When a car breaks down everything else in your life stops too
. Recently my husband's SUV wore through its old tires and has needed new ones. After doing some research we found out that purchasing all new tires and having them installed costs a lot of money. Much more than we thought. So we did a little research and have found the best possible deal. Here's how we did it.
First, we spent a long time on the phone. We called every auto parts dealer from New Haven to Southington to find which tire dealer sold the cheapest products. We found that most places would do a price match if a competitor had a cheaper price. Be careful when utilizing price matches though. We found out that in order for most stores to do a price match, they require the matching product to be exactly what the other store is selling.
For example-if you find a cheap Michelin tire at one store and look for a price match at another, that second store has to have the exact same Michelin tire in stock in order to price match. We realized this after talking to a few people about pricing and their competition's pricing. Always ask what their policy is on price matching.
Second-sometimes used is best. We found that most used auto parts stores sell used tired for a fraction of the cost of the new ones. Ask around and see who might have a few used tires on hand that you can buy. Make sure though, to ask them about the condition of the tire. It won't do you any good to spend any money on "new" tires that are just as beat up as your old ones. Ask around and find a good used tire that will last you a while. If you have a new or luxury car, buying used tires is probably not an option. For us, buying used tires made sense because my husband's SUV is old and doesn't need top of the line tires.
Buying any auto part, or having work done on a car can be very expensive and can take weeks to finish. Make sure you do some good research and call all the local auto shops before making a final purchase decision. You don't want to scrimp on the safety and quality of your car repairs, but that doesn't mean you need to break the bank in order fix up your auto.