksgiving. They actually put the certificate on my bill for a spare that will hopefully never see the pavement. So why would I need road hazard 'insurance'? This was after I told the guy it was a spare.

I really wonder just how many customers ever use the certificate warranty. Or for that matter even understand what it is and why it was on their bill.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

Don't forget about the 'certificates' that magically appear on the bill. They don't even bother to ask.

I just bought a spare tire for my son over Thanksgiving. They actually put the certificate on my bill for a spare that will hopefully never see the pavement. So why would I need road hazard 'insurance'? This was after I told the guy it was a spare.

I really wonder just how many customers ever use the certificate warranty. Or for that matter even understand what it is and why it was on their bill.

Once they completely switched tires without my knowledge on the invoice for my 90's vette. (Fed Way, WA)

Refused to put AIR in the tires on mom's Benz with 5 year old tires (LV)

-My truck, which they believe weighs 7000 LBS so they won't work on it.

-The long-winded process for inspection, commentary and the scares if anything shows up.

-typical loose lugs 'free air check' that means you'll wind up with missing caps on your valve stems, things like that.

I guess it's retail in general tho. I'm sure there's truly good Discount's out there, just they are hit-and-miss

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

Refused to put AIR in the tires on mom's Benz with 5 year old tires (LV)



-typical loose lugs 'free air check' that means you'll wind up with missing caps on your valve stems, things like that.

Ours refused to balance wife's Land Rover tires because one had a plug. Basically demanded we buy new tires.


I always get a kick out of the long line at the "Free" air check station. People get in their vehicles after a cold snap, which here is 60 degrees, so naturally the TPMS goes off. Then they drive MILES to the Discount Tire heating up the tires which raises the PSI. Then the guy puts air in the warmed up tire up to the recommended PSI. I'm guessing the next day they are still wrong PSI after the tires go cold.

Which brings up another point: most of my vehicles require one PSI in front and another PSI in rear. Regardless of how many times I say it and it gets placed on the service ticket, the PSI is almost always at Max for the tires and not what is on the B Pillar of the car, let alone what is written on the service ticket.

[RANDY P]

On a positive note: I think someone who thinks like Donald Trump does the hiring there - I actually interviewed with Discount Tire corp in Scottsdale a few years ago (Project and IT stuff)

There's a lot of eye candy in the place . Cute young well-endowed hispanic girls with skin tight outfits everywhere . I'd hang out there just for that.

rjp

[osidak]

I haven't had a good experience with Discount Tire in at least a decade.... I have used Tirerack many many times.... Makes me want to not use them anymore

[zakthor]

Never had a problem at discount tire but then I'm out there making sure they position jack correctly, lug nut torque, correct tire pressure. They generally do a good job but I'm there to step in. Definitely you gotta watch. I wouldn't sit in the reading room with a magazine and trust them to do it right. On my truck they let me use their grinder brush to remove rust from the wheel and apply some antirust primer that I brought before they mount the new tire.

I never buy the tire insurance. And then I get a screw in sidewall, etc, boo hoo. I go in for them to take a look. They then somehow are able to retroactively sell me the insurance and I get a new tire for $28. I think the whole experience is pretty sweet.

Costco tends to be cheaper but they're way more hardcore about counting pennies and not letting me into the bay.

[cockerpunk]

discount tire is great for normies. they dont like to do more sketchy stuff, and i respect that. they are a corporation, they dont want some hair brained 17 year old tire tech who "swears to god this will work" blowing someone's car up, and then they have deal with the legal ramifications. but when you send a normie there for tire stuff, you know they arnt going to get **** on. they will get a safe, predictable, reliable transaction.

its always good to know a few ... sketchier tires guys. i used to use a local sketch tire guy to do my strange tire stuff, but now i have my own tire machine, so i do all the sketch tire stuff myself now. for some reason for example, discount wont do 205/50/15s on a 7.5 inch wheel, which is a pretty standard miata fitment. never mind my tires with sharpened bolts poking out of them ...

tire rack is great. they better not mess with it too much.

[JackDidley]

Originally Posted by masraum

I've gotten nothing but great service from Discount Tire in the past, although I prefer to not take the Boxster to them unless I'm desperate and don't have other options.

I used to use Tire Rack a lot, but haven't in many years.

Same here. I will use them until I have a reason not to.