Remember the good old days when......you could pull in at Fred's Treads or Byer's Tires and buy what you needed on the spot and they would be mounted within 30 minutes? Today you need to call two or three days ahead and order sight unseen the tires you need on your vehicle. Some places even need to be paid upfront or they won't even order them. Sure, you could just give all your tire business to the Walton Family because they keep enough in stock at all times but then you get to wait for three hours to have them put on while you drive another nail in the business coffin of Fred's and Byer's. Part of the blame goes to the automotive industry who has conspired with the tire industry such that every new model of every make and type of vehicle has a different tire size specified as being the standard. Add to that the five different levels of aggressiveness and the optional number of plies. The little guys try to meet your needs by ordering what you need and avoiding the expense of having a 1000 tires in stock every day. The big guys have a certain selection and tell you to conform to their list of available tires or do without.
You know the situation where you have had to put on the 15 year-old spare that came with the vehicle when you bought it and are praying that it does not blow out from dry rot as you limp to the tire store. Your time is money.
We're still "good old dayin' it" down here, when it comes to tires anyway.
The Tire Shop (on Main St., of course) is 40 chs. from the house and has been run by the same fella, Ken, for forty years. I've bought so many sets of tire there his kids send me graduation announcements and cards on Father's Day.
Last time I talked to him (a few months ago when I put rubber on the Jeep) he was looking at retirement. The chain stores are eating at his clientele and insurance is costing him a fortune.
The writing might not be on the wall yet, but there's a place for it...
Yeah, ditto here, just swing by Cape and Island Tires, they'll set you up. I've been going there for 20 years +.....
You must not have Les Schwab Tire Center in your area (one of the big guys). I don't have any problem using them, I was construction surveyor for four of their stores in Utah. They usually get you in an out fairly fast and fix flats for free. The new days are just fine for me.
I've had very good experiences with both Chabill's and Skid Marks down here.
C C Rosen & Sons here in the Valley is one of the "old fashioned" shops. Really like dealing with them.
I've been patronizing the same local tire shop for over 40 years. The original owners retired a few years back, but they sold the place to a younger guy who kept all the employees and runs it pretty much the same way.
A year or two ago my mechanic (another local shop) noticed a bad sidewall cut in the right rear tire of my 2008 Tundra and strongly recommended immediate replacement. I took it into the tire shop and asked about a replacement tire. He looked it up and said "Wow!" The replacement was $380. I asked why it was so expensive, and he said partly because it's an 18" wheel, but mostly because it has a steel belt that wraps all the way around the sidewall (if I remember correctly). So then he took a look at the cut, and said it went through the rubber and not into the belt, and isnt' really much of a blowout risk.
I'm still running that tire today, so he missed out on an easy sale. But a few weeks ago he got to put 4 new tires on my wife's Honda CR-V, and will get the Tundra business when the time comes.
Schwab gets all of my business with the exception tires for our race and rally cars. Hell, I even have them our brake and suspension work as well. They provide great service and have a large selection of tires on site. I'm not sure if I have ever had to wait for tires. They also have a great warranty policy on anything they do. As an added bonus they are great to their employees.
They are local in our neck of the woods, starting out in Prineville 60 some years ago. Our store is locally owned and has been around for decades. I think most of the newer stores are company owned. I did a lot of design survey work for them about 10 years ago when they started a pretty big expansion. As I recall the engineer said they paid cash for everything.
> The replacement was $380. I asked why it was so expensive, and he said partly because it's an 18" wheel, but mostly because it has a steel belt that wraps all the way around the sidewall (if I remember correctly).
I hate the fact that the truck manufactures have all jumped on this large rim thing. I think they forget the purpose of a truck. Low profile works great one of our race cars where the lateral forces are extreme but lacks when it comes to hauling a heavy load over rough terrain. And the cost is up to double what you would pay for a 16" tire. These are the same people that raised the sides of the box to the point that you can not put the tailgate down when you have a full sized trailer on (it hits the tongue jack). But hey, they look cool.
Rant over
You guys are sooooooo lucky. Other than WallyWorld it would be about 45 miles to the nearest tire shop that carries a ton of tires at all times. The standard now is to tell/show them what you need, hunt it up, they order it and it arrives by 3:00 p.m. the next day. They don't make enough on any one tire to justify having a quarter million dollars in inventory on hand. Sure, you might get lucky and need a super common size that they just happen to have about four in stock, but don't count on it.
A similar situation exists at the auto supply stores. It may look like they have everything but they don't. About 80 percent of the time what I need will be ordered and be onsite by about 10:00 the next day. As an example, last week I needed a head light bulb for a Jeep Compass. I decided that I would buy two and replace the other one that hadn't burned out yet but probably will in the not too distant future. Sorry, they only had one in stock. So, someday I'll go back to buy the other one after the other headlight burns out. Or, I'll buy it at whatever store I come to first when I know I must have one.
Ditto and Ditto to Les Schwab. Yes, I could buy tires a bit cheaper elsewhere and yes other stores may offer a warranty sort of like Schwab's but dang it they still come running to my car when I pull in.
Yes and I miss the days of 13", 14", 15" and 16.5" rims depending on the type of vehicle you had. Small car, medium car/small truck, full size truck or heavy duty truck. It was much easier then.
Gregg
Once again, every sicheyashun in life was addressed in "O Brother Where Art Thou..":
Ain't this place a GEOGRAPHICAL ODDITY
😉
Your Most Holiness, with all due respect:
Dear, Holy Diggership and “Uncle (you know who)”,
Y’all need to weed whack your “Sandy Claus” facial growth(1*). It’s starting to cause hallucinatory effects upon you possibly related to that stuff they call “grey matter”.
And worse yet you are causing a reminiscence experience!
(1*) Facial growth: unruly, wiry facial and/or nose hair , occurring on bovines and mad motorcycle scientists, sometimes neglected, tends to absorb certain chemicals (“medicinal” cannabis for example) which causes ummmm I forgot what I was saying, sigh 😉
At this point I go to Harrold Ford for everything including tires. They take care of the cars and I have never had a breakdown on the road since I've been going there.
Phil Meraux tires here since 1914 and 4th generation. Free lifetime rotation included.
Locally it is Discount Wheel & Tire or Burggraf Tire
There are a few other hole in the wall tire shops that have a following and do no advertising at all
I think they make their most money in the used tire trade by selling unfit for highway used tires. They don't even balance them most of the time.
Discount Tires have always allowed me a great discount when getting two or more sets at the same time.
