Tire options for seniors
One of the most important parts of a car are its tires. Although they usually are taken for granted, the safety and performance of a car largely depends on the condition and quality of the tires. While its nice to get a good price on new tires, safety and service are also very important.
For most seniors, they don’t want to have to be worried or bothered about maintaining their car – at least not too much. This also includes a car’s tires, they should provide safety and performance for a long period of time. When it comes time to buy a new set of tires therefore, service after the sale may be more important than price. Things like checking for and adjusting proper air pressure, wheel balancing, and flat repairs are important features in addition to the physical quality and features of the tires themselves.
Tires are an expensive purchase and there are a multitude of places to buy them, both at a physical store and even online. However, there are only a handful of tire sellers that combine good prices with good service, both before and after the sale. While you should do online research regarding all the different kinds of tires available in advance, below are the tire dealers who have the best overall deals for seniors in 2023.
Walmart
The famous nationwide discount store also has a tire and battery shop in many of their locations. Unlike the membership warehouse stores, Walmart does not require you to pay to become a member. They have the lowest median price for new tires at $103 per tire and charge $15 per tire for installation. Believe it or not, they offer the largest selection of tires of any tire dealer, with over 60 brands. Walmart also offers a Lifetime Balance and Rotation Plan for $12 extra per tire, where they will rotate and rebalance your tires at no charge for the life of the tires. They also offer a road hazard tire warranty for an additional $10 per tire.
Sam’s Club
This membership warehouse store, like their competitors, sell tires. Unlike Walmart, you have to buy a membership with them to buy tires here. Sam’s median price for new tires is $143, but includes several perks. These include 24-hour emergency roadside assistance, road hazard protection, rotation, balancing and flat repair for the lifetime of the tires. They have available 12 major brands and almost always have special deals on at least one of the brands. Other free services include air pressure and tread depth checks, 50-mile lug nut re-torques and other services for your vehicle such as wiper blade installation, battery installation and battery checks.
BJ’s Tire Center
This membership store has tire centers at many of their locations. They offer over a dozen major brands of tires, with a median price at $144 per tire. Installation is usually $20 per tire and includes an impressive amount of perks: tire rotation, wheel rebalancing, flat repairs, inflation checks and a full road hazard warranty all at no charge. Installation times, sales services and installation quality have all been consumer rated as top notch.
Costco
Rounding up the membership store tire dealers, Costco offers three major brands: BFGoodrich, Bridgestone, and Michelin. Their median price is at $168 per tire, but this includes installation. Plus, they offer some very nice perks, such as free inflation pressure checks, tire balancing, tire rotations, flat repairs and a generous five-year road hazard warranty. Other nice features are that it is easy to schedule an appointment with them online and Costco fills your tires with nitrogen instead of compressed air.
Tire Rack
This is an online tire store that offers a gigantic selection of tire brands, styles and sizes. Their median price come in at $163 per tire and the price includes fast and free shipping. They have a network of affiliate garages that will do the installation at about $24 per tire and the tires can be shipped directly to them.
Discount Tire Direct
Discount is another online tire dealer, with the second largest amount of brands, styles and sizes. Their median price comes in at $161 per tire, which includes free expedited shipping to the customer or directly to an installation garage. Installation costs around $22 per tire, depending on the garage you use. Customers have reported that everything from the selection to the sales, customer service and shipping are excellent.
