How to find cheap tire deals on a budget

Here’s a surprise we all like to hear when we have a routine tire rotation: I can’t legally rotate your tires because they’re wearing out and you’ll need new ones. Excellent! Isn’t that what you wanted to hear?

If it’s okay right now, shelling out $500+ for a new set of tires won’t be a big deal. But if you’re saving pennies right now, you’ll be glad to know that there are four tips in the following article to help you find cheap tires at half the cost.

Check the list on Craigslist

If you look at the automotive section, you’ll see people and tire shops trying to get rid of excess inventory by selling sets of tires for a fraction of what they’re worth.

I recently bought a $120 pair of SUV tires installed at a local shop that was moving to a new location and wanted to get rid of all their tires in the yard. The previous tire shop had quoted me $650 for the same set.

Ask about gently used tires.

Small tire shops buy and sell used tires. They often have gently used tires in stock that have more than 70% tread. They sell these used tires for half the price of new ones.

Rarely will I brand new for longer. Once I found out about this, I also go for used tires. They last about as long and cost me less than half the price of the ones I’ve never used before.

junk yard

Vehicles with perfectly good tires are often scrapped because the car body is damaged beyond repair. You will find lots of junk cars with terrible body damage but perfectly intact tires.

If you own a newer, higher priced vehicle, I highly recommend you go this route. You can find some high-end tires at extremely cheap prices.

Negotiate a better deal

Here’s something you’d think more people would do: Just ask for a better deal than what you were quoted. Tires have a huge profit margin. Small and large stores have plenty of room to play and still make a decent profit. No matter how much you get, ask for a twenty percent discount. If you feel daring, ask for more. The most they can say is no. But trust me, they will do anything within reason not to let you out and go with someone else.