RMcQ

I would not take my car to Costco for tires and I LOVE Costco.

kennyc

oh well...

magnetic1

Both of these tires are very good all-season tires. The Falken is pretty cheap at around $75-80 and the Toyo is about $85 or so... highly recommend.

TGM65

I can't understand why on earth so many of you recommend Radial Tire? I went there based on recommendations from several people on this board. I almost had a heart attack watching them work on my new S4. For the record, I will NEVER have tires installed there again. My service tech at Rockville Audi doesn't like them either.

The wait is ridiculous, and there's no "safe" parking lot for your car to be parked in while you're waiting. You have to park your car in their ridiculously narrow driveway right on top of other cars that are also waiting to get into their "warehouse" (you can't call it a garage). Huge delivery trucks are going in and out of that driveway in very close proximity to your car while it's in the driveway. When they finally do bring your car into the warehouse, it is within "inches" (literally) of the other 8 cars they are working on all at the same time. They don't have any lifts at all! All the cars are jacked up or placed on jack stands while they mount your tires. They use extremely "questionable" jack points underneath the car (not the creases in the unibody seam specifically designed to be used as jack points). I saw them supporting cars completely off the ground with just 2 jacks!
They ARE NOT careful with your car. They are a strictly a cheap, "high volume" operation...not the place for someone with a nice car who expects excellent (and CAREFUL) service. They do keep a lot of tires in stock so it's a good place to buy the tires, but if you care about your car GET THE TIRES MOUNTED ELSEWHERE!

kennyc

ever consider switching to decaf? it's a recommendation - don't need to get all excited!

magnetic1

Sorry you had such a bad experience there. But did your car come out of there harmed? They arent a high volume, in/out operation. There is a reason why there is a long wait. There is a reason why people take their cars there. And to be honest, Ive been MUCH more expensive cars than your S4 there, so there is a reason those owners (who are probably more particular than you) consistently bring their Porsches, Aston Martins, and such there. And all for 30 years too.

If youre that picky, you should either work on your car at home or someplace else. You can always pay to have a more secure feeling (not that RT is unsafe), but Id rather goto Radial Tire for their honesty, knowledge and expertise.

So what if they dont have lifts. Do you have a lift everytime you work on your car? I think not. And to mount/balance tires, which is all they do, a lift is overkill for the job. All you need to do is take the wheels off the car. Could they use lifts to have a better looking atmosphere? sure, but then more people would complain about the wait since now there is no longer any room in the garage.

Like I said, they've been doing this for over 30+ years. I doubt after all that time, if they are dinging up expensive cars, scratching them up, jacking on incorrect points or not taking care of the customer, all these owners of common Chevy Cavaliers to Porsche GT3s to Aston Martins, would not be bringing repeat business AND referrals to them. Think about that for a minute

ATX VW GTI

Was there any damage to your car? Have you heard of any damage to any cars while in their posession?

While I agree with everything you said (except the part about improper jack points) they do excellent work. Basically your car was CLOSE to other cars and was put on jacks instead of a lift. If it bothers you that much just sit in the waiting room and read a magazine or the paper. When you get your car it will be fine.

The first time I went there they did damage the security lug nut on one wheel. The owner explained what happened, gave a small discount and replaced all 4 security lugs with something equivalent (they didn't have exact replacements). I would like to stress that the owner brought all this to my attention and wanted to make sure I was a happy customer. No run around, no excuses.

As magnetic1 pointed out they have been in business for a long time, have a loyal customer base, and people willing to wait (I have waited up to 4 hours but I knew this going in).

RMcQ

the shop is as you describe, but the workers actually understand and care about high-end wheels and tires and aftermarket fitments. I bought a set of Abt wheels from a used-to-be-local tuner for my Corrado. They assured me they would fit.

I took the loose wheels to Radial Tire to get new Toyo T1-S tires mounted and just after they started on my car I was called out into the shop. They were test fitting a loose wheel onto the front of my car with white-gloved hands. They showed me that there was interference with the brake caliper. They neatly packed my wheels back up after carefully wiping non-existant hand marks off them and sent me on my way with no charge.

I called the tuner who said that they could only take the wheels back if no tires had been mounted. Returned the wheels and went back to Radial Tire for a wheel/tire combo.

Just another data point. Sam's club or NTB or whatever may have the newest, cleanest shop with expensive lifts, but the low rent employees will mount directional tires wrong, gouge rims, stick weights in obnoxious locations, etc.

RKA

It seems you were just uncomfortable, but you really didn't cite anything specific that would cause someone to *run* from that shop. It seems more like you just didn't like the atmosphere.

I'm also wondering whether you're qualified to judge where it's appropriate to lift the car, and where it is not. You do realize that there are alternate locations where you can lift the car from, which are even more safe than the spindly little pinch welds on the corners of the car...right?