Seattle Mags: Where to buy snowtires...

[bossass]

Need steel rims and new snowtires for a car I bought today. Anyone have any great suggestions before I head over to Les Schwab? Costco?

Many thanks.

ba

[ey_allen]

Discount tire will match the price of anything you find at tirerack.com. They will also match from discounttiredirect.com. Worth checking out before you head to brick and mortar.

The tax you'll have to pay locally usually offsets shipping, so you essentially get an install for free (but its worth checking my math, its been a while since I looked).

[ccwaskier]

I've had many good experiences with Discount Tire.

[Bud]

Costco's got a sale going on thru the end of the month.. $70 off any four Michelins.

[Orange Julius]

I keep going back to schwab time and again for the service and warranty coverage. Admittedly, I've never tried anything else.

[timeo]

Discount or Schwab, either will work fine.

[AweShuksan]

Need steel rims and new snowtires for a car I bought today. Anyone have any great suggestions before I head over to Les Schwab? Costco?

Many thanks.

ba

If you want high performance snow tires I suggest you select the tire you want first and then try to find it at a local retailer (ordering the specific model and size if necessary).

Especially around the PNW, if you just take what the discount retailers have laying around you may not get the best performance. They are very cost driven.

[Lahar]

Schwab sucks other than the free flat fixes. They use the cheapest of cheap rubber for their tires and they wear out way too fast. Dealt with them on 4 different cars and all of them started cracking and wearing out at 50% of the stated "warranty". Not worth it with the pro-rate for the replacement tires.

Hit a good wrecking yard for the rims. Pull-A-Part in Lynnwood is super cheap if they have what you need, Binford and Budget in Kent will have a better selection, but will be a bit more. Do your homework on tires and call around or have Discount Tire price match.

[Stikki]

Sometimes Sears can have surprising good tire prices, even cheaper than Discount. Worth spending 5 minutes to price them out on the web.

[oftpiste]

Just put a set on yetserday at Ricks on Aurora at 122nd. Been having my 'burban worked on there for a while and they're good guys.

So you got to Shelton OK?

[jfost]

that car didn't come with wheels!?!

are you stuck in Tacoma?

[bossass]

What? No, it has wheels. Mazda3 with 17 inch wheels. All the mazda forums seem to recommend some 16 inch steels with snowtires for better clearance and snow performance. I also like having a set of steels to muck around with in the winter.

[jfost]

now I feel like I should explain myself. I'm from SEA so when I see a post like "I need a ride to Tacoma at 11am" it peaks my interest... so connecting the dots here and there, I was funnin ya! Congrats on the new ride! My brother has one, and it actually is a pretty capable snow driver - not sure if it is available in AWD, my brother's is FWD - anyway, enjoy your $aving$ at the gas pump!!!

[jaobrien6]

What? No, it has wheels. Mazda3 with 17 inch wheels. All the mazda forums seem to recommend some 16 inch steels with snowtires for better clearance and snow performance. I also like having a set of steels to muck around with in the winter.

Plus by having the snows mounted on a second set of wheels, you can swap them yourself vs. paying $ each spring and fall to have them remounted.

[AweShuksan]

Plus by having the snows mounted on a second set of wheels, you can swap them yourself vs. paying $ each spring and fall to have them remounted.

Not to mention the fact that repeated mounting/demounting can cause problems with the integrity of the sidewall and increases the chance of rim damage (if your tire guy makes a little mistake which is all too common).

Anyone who drives in the mountains on a regular basis in the winter should mount a full set of real winter radials. The rubber compound of winter tires makes all the difference. Generally, studs and AWD is not necessary with good winter tires but this type of tire cannot be run for long during warm weather. So, switch them up and drive with confidence!

[bossass]

^Ding and ding. I'll probably go studless. Had studs on my Legacy that kicked ass, but seems like most people do fine without.

[Shin-to-Win]

To save a few bucks on snows for a new rig, I usually:

1. Try to find a set of used snows already mounted on the rims I want via craigslist. $
2. Find the tires/rims separately via CL and have them mounted at Al's Used tire on Aurora for $60ish $$
3. Find the rims on CL, then order nice new rubber from tire-rack and have installed at Al's $$$

Also, I would much rather find some used OE alloy 16's locally than pay retail for steelies. I prefer the look and have an aversion to hubcaps.

If you're in a hurry, then just whip out the credit card at DT, Sears, or Schwab, but the 10% tax and the mount and balance fees add up fast.

[bossass]

^I hear that. I'm not in a huge hurry (cause winter is failing right now), but soonish. Keep looking on CL, but not much. Some nice 16 inch alloys off a 03 protege that would work good, but in typical CL fashion the person won't respond to emails.

Sigh. It's looking like ordering from TireRack is a part of my future. Gonna head to TR tomorrow to see what they can do.

[SeatownSlackey]

only advice here is that when dealing w/ tires/wheels & CL i'd HIGHLY recommend you conduct the transaction @ a trusty wheel shop so they can check the balance on the spot for you.