From my understanding, most of the large Toyota dealers participate in the national "Buy 3, get 4th for $1" Toyota tire program. Out of curiosity, I called my usual Toyota dealer and asked them for a price on a 195/65-15 sized Michelin Primacy MXV4 for my Prius. They gave me this quote: $126/tire * 3= $378 Fourth Tire = $1 Mounting and Road Force Balance= $20*4= $80 Wheel Weights and Disposal= $20 Total= $479 + tax. That price also includes two years of road hazard and free lifetime rotations. Tire Rack wants $115/tire + $13/tire for shipping, so the price from the dealer is phenomenal. It is actually cheaper than any tire dealer. Has anyone shopped their dealership on tire before considering an independent tire shop? I was quite surprised by how competitive their price was.
My 2010 Prius has 41K miles on it, so I'm starting to price tires. Shopping online, I really like Discount Tires' site. For Michelin LRR tires, my shopping cart came up with $410 for the tires, but after mounting, fees, road hazard, pressure sensor rebuild, the price was around $600. Now that I have a base line price, I'll see what Dallas Sport City Toyota quotes. Still have to heap praise on Discount Tires. That's the way to do business. Just tell me online what to expect along with the delivery wait time without having to go in and listen to a sales pitch that might waste my time trying to steer me to a tire I'm not interested in.
Not all Toyota dealers participate in the national tire program that has the buy 3 get 4th for $1 offer, so you may have to shop around.
The Michelin tires have a $70 rebate offered at most retailers including Tirerack.com. I'm sure the dealer is taking the rebate which is why the price is so good. Costco does the same thing. With Tirerack you pay the full price but get a rebate credit card.
Thankfully so is the $70 rebate. At least for a year or so it seems. You are getting a good deal on a great tire.
