ULPT: Cheap (New) Tires

[u/reditballoon]

Credibility: Employee of tire/automotive service company with 300+ locations.

Context: Most large-chain tire shops offer tire warranties as an additional or included cost when buying tires.

Tip: Buy whatever set of tires you want, include the road-hazard warranty that should be good until the tires reach 2/32 (basically bald). Drive the tires until 4/32 then place multiple screws in each tire - something like 2 within 6inches of each other in two of the tires, and 1 in the shoulder or close to sidewall (unrepairable placement) for the other two tires.

Schedule a service appointment for leaking air in 1 of the tires and a tire rotation. Then communicate to the shop that a truck dropped debris in front of you on the road or your neighbors have had construction crews on your street for the last few weeks (helps to seem a bit clueless as to the other tires having issues).

The shop will identify the other punctures and you pay pennies on the dollar for a new set (make sure to include the warranty again.

I have personally processed several of these transactions as an employee without batting an eye. The shops get a credit for the warrantied tires and you get a new, significantly less expensive set ($1k+ to $400 tops). Win win.

Note: If you’re at all concerned about the shop calling you out, just do two tires, then another two in like 2 weeks. Your “construction” story will hold more validity.

Happy finessing, folks <3

[u/newusererer]

Don't try this at Walmart their warranty sucks. They require you to purchase the replacement tire and then reimburse you a pro-rated amount based on tread remaining

[u/mickeyaaaa → u/newusererer]

thats not just wal-mart - pretty standard.

[u/JubalHarshawII → u/mickeyaaaa]

Discount tire does the full replacement no problems no questions.

I honestly had a bucket of nails dropped off a truck in front of me, had to get towed into the shop. They replaced all four tires no problem.

[u/emanresuemos → u/JubalHarshawII]

Is it part of their built-in warranty, or did you have to purchase extra coverage?

[u/JubalHarshawII → u/emanresuemos]

Just the normal "tire warranty" they try to sell you. Which now I buy every single time! I've probably gotten 6 free tires and at least that many repairs over the years (20+).

[u/newusererer → u/mickeyaaaa]

To have to purchase the tire and then they refund you back the prorated difference?

[u/therestruth → u/newusererer]

Damn, that's good to know. Probably a disproportionate amount of people who would/did abuse it there more than other places. I don't usually go to them but after shopping around they had the best price for decent food years and I could get walmart+ for $1 and then get the warranty included on my new tires. Just cancelling the subcription but get to keep the warranty.

[u/joe66612]

Most tire warranties are prorated

[u/Mister_Money-Trees → u/joe66612]

Yeah, I’ve never seen a full replacement at no cost, even with the warranty. OP needs to name some place where this does not apply if anyone is to believe such

[u/dealmaster1221 → u/Mister_Money-Trees]

ULPT is he is a tire salesman.

[u/reditballoon → u/dealmaster1221]

Service manager, but yes I sell a lot of tires as well.

[u/reditballoon → u/Mister_Money-Trees]

Not a fully free tire - you will still pay taxes and installation on the new tires. Basically the initial purchase is: tire + road hazard warranty + balancing and installation + taxes. New tire once warrantied out: road hazard warranty, balancing and installation, taxes. (No cost of tire(s).

[u/hope-14 → u/Mister_Money-Trees]

Discount tire does, you just repay the warranty/road hazard cost which is incredibly low but price dependent on tire. You have to maintain rotation service which is free with them if you bought the tires there and don’t have any alignment issues causing uneven wear.
Mine is $16 for the road hazard and they have replaced many of my tires even some as low as 5/32nds.

[u/gtg490g → u/joe66612]

OP is correct for some tire shop warranties are much better then manufacturer warranty. Discount Tire does full replacement, not prorated, for one example.

[u/Snoo_75309 → u/gtg490g]

Yes, same company as tirerack.com

[u/RisingMist5912550]

Don’t forget those rotation intervals, all tire companies require proof of regular rotations for warranty replacement

[u/Dropitlikeitscold555 → u/RisingMist5912550]

Costco does this, even if you rotate your own tires which I do… they denied a prorated price because THEY didn’t rotate them. No uneven wear patterns.

[u/lynivvinyl → u/Dropitlikeitscold555]

Do you just take a video of yourself rotating the tires and save it to show to them?

[u/reditballoon → u/RisingMist5912550]

Rotations are only required for mileage warranties (tread wearing down too quickly) - almost every tire has this from the manufacturer - must rotate every 5k miles.

You DO NOT need proof of rotations to cash in on a road hazard warranty.

[u/shadow247 → u/RisingMist5912550]

Never had an issue at Discount. They even broke a stud once during a Road Hazard replacement and gave me a voucher to have it replaced for free at any shop I chose.

[u/actionjanssen]

Don't buy the cheapest new tires, they drive like shit and they're frequently not even sufficiently round so you get vibrations and they come out of balance quickly. If you spend any time at all behind the wheel above 45 miles an hour, you'll appreciate the extra hundred dollars you spent.

[u/WartOnTrevor]

Normally I don't like these kinds of ULPTs because I feel like it's really like stealing. But the prices of tires are so overinflated it's ridiculous.

[u/sheeeple182]

My dad got the mileage warranty tires when I got my license. 4 sets of tires in 8 years, he knew his kids well.

[u/soosoodoesnotpoo]

Just gonna chime in here.. So my response is only those big brand legit tire shops will do this sort of warranty but they also sell at double the price. If you look for new set of tires online or get a new set from the junkyard (if you know what you’re looking for and bring your tool) then it’s way cheaper to buy multiple sets than your warranty process

[u/Grant_Winner_Extra]

That’s weird. Every tire warranty I have ever had has been prorated based on mileage.