New Tires?

[trickycoolj]

It’s about time for some new tires on my car, wondering if there’s any good options in West Seattle. I have a 2008 Honda Fit Sport which has an odd wheel size. I called Les Schwab they have only 1 kind in stock, Discount has 2 but one seems abnormally cheap, Costco requires special order because they don’t stock my size. Holy cow, I have OEM wheels and tires, I didn’t think I’d have that little of choice! I’m probably not thinking of all my options and frankly tire stores are not what I’m looking for when I’m out and about. Anyone have any good experiences or suggestions in or near West Seattle (Georgetown/Sodo also very convenient for work purposes). I’m also not particularly interested in ordering from the internet since tires would be a gigantic delivery to my house.

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[kgdlg]

We used Sears for our wagon a while back and it was a great experience! They are in Sodo near Starbucks HQ and so nice. Also, when we got a leak, they fixed for free!

We will prob use Les Schwab for our other car because these tires are just standard tires and LS is more convenient to our house. If I recall, you can look up your tire size on the Sears website to see what they have in stock, which is usually a lot!

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[squareeyes]

Have you looked at tire rack to see what all is available in your size? It’s a great site and was extremely helpful when I was looking for replacement tires for my Rav4. Once you have some options you like, then you can call around to the various shops to see what you can get.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/SelectTireSize.jsp?autoMake=Honda&autoModel=Fit+Sport&autoYear=2008&autoModClar=

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[skeeter]

That is strange that the selection is so limited. It must be an unpopular tire size.

I would personally just do Costco. You can trust any tire they sell or (in your case) would order for you. They only sell quality stuff.

Some dealers are matching costco tire prices if that is more convenient.

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[biankat]

+1 for tirerack.com. My husband refers to them regularly. You can use as a research site and then take your knowledge to local tire places OR purchase your tires thru them and set up installation of purchased tires thru local tire installers. Side note: I recently dropped in to Discount tire in Burien. They mentioned that they will price match tirerack.com. Good luck!

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[JayDee]

I also third Tire Rack. I wanted to buy Z-rated tires for a car, and at the time they were the only ones who carried them. Discount has been good to me since and both sites have extensive reviews on tires from customers. Maybe you can upsize to a more popular tire size? Maybe OEMs were small so they could be cheap?

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[Franci]

Courtesy Tire on California. South end of the junction.

They are the BEST.

4820 California Ave Sw, Seattle · (206) 932-5044

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[seaopgal]

We also like Courtesy Tire. Good, fast service, and they will take care of you after the sale.

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[Kevin]

Les Schwab is THE BEST in my mind! For one thing, almost every little town in the Pacific NW has a Les Schwab store! What this means is that if you have tire issues, you will always be close to a Schwab store.

Their service is comparable to Noordstrom. Les Schwab is also a great source for batteries.

The only downside – stay away from them for brakes. They want to put all NEW parts in, so they can offer you a lifetime warranty, where as a dealer or independent automotive repair shop will usually just replace the parts that actually need replacing, for a MUCH more reasonable price.

For tires and batteries – there is no better place to go!

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[trickycoolj]

Thanks for the tips everyone!! I have been exploring Tirerack.com they certainly don’t have a ton in my size but a decent choice. 195/55-15. For some reason Honda uses uncommon low profile sizes on the Fit Sport. Sears’ website didn’t have any listed. From the quotes I did get on the phone today I’ve got everything from $56 to $126 per tire. Costco being the most expensive, Discount the least. I did notice reading a few reviews on Discount’s site that people in TX will rave about a given tire and then you find the lone WA review in the bunch hating on the rain performance (eek!). I might also give my dealer a call too, I have a recall I need to go in for soon anyway. Never know they might be willing to give me a deal.

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[skeeter]

Good luck! Because they are disposable, tires are often not given the scrutiny they should be given. They are the only thing that connects your car to the road. They are exceptionally important and it’s worthwhile to research thoroughly.

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[KBear]

I also recommend Courtesy Tire.

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[Irukandji]

Courtesy Tire! I did my research on tire Rack, but didn’t want to leave West Seattle for installation. I’ve been really happy with the additional education I got from CT and glad to know I can drop in any time for help. HIGHLY recommended.

I passed on Les Schwab when the sales guy tried to sell me on stiping new tires for an extra $50. No.

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[Andy]

Seriously. Courtesy tire. Outstanding service, prices, turn-around time.

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[wintergaarden]

Albertson Tire on Delridge. Excellent service and prices and local, non corporate. Gives price over phone.

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[trickycoolj]

Looks like Courtesy and Les Schwab are about the same price for middle of the road 40k mi A/S tires. Courtesy has additional less expensive options as well since they would have to order anything for my oddball tire size from their local supplier. My commute is less than 10mi round trip but straight downhill from High Point to Georgetown so another winter on these tires is not going to happen. Hopefully I can keep this tire adventure under $500, love my Fit but at 6 years old I’m looking at the new standard features of my friends’ cars with envy (bluetooth, roof rails instead of a clamp on rack, AWD, higher MPG) I’ve only got 43k miles so I could get a great trade on something new next year… we’ll see what this year’s auto show brings! I hear Honda has a crossover/urban mini SUV concept based on the Fit for 2014 in the works.

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[JoB]

ok.. you guys have instilled a serious case of guilt.. tires go bad i go to Costco or Les Schwab depending on which is more convenient for me..

i really missed Les Schwab when i lived in Minnesota. they weren’t what i would call convenient at all:(

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