I bought the Volvo's P6000's through Blackcircles and had a great experience. 4 P6000's delivered, fitted, and balanced, and with all the usual guarantees, for £260! The only issue was the fitting centre made a pig's ear of the tracking, but that was paid for separately by me on the day, and nothing to do with Blackcircles.
I've never understood people who stand for the 'three figures per corner' prices charged to walk in customers of the High Street outlets.
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"I've never understood people who stand for the 'three figures per corner' prices charged to walk in customers of the High Street outlets. "
Well I've just bought two Bridgestone ER 300s from STS Tyre Pros and they were £4 per tyre cheaper than the Blackcircles fitted price. The experience was first class - It took 30 mins from when I walked through the door. I waited in a pleasant warm waiting room and was given a cup of coffee and a paper to read while I waited. Was given a satisfaction survey to complete for completion of which was sent a £5 voucher off next purchase.
It not always cheaper buying online and it often a lot less convenient
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I can't see how having tyres fitted at home is less convenient than dragging onesself to a grubby tyre fitters and waiting in the cold for up to an hour. Then there's the cost of the fuel to get there, and the notional cost of the time.
I would pay a small premium for the convenience of internet purchasing and home fitting...although all purchases to date have been cheaper. Still, each to his own!
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I agree, online is the only way to go. Found a decent seller on that well known auction site, 4 Toyo 195 45 R15 T1R Proxes delivered for £155.
Even with fitting costs it was cheaper than the high street.
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I buy my tyres online, never any issues.
What if it went wrong though? They sent the wrong tyres? Wrong size? A tyre was damaged?
That last one could be a real headache to sort. Especially if delivered to a local garaged on a fully fitted price. Who owes you the new tyre? Probably technically the garage who accepted custodianship of them without checking the tyres over.
I severely doubt they're going to see it that way with only £5 a corner fitting fee in it for them!
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I can't see how having tyres fitted at home is less convenient than dragging onesself.. etc.
Well, if you don't mind any Tom, Dick or Harry turning up & poking around I suppose & don't mind the staying in.
There's also the issue of being able to locate the fitter in the event of a problem - the tyre shop doesn't move around like the mobile chappy.
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I can't see how having tyres fitted at home is less convenient than dragging onesself.. etc. Well if you don't mind any Tom Dick or Harry turning up & poking around I suppose & don't mind the staying in. There's also the issue of being able to locate the fitter in the event of a problem - the tyre shop doesn't move around like the mobile chappy.
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I avoid mobile fitters as a matter of course, every time I got my company car tyres done by a mobile guy the wheel balance was wrong. My theory is that lugging the balancing machine around in a van isn't good for its calibration.
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I can't see how having tyres fitted at home is less convenient than dragging onesself to a grubby tyre fitters and waiting in the cold for up to an hour. Then there's the cost of the fuel to get there and the notional cost of the time.
I get new tyres from my local franchised dealer. I drive the car there, then they drive me home and deliver the car back to my house when the car's got the new tyres, Their price is as good as places like HiQ etc.
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I get new tyres from my local franchised dealer. I drive the car there then they drive me home and deliver the car back to my house when the car's got the new tyres Their price is as good as places like HiQ etc.
The lease company who owned my Focus would not authorise tyre replacement by main dealers at service time because of the uncompetitive pricing. When our Scenic needed new tyres, the Renault dealer quoted almost twice the price we ended up paying. I would shop around, L'escargot. You could probably save yourself a fortune.
Unless you live very close to the dealer, it probably takes longer to drive you home and subsequently deliver your car than it does to fit the tyres. You are without your car for longer than the 15-20 minutes you would be if you took a newspaper with you and waited. Seems another indicator they are making quite a lot out of the deal.
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I would shop around L'escargot. You could probably save yourself a fortune.
As I said, their price is as good as places like HiQ etc.
Unless you live very close to the dealer it probably takes longer to drive you home and subsequently deliver your car than it does to fit the tyres.
I live 2 miles away. They're a small family owned dealership and they rate repeat custom higher than absolute profit.
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I would shop around L'escargot. You could probably save yourself a fortune.
I get 25,000 miles out of my front tyres and 50,000 miles out of my rears. At 10,000 miles per year that means I buy 6 tyres every 5 years. The last time I paid £70 each (including new valve and fitting at my Ford dealer) for Goodyear Eagle NCT5 195/60R15 88V tyres, which works out at £84 per year. At that rate I couldn't save "a fortune", even if I got them elsewhere for nothing!
Tyres are a very minor part of my total motoring costs. At the current price of £1.13/litre, fuel costs me £1285/year.
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Each to their own.
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Each to their own.
That's too cryptic for me to know what you mean.
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Nothing cryptic intended. Just that I would still shop around, and be confident I could beat dealer prices for tyres. You have a relationship with your dealer and don't think its worth doing. Each to their own. Vive la difference! :-)
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That's similar mileage to what I get out of my NCT5s L'escargot (30k fronts and 45k rears)
What car do you have them fitted to?
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That's similar mileage to what I get out of my NCT5s L'escargot (30k fronts and 45k rears) What car do you have them fitted to?
2003 2 litre petrol Focus Ghia.
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It not always cheaper buying online and it often a lot less convenient
I agree, but if you walk in or call most of the big tyre fitters, many of them will stiff you for 30% more than even they themselves will charge you for an online booking, never mind what their internet competition can offer.
I'm going to try e-tyres next. Very competitive and they will come to my place of work and fit the tyres in the car park. I've also got a further 10% off valid til December. My work colleagues speak highly of them.
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Just checked etyres for my car - £13 a tyres more expensive than the franchised dealer!
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All 4 tyres on my Almera are well worn and should have been replaced in the Autumn, but the long range weather forecast was for a mild winter :)
So, I checked out all the tyres available for my car inc. Bridges & Conti's etc., etc. but I decided on Falken Ziex ZE-912 from Black Circles @ £52 per corner.
They are being fitted this Friday at a very good garage that I have had good service from on previous occasions.
I know there are better tyres out there and all that, but diesel do me 4 now.
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I checked the prices on a couple of sites, including Black Circles, of Michelins like the pair I had supplied and fitted last week by my local independent. Once I'd costed in delivery and allowed something for fitting - ignoring, for the moment, the hassle factor of having to deal with the delivery company myself - the saving would have been less than £10 a tyre. For that, I'd rather continue to support a friendly, honest and helpful independent, who's there when I need him and who I know will do a good job.
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Of course it always pays to know what the opposition are charging - Most Co's will usually match the price. That's just the way business works I'm afraid, not just tyre dealers.
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Agreed, CG - and I always check a couple of the chains for prices before I ring my independent. But so far, I've never felt the need to challenge him on price.
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I have heard the reliability of van-mounted wheel-balancing machinery questioned. It is apparently not so robust as the floor mounted machinery a tyre shop will have.
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I've used Event Mobile the last four times I've needed new tyres, three times for the Accord and one for the BMW. On two occasions they came the same day as I phoned, and not once have I had problems with wheel balance. They're almost always cheaper than any of the local fitters and will almost certainly continue to use them in future.
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Some franchises now have their own 'fast-fit' operations, so gone are the days of the main dealer being twice the price for tyres.
Ford has Rapid Fit and Renault has their version.
I'm sure there will be others.
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Seconded.
i could not recall the tyre co's name.
They fitted tyres to my wifes car a few months back - conti sports contact 2. organsed via internet 2/3 days earlier for a saturday fit at 10;15 at our home 9thy are prepared to do home/office visits0 and the guy rany about 30 mins before he arrived. he arrived on time - very curteous, and changed 2 tyres and had wheels balanced with hidden weights as agreed, all done within 30 mins = 10/10
Free tip = there are several big players out there that home fit or you select a local-ish fit centre - check prices on net and imo, you will be better off than the big high street nationals.
your choice
btw - any good tips for 4x4 tyres, home fit/etc/ Camskill appear to be the best.
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It not always cheaper buying online and it often a lot less convenient
You may be right however it depends on what part of the country you live in. Here in Reading there is no tyre dealer I know of that would be competitive to the best online price.
I tried once to use a local dealer who said on the phone that he would match the 'fitted' price of Valuetyres.co.uk. I got the tyres fitted, went to pay the bill and it was about £20 more. When I challenged this they said the extra money was for valves and balancing, and the price they had quoted was just for fitting the tyre !!
Okay I hadn't been super-specific with them and actually mentioned the words 'valves and balancing' but this was very sharp practice indeed, and left me guaranteeing that I would never darken their door again.
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If you're prepared to drive to Newbury Roly, try Newbury Tyres and Exhaust.
Their all inclusive prices pretty much match the mytyres delivered prices. They can get most tyres next day if not stocked. I have used them for the last 10 years with no problems.
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Thanks I might give them a try..
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