z51vett

I would go oem only no after market for me. I used DeKalb tire for new Mich tire purchase they were about 200 dollars cheaper than Butler tire a boutique tie and wheel place. Long story short skinned rocker tires out of bal and their road force balancer was broke bought 3 sets of tires that day I became public enemy #1 for wanting to watch the alien work on my car. Went to Butler tire and had road force balance done and balance on car front and rear neat machines. Needless to say learned my lesson cheap is not always best.
z51vett
Doug

BostonJoel

Don't forget the cooked chicken wings and big screen TVs!!!!!

I would never trust any of my cars to Costco, BJs, or any other big box warehouse.
I was lucky to discover Discount Tire when I moved to GA some 9 years ago. All they do is tires..no brakes, no shocks, no front end work, etc. Pricing is competitive with Tire Rack. I've bought several sets of tires, incl Corvette tires, from them. Their work is prefect.

Best of luck with Costco.

Globeman

An update on the (almost) impossible task of replacing TPM sensors:

After waiting a few weeks for Costco to get the Schrader sensors I exchanged some heated words over the phone with the clerk. He suggested that I get them somewhere else and he’d install them. I ordered them online and had them in two days. (Apparently I have greater buying power than Costco!).

I took them to Costco (30 mile RT) – they said it would take 2½ hours – that was the good news! Then he said they wouldn’t be able to register the sensors with the ECM because their tool was broken and out for repair! I left. That evening I went on the Costco.com Web site and described my experience. Two hours later the store’s ***’t. GM called me to apologize. He said he had the tire shop order another tool so they would have a backup and he offered to reimburse me if I wanted to take the car to another shop for the installation and also offered a $50 gift card for my trouble.

I called the local Chevy dealer but they couldn’t take the car for two weeks. So I took it to a local tire dealer that I’ve used in the past. They looked at the car and said their tire machine couldn’t handle the rear wheels.

Back to Chevy where they agreed do the job in a week if I left the car for the day. I did that but later that day they called to say that there was a danger of damaging the rims if they used their tire machine. Their message was, “if we do this, we can’t be responsible for potential damage”. Naturally, I told them to forget it.

Meanwhile, the Costco ***’t GM had called to say their tool was repaired.

Yesterday I gave Costco another shot at installing the sensors. While the work was being done, I got my gift card and they refunded the $178 I paid for the bad sensors.

With all this time at Costco, I got to know all the techs pretty well. They told me proudly that the car was finished and they were able to read pressures with their tool. They thought the car would pick them up eventually. I didn’t accept that so they took out the tool again. Their book told them to press the menu button on the steering column stalk to get into Learn Mode. There is no Menu button! I remember reading on this forum that you enter Learn Mode by going into Accessory Mode then hold both Lock & Unlock on the remote for a few seconds. That worked. They registered all the sensors in about a minute and the world was right again. Tires and sensors installed and no wheel damage.

I started this quest on June 24th and it didn’t end until September 4th.

In the end, I love the Bridgestones. I can actually hear the radio now and they handle road imperfections much better.

One more note, the replacement sensors come with grey plastic valve caps. My car had stainless steel caps so I made a point to keep them.

LFZ

And you could have gone to Discount Tire and got it all done for a lot less time, money, and aggravation.

IrishSpuds

Lesson learned, don't cheap out!

Globeman

I probably would have done that if there was one within 500 miles of here. Next time it might be worth the trip.

Tonylmiller

I've been buying new sensors one at a time from Amazon (Orange). I pull the wheel myself and take it to the local Firestone store. They have done a great job on two of them so far.

I bought the TPMS programming tool by Cub and program them myself. No problems so far!

SUB VETTE

I wouldn't trash COSTCO too quickly either. I haven't used them for my Corvette (My Michelins came frome Tire Rack, installed by a local installer they recommended) but I have purchased at least three sets of tires for other cars from COSTCO. All those installs went off without a hitch and their free warranty service for flats etc.and balancing I have used successfully, also without a hitch.

cclive

I bought my Michelin A/S plus tires at Costco and was very happy. Spoke with the tire manager and explained the lifting, the expense of replacement chrome wheels etc and he said that he would put his best guy on it and that their equipment was the latest and there would be no scratches. It was all perfect and as soon as the Super Sports come out in runflat, I'll buy them at Costco.

I should add that my Dad got his last set of tires on his Boxster at Costco also...chrome wheels, no problems...different Costco than mine.

AORoads

Let's not be so quik in singing the praises of Discount Tire installation. After all, if you look at the map of where they are the closest to NY State is Ohio or Kentucky or North Carolina.

Map here: http://dt.know-where.com/DiscountTire/

As to correct tire mounting machines, I just recently came across this info where a tech told me NOT to have tires/wheels (larger) balanced at his shop. The machine wasn't good enough for wider wheels/tires.

I also wouldn't sweep all Costcos since as both Patriot and cclive state, there are good ones out there. The major issue is as much education as it is employee and manager turnover. In some places, that isn't an issue; in my area it is an issue.

Globeman

How does my Costco price compare to other sources? The 4 Bridgestone Pole Position S04s came to $1,071.96 including $15 per tire balancing, disposal, etc. but not the local sales tax. That includes a road hazard warranty, free rotations (But I'll do that myself).

The 4 TPM sensors I ordered on-line cost $164 (free shipping).

cclive

The $14 per tire that Costco charges for mounting includes the road hazard warranty, which is a significant charge at most other places.

AORoads

yes it is; I was just quoted $18/tire at another store this week.

Edit: change that to about $20/tire; just went back to my notes.

cclive

Right Bill, and I think at Tire rack that it is a set percentage of the tire price...in the $30 per tire range for C6 tires.

Globeman

...and it covers lifetime balancing, tire rotation, flat repair and nitrogen refills. I failed to mention that the price I posted does not include the $70 discount they had on Bridgestone tires. And they gave me that $50 gift card for my trouble.

In the end, I really can't complain. Costco is a reputable operation.

kimdjay

Best response period.

FredC7

I bought the same S04 Pole Position tires from Tire rack a couple of months ago for my Z51 08 C6. I had them on my 1998 C5 and loved them. I also ditched the Supercar tires at 14.7K miles because they were just too hard and loud. The new Bridgestone's are like a new pair of running sneakers. They handle great and are smooth and quiet. I paid $824 for the 4 tires and had them installed at a local Goodyear Store for around $145. I did not replace the TPMS sensor because if it ain't broke ... don't fix it! $969 was half the cost of just buying the new OEM tires. I also bought a patch kit with a compressor for just in case. I love the tires and highly recommend them

ATC399

Dont go too costco for tires on a high performance vehicle...toilet paper...yes...the only thing connecting me to the road is more important than saving a fews bucks...thanks for the post OP just confirms my thoughts...jmho

vetdude

Had the OEM Goodyears replaced on my wife's '06 C6 conv. with Michelin Pilot PS/2 ZP's at the local Costco in Columbia on RT175 - no issues whatsoever...just had to take my own pucks with me since they didn't have any. The new Michelins totally transformed the ride and handling of the car.

Now, I need to replace the OEM Goodyears on my '06 Z06. Won't be taking it to Costco though because, 1) they don't carry Michelins in the proper sizes for the car, and 2) it won't clear the lift!!!!

rfn026

I've had really good experiences with Cotsco. If you need Michelins they have the best selection and prices. They're the largest Michelin buyer in the world.

Michelin spends more time training the Cotsco employees than they do any other buyer.

I guess it comes down to which story, and what day, you're getting the tires installed.

Richard Newton
Vintage Wheels