I am a typical "gas and go" type of driver. I really do not care how it all works as long as it does. However, I do have to buy tires. I recently had bald tires on my Mini Cooper (yes, it is true I do let it go that long oops!!). I decided to explore how difficult or easy it would be to purchase tires online. Being a small business myself I know that sector suffered much more than the big box stores during covid. I am a fan of Amazon, but I do have some reservations about what I buy from them. They do sell tires so does Wal-Mart. I simply could not bring myself to start buying another essential product from the billionaires. So I decided to figure out how to buy online. I reached out to my friend Tom who buys all his tires for his multiple vehicles online. He could be described a a "petrol head" so I trusted his advice.
The first thing I needed to know was what size the tires were. I had no clue, my friend said just go take a picture of the tire size from the current tires. Well, who knew the size was right there in front of me so off I went and found my tires size.
I then had the realization that 2 tires would arrive that needed to be installed on the car. I already said I am not a car expert so this seemed like it would be showstopper until my friend told me that you can take them to a local tire installer. I called a few shops in Scottsdale but the majority want to charge as much as the actual tires to discourage you from buying online and buy from them directly. Undeterred I soldiered on and found a local auto repair shop that would install my tires for $60 each. Armed with all my new knowledge I went to a website called www.performanceplustire.com a 50 year old family business based out of Long Beach CA with an online tire shop. I am happy to say that it was a great experience and gave me the satisfaction of supporting an independent tire seller who has survived the onslaught of the big box stores taking over the space. I also knew I was also going to support a local business in my hometown of Scottsdale.
It was a simple step by step process which has converted me to buying tires online forever with the knowledge that I am supporting hard working small and local businesses.
Find the size of your tires. The size is on the tire which and you can take a picture with your phone or write it down. Visit the online site you are going to buy you tires from. I had already chosen Performanceplustire.com on the advice of my friend Tom.
From the home page enter the year make and model of your car & select the size from the right-hand column
Choose your tire brand. I choose Hankook as that was the brand already on the car and I needed the two front tires.
If you would like to see more details of the tires click ont the "View more details" as you can see from the tabs below you can access additonal details about the tires. As a "Gas and Go" I was happy to buy the same brand at a great price.
At this point you can add to cart or you can also explore the financining options by clicking on the Affirm link for more information. See the details below which describe the process
Add to Cart, hit check out and Purchase. Just like any other online purchae you will be asked to login, create and account or complete the tranaction as a guest. You will recieve a confirmation email and the date your tires are expected to arrive.
When your tires arrive call the local shop and make an appointment to have your tires installed. I did a google seartch for "tire installer scottsdale" a number of options came up. I found a local business called JW Auto and the cost to instal was $60 per tire. When I arrived at the shop the staff were so helpful. When I checked out I was given a new customer discount of 10% and since it was Valentine's day I was given a pink carnation. Not what you expect from an auto shop it was very nice touch.
The whole process was simple and I achieved my goal of avoiding the big box shop and supporting an online independent tire dealer which is also a family buisness and a local small buisness.
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