Community Alumni
Apr 12, 2018These days I purchase all of my tires online. Tirerack, Discount Tire, eBay, or any number of other online retailers. I don't care where the tire comes from. All I care about is who's the cheapest and how fresh is the date code. I have a manual tire changer that I dismount and mount my tires with. After that the tires get balanced with beads. I haven't seen the tire man in a while.
If you're going to purchase online, make sure you're getting fairly fresh tires. Most of your larger online retailers like Discount and Tirerack sell fresh from the factory tires. Sometimes the smaller guys (especially on eBay) are cheaper because they're selling you models that have been closed out, discontinued, or tires that have been acquired from other retailers. Sometimes these tires will sit on the shelf for years after manufacturer until they're finally sold to you.