My car has 225/45R17 front and 245/40R17 rear.

I ordered new tires because my old tires are cracking. Ordered from Amazon and included installation on two of the tires. I ended up ordering the front tires to my house due to stock issues with Amazon seller. The rear tires are scheduled for delivery to the tire shop tomorrow.

I just called that tire shop just to inform them im bringing the front tires to have installed, so there wont be any surprises. I tried to explain the situation, how i paid Amazon for the installation of the rears at his shop already and i will pay the shop for them installing the rears. You would think it would be simple but no.

On the phone the guy started questioning the sizes so i explained they are staggered. he then said something about him not even being able to install them if they are "low profile". I said no they are regular stock size tires, even told him the sizes He still said "we will have to see".

Is there a reason why the tire shop wont be able to install these tires? Its a Monroe Tire chain.

Wondering if I just had the guy confused with telling him I had to order from two different places, maybe he thinks they are special sizes?

Shame because theres a small tire shop right down the street but hes the one who installed my lug nuts on so tight after I had him swap a TP sensor I had to use a 4 foot piece of pipe to get them off.

Bought the tires on Amazon, very inexpensive. All 4 tires cost $309.00. Then the installation is $25/tire.

 

The rear might be considered on the border of low profile but I wouldn’t say the fronts. If he’s a tire shop he should be more than able to do your tires. If not I would go somewhere else if you can. 45&40 profile tires are pretty common on newish cars. Now if they were run flats it’d be a different case possibly, but still doable on a basic tire machine. Take pics of the rims if they’re good in case he scratches them. I do my 35 profile tires pretty easily.

 

In the past, I think anything with a ratio of less than 80% was considered "low profile". However, his questions would have me concerned that he has no idea what he's doing.

 

I would have to agree.

 

I had the $300 Amazon tires installed over the weekend and I will say first impressions they are nice. Put some miles on them on backroads and the highway and they ride nice, car sticks to the road, very smooth, and with the windows down they appear quiet.

At first i thought the ride felt hard until the tire sensors started working and noticed the tires were set to 45psi.. I have an air gauge in the car so pulled over and lowered them down to 30pis front and 35psi rear and it felt much softer. The old tires are a brand called ironman imove GEN2 and were just put on before i bought the car over 4yrs ago and i put on 28,000 miles on them. They seemed fine until after this winter then I noticed cracking everywhere and the car started feeling like the tires were out of round driving down the road. In my opinion the tire wear looked good giving me no indication there's anything wrong with the suspension or it even needs an alignment though i could be wrong.





One thing that stood out to me was the wheel weights and I was wondering why on earth they placed them inside the rim like that, but I guess thats where they are supposed to go? I did notice the old wheel weight residue on the inside at areas, guess i just never noticed since they were dirty and blended in. I like the directional tread, wonder if it will drive better in rain and snow.









Installation went more or less how I expected, showed up early for my 11am appointment and the guy said he had no record of my appointment and that he was busy. Car was finally done at 2:45pm. Everything went fairly well, all the tires were installed the correct way, fronts were on the front and rears were on the rear. One of the old sensors was so corroded it had to be cut off, sensor was fine it was just the stem that was cut. I brought two new sensors to swap out ones I knew were old. I had replaced the other sensors myself last year so they were fine. The best thing was they seemed to torque the lug bolts properly, when i got home i took them off and reinstalled just to make sure. I did have to torque down the sensors nuts a little and also the valves with my tool.




I think the tires are a good deal. With tax they were $309.90 delivered with Amazon prime. Then figure the $99.96 for installation. I'll update if there's anything wrong with them in the future.

 

I was cleaning my rims and noticed something on one of the center caps. Appears the tire shop broke one of the tabs off and glued it back in place. Things break which is fine, I wouldnt have even cared because I have extras to put on, but to glue it back and not even let me know is another thing. Thats dishonest and shady.

 

Found another one they broke and glued in.

 

No 5 stars here. Did you buy the installation through Amazon, as well? I'd certainly rate that shop "properly" with Amazon, Yelp, and any others.

 

I bought the tire install for the rear tires for $49.98 and had those tires shipped directly to the tire shop. For the front tires there was no option to have them installed and they were shipped to my house. I planned on bringing the front tires and paying cash to have them installed. But when the car was done the guy just had me sign an estimate for $99.96 and that was it. i didnt have to pay anything extra. I think the guy screwed up and should have billed the fronts and rears separate but by that point I was aggravated and just wanted to leave. I haven't heard anything from Amazon so maybe they just paid it.

Because the guy claimed he had no record of my appointment I called Amazon customer service to find out the issue. One of the reps mentioned that if the tire shop charges more than what I already paid Amazon for then Amazon will reimburse me the difference. I ended up speaking with three different Amazon reps before the last guy was able to call the tire shop directly as i was on the line to resolve the issue. Not sure what was said since I was outside in the parkinglot but i think the guy was just lazy and screwing around with me about not having an appointment. I will say the Amazon reps were great and seemed to really want to help resolve the issue.

Tire shop over filled all the tires by at least 10psi, didnt torque the valves down enough, didnt torque the valve stem nuts down enough, and broke two center caps that I noticed. The other two center caps seem fine but I have removed them to check yet since I dont have any more to install if they are busted. I doubt they properly torqued the lug bolts down but at least they werent on so tight I couldnt remove them.

No way will i go back to that tire shop. Next time I need tires im ordering them to my house, put my car on jack stands and remove the wheels, remove the center caps, then bring them somewhere to just have swapped and balanced. Put them back on myself.

 

I would certainly give that shop 1 star and explain what happened. No way should someone else have to go through that. It's doesn't bode well for Amazon either if they are trying to break into the tire business.

A lot of shops don't like having to install mail-order tires--they have no profit in the sale of the tire. Usually the installation charge is little more than break even and is necessary as a service to walk-in customers. If that guy ever wanted a return customer, he certainly didn't show it. I wonder if he was the owner of the business, as well.

 

I wrote my honest review for the tire shop with one star rating on Google maps. They actually responded, i think it was probably the head office of the chain. The wrote Thank You for bringing this to our attention and to give them a call on a toll-free number to get more details. I havent called yet, maybe I will.

I havent heard anything about the installation bill so I guess I got the fronts installed for free. Im not going to ask about it.

I tried to leave a review for the tire installation on Amazon but it wont let me, not sure its even possible.

I have to say the tires are great so far. It rides alot softer not feeling all the bumps. Im sure it has much to do with the old tires being so worn. Being older I drive more normal but was pushing it a little on off ramps and the car really sticks to the road.

 

The only issue would be if low profile tires are illegal, such as CA. If it's the stock size, there cannot be an issue because they are DOT compliant. But the real issue is probably this:
That's not a lot of money for a shop that has good business volume. It should be a way to 'build' business but the problem, like those 'GroupOn' deals, is that it leaves a bad taste in the business's mouth.

Just a tip, never cheap out on your car and always do your research. If I'm gonna be stucik on the side of the road, I want it to be for a flat tire or being out of gas....something AAA can take care of (and even then...)