tirerack.com feedback?

Late to the party, but glad it worked out for you, Spin. I used TireRack to for a new set of hard-to-find size tires for my old Audi and thought the process was easy, too. I'd definitely use them again and recommend them, as well.

 

I used tire rack to order my Michelin X-Ice Xi3. Had them installed locally.

 

I think I saw someone else mention it as well, I use Discount Tire Direct. I have found their prices cheaper on what I've been ordering.

 

Of course shop around for cheapest price. I've purchased from tires rack for myself and famile 6 times now. The reiews and test ratings are helpfull. I've never had a problem.

One tip I'd give in response to a post I saw about the recieving shop issue. If you can with respect to lifting the tire weight and location have them shipped to you. Toss em in the back and head to your desired installer.

Pro Tip: Walmart is cheap for installation and will get it done but the are not equipped to deal with breaking and replacing TPMS. Long story short... 5 trips to walmart, 1 trip to Toyota and 181.00 out of Walmarts pocket into Toyotas.

 

^^ You have to find a shop that will do TPMS and they will usually charge more per tire for it. Not sure what that entails, though, since this is my first car with it.

 

I've only had them ship tires to an installer so far, but no problems. Tire I wanted was hard to find.

 

Or you ship them to yourself and install yourself unfortunately not always an option

 

We ordered Blizzaks and rims, Tire Rack's recommended package for our Prius, plus a second set of TPMS valves for the snows. They were shipped extremely quickly, to a mobile installer who came to our driveway; it was nice not to have to load dirty tires in our new car, we just stored them in the garage.

The only irritation, definitely not Tire Rack's fault, was that unlike most vehicle makes, Toyota doesn't make it easy for the owner to initialize the TPMS valves. Before Tire Rack even put my order through I had to verify that I understood that Toyota recommended the dealer do it, and that there would be a charge for this. I got the impression Tire Rack was as irritated about this as consumers should be.

I asked the mobile installer about initializing the TPMS valves, and the guy THOUGHT he did it, but didn't have the scan tool so of course the dash light came on a few minutes later. I called the local Toyota dealer which quoted me $125 to initialize the valves; then I called a local tire store, which had the scan tool and actually did it for free.

While I was very happy with Tire Rack's service, if I had to do it again I'd probably hunt for a local dealer who could both install the wheels and initialize the darn valves so that I could avoid all the running around. Some local dealers will even store the snow tires, and even cheaper would be to find a local dealer willing to install snow tires/rims WITHOUT the valves. Its nice to have them, but it sure adds to the cost.

Toyota's original wheel covers didn't fit the steel rims for the snows, so we bought cheap plastic hubcaps at Autozone. I couldn't figure out how to get them on, and even cracked a couple in the process, until I read the instructions on the Tire Rack site. Then they went on easy...so another plus for Tire Rack! And more proof about how inept I am about mechanical things...

 

I purchased a set of used factory rims/hubs from a forum member for $200 and had tire rack ship me tires. I then went to my chevy dealer and they mounted/balanced my new tires on my rims without tpms for under $60.

 

Semi- off topic question about TPMS... I got a flat the other day and AAA was able to plug it on the side of the road. (They found a nail/hole pretty easily.) My TPMS light came on when it was flat but when out as soon as they plugged it, pumped it up and put the tire back on. How come it didn't need to be reset? Is this okay?

 

it may come on in a few days. just watch it.

 

Hmm. It's been about two weeks (though I've only put about 150 miles on it in that time), so maybe I am okay. I have never had TPMS before so I need to look into this, but it seems off considering how finicky people make it sound in terms of just changing tires in a shop, let alone pumping one up on the side of the road. Thanks, Cary1952!

 

Yeah, this is why I opted out of buying the tpms for this car. We went through it on my wife's Volvo, spent the extra money, and it's still a hassle every winter. I'd rather deal with the light and save the money.

 

I don't know anything about the TPMS system, but it would make sense to me that tire goes low or flat, light comes on. Them you fix tire and air it up light senses that and goes out. I think the only time you have to reset is if you decide to set a different PSI level for your tires or you have to replace a broken TPMS switch in a tire then it has to have the same code as the other TPMS switches. Toyota dealer would do this or a repair shop with the right equipment (reader) Tech stream I think they call it. If I'm not right I'm sure someone will chime in!

 

From the Toyota manual
!


The tire pressure warning light may come on due to natural causes

The tire pressure warning light may come on due to natural causes such

as natural air leaks and tire inflation pressure changes caused by temperature.

In this case, adjusting the tire inflation pressure will turn off the

warning light (after a few minutes).

 

On my Subaru, I had to drive for a few minutes before the light went off after putting air in. As far as I know, they are set for a minimum spec. If you are above that, they should shut off.

 

Thanks!

 

I ordered from Tire Rack since they had a 70$ mail in rebate and my X-ice xi3's arrived today. Shipping was super fast...only took about 4 days from Nevada to Washington state. Another bonus was that Tire Rack shipped to a credit card alternative address without any problems - Since I am a Canadian resident, it was a huge benefit to me. No fusses, invoice was provided immediately upon payment and tracking number was sent a short time later. I definitely would do business with them again.

Size I got was low profile 215-45R17. 21lbs each. I could have spent less - bought 15 inch wheels and got a smaller winter tire with narrower contact patch but I wanted to run some nice and large wheels for the winter time as well. Hope the mileage won't take too much of a beating with these although the 15 or 16 inch versions are still hovering around 20 lbs too. I hope they will last me 6 years since I only put about 8000km annually between November and March.

Only 8 more months till November 2014! can't wait to try them out

 

Didn't buy them there but I Love the Energy Saver A/S tires, but their not very good in snow & ice.

 

How does it work with warranty etc? I doubt the local installing tire shop will cover you if you didn't buy the tires from them right?