Buying Tires In The States
 

Hi, I'm considering purchasing a set of new all-season tires in the US, are there any places you would recommend to get it purchased and installed? I would go as far as Seattle depending on how much I'm saving.

Thanks!

Depends what kind....not all brands are carried by all shops.

I bought my Michelin All-Seasons at Costco in Burlington, not too far from the border. Quick install and much cheaper than here (probably 40& cheaper)

theres nothing wrong with buying tires in the states. just keep these in mind.

- exchange rate
- cost of driving the car to get the tires
- cost of having the tires installed

now this part is weather or not u want to risk going thru the border with the tires on.
- if u dont declare, and get thru, then lucky you
- if u dont declare, and get caught, u are fined. besides GST, PST, DUTY, also whatever they throw at up

- if u declare, you pay GST (5%), PST (7%), duty (7%)

so comes down to the simple basic question, with the price difference, is it worth it for you to bring across urself, or buy from a local company? it really only comes down to that.

I believe you still have to pay for installation and taxes if you bought local too???
so....exchange rate is the only concern. I bought a set last June when the dollar was strong and saveed almost 50%.

one small bonus is that you don't pay for the tire levy for us purchase.

even with today's bad exchange rate

tires at the states are probably still cheaper.

just compare it, get like a quote from all these RS sponsors here.
then check out the 2 'major' discount tire sites in the states.

factor in all the duty, taxes, gas money, etc.

one more tip, you don't really have to drive down there to buy it.
you can get it shipped FREE to pt roberts and pick it up there for a small fee. (~$10-$15 i believe)

Discount tire you can order online and have it delivered to the nearest location which is in bellingham. Not a bad drive I did this for my PS2's and saved about $700 installed compared to local. The only thing that sucked about it is most shops will give you free flat repair for the life of the tire if you purchase from them which you couldn't take advantage of unless you drove down there to have your flat fixed.

what are the 2 major discount tire sites in the states?

I was worrying we are not allow to post links..but i guess it's ok?

www.discounttiredirect.com/
www.discounttire.com

OK Tire does it for everyone...pretty good policy!

Yes, I agree OK is good with that they will usually do it for free.

They're both the same. One is just the online store.

I think the other one that people are referring to is Tire Rack.

Tire Rack doens't charge sales tax as they're only in Indiana. Discount Tire (since they have a presence in WA) will charge sales tax.

Tire Rack also has some "certified shops" that they recommend. You can have your tires delievered to those shops instead of to your mailbox or buddie's house.

If you buy your wheels and tires from Tire Rack, I believe they'll mount and balance for free, although most tire shops will probably do that for you anyways if you buy both from them.

All in all, the border people aren't going to be lookin at your tires when you come back to canada so its still much cheapr then here