Cost of tire mount and balance? And rant!

JOCCO

Well-known Member
Guys what do you pay to get tires mounted and balanced on a car? I had four put on (I had the tires) and was not to happy with the bill. I do some business with this outfit besides. I realize some of you do your own. Seems around me the only profit is in the mount so they are going up. Also hearing rumor some of them are charging shop rate per hour example 4 tires 1 hour shop time equals $90. They used to do that on some commercial or equipment tires.
 
I know at our store it would cost the customer 60.00 + weights + Stems.
If it was some of the wheels & tires fight, it could be more.
 
$15 per tire, sells me tires at his cost.


Shouldn't take a hour to do a set of tires if you are any good, and have decent equipment. I have done a set in as little as 20 minutes if everything went right.
 
When you carry tires in that you bought elsewhere your kind of at their mercy! Tire rack.com has an agreement with some shops to mount the tires they sell.
 
Yes even on NEW tires bought at their shop several are pricing the mounting and balancing separately. Tires are really getting expensive and not holding up as well either.
 
The shop that I deal with charges nothing for balance and mounting if I have bought the tires from them. They also give me 2 free rotations on new tires.
 
$10-$15 for mount or flat repair,think balancing is $5 extra.If I buy the tires from him mounting,balancing,old tire disposable is part of the deal.Takes him less than 5 minutes to mount a
tire most times.
 
Discount Tire, in my area, charges 18 bucks a tire for mounting and balancing that's on top of the price of the tires
 
A number of years ago I went into a Good Year franchise to buy tires for my Firebird. The counterman priced me the set of tires (way higher than other quotes) , then he said it was $5 per valve stem and $12 per tire to balance . At that point I asked him if he was selling me "Seconds" and he got offended and asked me why I thought that. I said if it costs $12 to balance a brand new tire they musn't be much ! He stuttered and stumbled that they were the top of the line (Eagles) I told him I had checked prices at other shops and he was trying to rip me off. He said that I will never find a set of tires for my car at that price , so I left and drove down the street to another shop. I got a set of tires way cheaper, install and balance was free and valve stems were a buck each...and yes I had the nerve to go back to the Good Year store , walk in and announce to the counterman that I had found tires for way less and didn't get ripped off for install and balance...his boss was standing beside him when I unloaded that info ! Shop around folks, good tire shops install and balance if you buy your tires there. I bought my own tire machine and can change my own . This little tire machine is right out of the 60's and 70's but it works just fine for me. There is a little auto repair shop close by that will balance them if you carry them in. I am looking for a bubble balancer and then I won't be dependent on anyone.
 
i get them done for $15 each mount/balance plus $2ish for new valve stems. I usually get my tires online and have my local guy put them on.
 
For those that are complaining, I suspect that the shop owner isn't making a ton of money on each tire sold. As for installing and balancing, I think we forget how much it costs to run a shop with rent, other overhead, labor costs, insurance, utilities, tools, etc. Of course, you can always wrestle your own on the garage floor with some tire irons for a couple of hours, or buy the machine to install them yourself. Funny how our own time and investment is always beyond criticism yet someone else in business is trying to rip us off. Human nature I guess.
 
Farmer ...... five minutes to put your vehicle up on a hoist, remove the wheel/tire, take the tire off the rim, install a new tire and balance it, then put it back on and drop the car back on the ground? The guy must be a NASCAR pit crew member on weekends.
 
If a tire needs balanced it's not much of a tire. I don't balance them and they don't thump or bounce. I tried it a few times and couldn't see any difference. I've tried all kinds of them from weights to the hula hoops to junk poured in the tires. All a snow job for more cash.
I mount my own tires now days. They used to be glad to get the sale. I even do the tractor tires and semi's with the split rims if they are on there. Been doing it for decades.
 
I buy my tires where I have them mounted. Cost included in new price of tire. I am sure they jack up price of tire to include mounting and balancing. That being said, I know they charge $15 dollars minimum to fix a tire. So they probly allow atleast that for mounting and balancing.
Ya know, I think alot of people shop around for cheaper tires. And they are going to find cheaper tires if they don't include any additional expense other than the cost of the tire. Bottom line, your going to save $60 dollars, and turn around and spend the $60 dollars getting them mounted. Your tire mounting guy knows this. He also knows you don't trust him to mark up the price of his tires. He probly going to rake you worse on the mounting than someone who buys thier tires from him.
 
I said to mount a tire,not all you said.Mounting a tire means I bring in a rim he takes off the old tire and mounts a new tire,Don't think it'd really be too good to pull a hay
rake with a flat down to his place to have him take off the wheel,mount the tire and put it back on the rake.
 
guess i am the lucky one here on tire work. I deal with a guy and have for years and you can not bat hiss prices i don't care where ya look . Mounting and balancing are included . Usually end of Nov. i take the wifes car down to him and we remove the summer tires and put on the snow tires and when i ask him how much he says get out if here . But i always pay him something , here next month i will take the car back down and have the summer tires put back on . Last year we made a family affair out of it as we had four new tires mounted and balanced and both daughters had four tires put on each . My oldest was working at a large dealership and could not even come close thru the dealer as to what Jimmy's price was on four top line tires , same with my youngest's on her Jeep four top line tires four under a hundred bucks . 6 235x85x16 1 plys on my dodge truck for a hundred bucks a piece . tractor tires same thing put two new firestone 18.4 x34 radials on with new tubes plus load for a couple hundred more then what the other guys wanted for one . Back when everyone around here that pulled antique classes were tryen to get 16.9x38 Firestones super all trac. and paying any amount to get a set i called Jimmy and he said give me a week . In a week he had me two new 16.9x38 6 plys and tubes for 1/4 the price that everyone else was payen. Yes it is a 30 mile drive , yes he works on a shoe string , yes he works out of a hole in the wall off the beaten path and he is busy all the time and it is a first come first served .
 
Spoken like someone who has been in business and first hand knows what comes with that. I?m sure the tire store fella probably not buying a new pickup every year and not flying off to the Bahamas for the winter. It?s all relevant what will the market bare? No profit no tire store then what.
 
Not surprised. Several tire shops in my area sell you the tire, then charge X for mounting, x for balancing, X for new valve stems plus X per tire for disposal. One shop near me they quote a tire price it's all inclusive. Heck a local box store here averages 25 dollar per tire. Even Walmart charges 12 per tire. Now those prices are for when you buy new tires from them. I don't know any box store that mounts used tires or for that matter any tire they didn't sell.

Local gas station here is about the same cost for a set of four for everyone except Walmart. Thing is they are cheaper than Walmart on the tire BEFORE you add in the 12 per tire Walmart charges.

Rick
 
Tire barn charged me $50. Mounting, lifetime rotation and balancing every 6k and road hazard. I think it a great deal.
 
Bring the tire and rim in-- $2.50 off and $2.50 0n per tire. 5.00 each to spin balance. 13-14-15--16 car tires. Pickup and mags x2.
 
tirerack.com I am about 8 minutes away from one of their warehouses, so get I think $10 off each tire if I pick them up. It cost me $20 per tire mount, balance and disposal for run flats last fall at a little shop close to there. Regular tires are $10.
 

Tire installation in Wichita. Guess where I'm NOT going.

mvphoto32897.jpg
 
we bought tires for several years at Walmart (good or bad?? ) with road hazard, wife had a flat I carried it in they said it would 3 1/2 to 4 hour before they get to it went to fleet farm 3 to 4 hour wait, went Cenex they wanted 37.50 for flat repair a new tire at walmart is about 52$ ( I walked out ) drove to a local shop they charged 20$ but I walked out with it right away .
 
You have to understand that they have overhead. We live in a highly competitive world. Whether you buy the tire(s) from them or not, they have overhead.

Unfortunately, many types of work performed on cars is work that never used to cost much if anything. Things are different today. Even if they installed your tire for free, if something went wrong, see how quick they would be back with a lawyer ready to sue! That is why they have insurance, and that is why it costs so much.

Also note that the people doing the installations deserve a living wage. That is hard work. They also have bills to pay and even families to support.
 
The local tire dealer I do business with is $17.95 for cars and light truck flats. They do a lot of large truck work and try to get you in and out. Now, if you bought the tires else where, you better get comfortable! Same if you're over due with your bill! But the 2 brothers working together have removed 4 tires from my car, cleaned the wheels, dismounted the old ones, mounted, balanced and reinstalled 4 new ones. Plus a car wash on my way out in 40 minutes. They would not take time to figure the bill and sent me one 2 weeks later. I use them for everything. And they are very community minded as all 3 attend anything in the community and the area.
 
The last one I had mounted was $15.00 I separated a tire and the spare was already on the ground. Back when I was at the tire store we always quoted the price complete. You got mounting and balancing,new valve stems(rubber) and all taxes including the scrape tire tax. If I said 500.00 that was the total. We had a guy price a set of Michelins,at the time they were $125.00 each out the door rolling. He thanked us and left,two hours later he was back and asked the price again, and we put them on. I asked why his tires had just been mounted(tire soap on the rims). Sears beat our price, till he went to pay and they added all of the extras like tax and disposal mounting etc. They wanted $160.00 a tire,he made them take off the new ones and put the old ones on (Sears did offer to match our price but he said no)
 

I get $25 to mount and balance a standard auto lite truck tire... $25 to recondition a aluminum rim (clean/buff and treat the corrosion if needed)...

Anything under a 55 I get $50 (yes I am doing my best to run them off)

A place down the road gets $10 I have no problem with them working for nuttin its their right to... When someone beaches I point them that way..

Its work and the equipment is expensive I reserve the right to make money at it if not I point down the road...
 
If you bought the tires elsewhere and brought them to a local store around here for mounting and Ballance you would likely be told to take them where you bought them. And I don't believe you would get the job done for less than $100. They need to make money to stay in business and if they can't sell their product they need to make it in the service. Complaining about the price will likely lead to not having a place to get tires mounted and ballanced in the future.
 
He's free to charge what he wants, and you should have asked for a quote first.

Understand that he is not in the business of MOUNTING tires, his business is SELLING them. He has tens of thousands of dollars wrapped up in equipment just so he can sell tires, and you undercut his business by buying tires elsewhere.

A friend of mine had a motorcycle tire business, and he refused to mount tires he didn't sell. He would tell anyone who asked him that his insurance didn't cover him if a tire he mounted for someone failed; I think this was mostly an excuse, but apparently he would have had to purchase a rider on his insurance if he was going to mount tires he didn't sell.

A tire store I use for repairs used to charge 45 bucks for tire repair. I was happy to pay it because they were right across the street from my workplace and I knew they would do the job right. One day I took a tire in for repair, and when it was done they said "no charge". It seems many of their competitors were fixing tires for free, so they decided they had to do the same.
 
Jon: I do business with this out fit and I guess they went up!! A lot of places around me are an auto garage and do tires but tires are not there mainstay. Most will due tires regardless where they came from. We have had lots of trouble with farm truck or industrial. Only certain places do them. I was curious on price and it seems they are all over the place.
 
All depends on what the shop is trying to accomplish and what kind of if any relationship you want to have with the shop.

Odds are good the cheapest guy on the block is not going to stay late to help you out when you show up with a problem just before closing.


-Some shops sell at a low mark-up and make up for it with high volume.

-Some shops don't really care to do tires but still offer the service when needed?

-For other shops a low price is used as a leader to get you into the shop, possibly sell you an oil change, brake job, alignment etc at the same time.

I used to do my best to be an all round full service shop and had a long list of loyal customers, individuals and fleets that all liked knowing that whatever their problem was we would take care of them.

Some jobs were not the most profitable, others might not be what one necessarily cared to do but happy customers keep you in business.

If a customer go to one shop for tires, another for exhaust work and another for an AC recharge, those other shops that also offer other services will soon have half of your customers.
 

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