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Replacement Tires: Where to Buy Them

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When it comes time to replacing tires, you have several places to consider for new ones. Ideally, you’ll swap out the original employment manufacturer (OEM) with the same set, but keep in mind that you have choices, depending on the brand, tire tread, and warranty miles. The following are five places to consider when shopping for new tires.

tire
Pictured: Continental ContiSport Contact 225/45 R 18 Y XL tire.

1. Automotive Dealership

Purchasing tires from a new car dealership is typically the most expensive option. When you go to the dealership you can get high-quality OEM tires. Further, going to the dealership affords flexibility when it comes to scheduling your service.

For instance, there are usually multiple tire technicians working during the day and some dealerships keep their service department open well into the evening. Additionally, most dealerships provide a shuttle service so that you can get to work while your car is being maintained. Moreover, some dealers provide loaner cars you can use while your car is out of commission. However, these special benefits come with a price. In some cases, you can expect to pay significantly more than at other tire retailers.

2. National Tire Chain Retailer

Most cities have numerous national tire chains. When visiting a shop, the service manager will obtain your information. Next, this individual will supply you with a few tire choices. Importantly, they will work within your budget.

Some national tire chains have branded credit cards that you can apply for on the spot. You can then use the card to pay for the work, including the tires, taxes, installation costs, and warranty. You may even find a discount by using this card and in some cases receive rewards each time you use it.

In most cases, you will wait to have your tires installed but generally, you can make an appointment for a time that fits your schedule.

When it comes to replacing tires, the original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM)
choice is always a safe bet. Pictured: 2019 Chevrolet Equinox.

3. Locally-Owned Tire Shop

Locally owned tire shops probably won’t have instant credit available. However, they usually accept major credit cards. A local tire shop may have a supply of used tires on hand for purchase. Used tires usually cost much less than new tires.

If financial issues are a concern, you should let them know — a local shop may be willing to work with you, especially if you’re a regular customer. A local shop can order new tires if they don’t have your size tire in stock. You will need to wait for your tires to be installed.

4. Discount Tire Retailer

If you concerned about the cost of new tires, you can use a discount tire retailer. In many cases, you’ll find deep discounts from wholesale distributors. If you have one in your area you, then stop by to learn if the business has your tire size and which brand choices are available.

Typically, you can purchase tires and bring them to a garage to have them mounted and balanced for a separate fee. If they have a contract with a local tire store, they may offer you a discount to take the tires there.

Retread tires were once an option for consumers looking for low-cost replacement tires. As discount chains proliferated, the practice eventually faded. This shop in West Virginia once supplied retread tires. Photo credit: West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive,
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

5. Online Tire Retailer

You can also purchase tires from a wholesale distributor online with the tires shipped directly to your home. You’ll need to find a local garage to have them installed.

This option has become increasingly popular as shipment costs are a reasonable expense. Be certain you understand the retailer’s return policy before you make a purchase.

Let’s Make a Deal

Finding places to purchase tires gives you much to consider. That said, once you decide on a retail option you prefer, you’ll be glad you shopped around. Keep in mind that installation costs, taxes, and an extended warranty will cost you extra.

See Also — Tire Sidewall Code Deciphering 101

Photos copyright Auto Trends Magazine, except for the Bluefield Retread photo secured from the Library of Congress via Wikimedia. All rights reserved.

Calculating Fair Trade-in Values

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The deal on the new car has been sealed, but there may be one important matter left undone. And that is calculating the trade-in value, what ultimately might clinch the sale or have the buyer changing his mind and leaving your showroom in search of a better offer elsewhere. Once you lose the customer there may be no going back. Here’s how calculating fair trade-in values will turn your shoppers into buyers.

Determine Trade-in Value Early

Dodge ChallengerIt is important for salespeople to determine whether a trade-in will be involved early in the sale. If the customer says that she will trade in her car, then ask for the keys to have it evaluated by your shop. Make it known to the customer that the evaluation is free and that her keys will be returned to her as soon as the appraisal process has been completed. In the meantime, continue with the negotiation.

Obtain the Vehicle History Report

At the same time the shop is reviewing the car, they should obtain the vehicle history report for the car.

It will serve as evidence to the customer if your offer comes in lower than her expectations. For instance, if the car has been in an accident, its value has been diminished even if the repairs were successfully completed. As the dealer, you know that the same vehicle history reports are available to customers, including people who want to buy the car from your inventory. You could lose money if you do not take previous problems into consideration, a fact you must share with the customer at trade-in.

There is another point that dealers must consider when accepting a trade-in. If the car involved is part of a major recall, including one that was initiated due to injuries or deaths, you are the one who will be held liable if something goes wrong, not the customer. That also means if the car is traded in with open recalls, you may lose time acquiring parts to make the car ready for sale.

Establish a Fair Trade-in Value

Lexus ES350Your appraisal team may be able to determine a value simply by examining the car. Of course, that is not enough as the value must be backed by hard data. A service such as NADAGuides.com should be consulted and it may also be the same service used by your savvier customers.

It is important that the information related to the car is precise, going beyond the make, model and year, and right down to the trim level, engine and transmission, mileage, and other details about the vehicle. Take note of the rough, average and clean trade-in prices as well as the retail price. Wherever possible, aim for the average trade-in price when presenting the appraisal to the customer. Adjust if necessary to account for low or high mileage and other factors. This will be your starting point for negotiation.

Present Your Offer

At some point in the car buying process, you will have the appraisal offer in hand to present to the customer. Your company’s policy may be to present the offer as part of overall negotiation, but the customer may want it handled separately.

Regardless of the policy, you will quickly learn if the amount offered has satisfied the customer. There is a very good chance that he’ll hold out for a higher amount. Be prepared to explain how that figure was determined, but don’t be surprised if the customer presents his own data offering different numbers. It is at this point when the business office will get involved.

Making it Fair

Audi A6What one person considers a fair value may be perceived as inequitable by the other, usually the customer. If the difference is a few hundred dollars, you might be instructed to meet the customer part way. It is at this point you need to gauge the customer to determine whether a deal is possible or if the sale is about to collapse.

For the salesperson, he may feel caught in the middle between the car shopper and his business office. The process can become especially difficult if both sides come armed with data and are firm in their positions. Fortunately, your company likely has some steps in place to help close the deal.

One of these steps may be to offer the customer something for free, such as paint or door protection. The retail cost of the item may more than offset the price difference, but only cost your company very little to implement. Do what is necessary to help the customer understand that the trade-in value is fair.

Satisfying the Customer

Your deal will close if the customer is satisfied. If not, you risk having the trade-in taken off the table. And in many cases, the trade will cancel the deal as it usually serves as the bulk of the down payment.

Ultimately, the business manager will either approve or nix the trade-in value. If the car being traded in is something your lot can turn around and sell for a significant profit, then more than likely your manager will bend to the customer’s wishes.

See Also — Dealers: Use Open Recalls to Drive Sales

What Your Dealer Won’t Tell You About Car Financing

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Auto financing is a lucrative business with lenders extending car loans to a variety of consumers from those with excellent credit all the way down to sub-prime borrowers. The Great Recession forced lenders to pull back, but they are now back in the game with car dealers working as middlemen to ensure that you drive away in the car of your choice.

And it is that middleman position that sometimes has consumer advocates frustrated. Auto lending is a $600 billion per year industry in the United States, one where lenders, investors and dealers are eager to share in the bounty. Your car dealer, therefore, is hardly an independent voice when it comes to new car financing.

Read on and we will look at what some dealers won’t tell you when you sit down to discuss finance deals.

Your Credit Score

money funnelYour three-digit credit score offers a very telling number to car dealers that arrange your financing. Trouble is, many consumers have no idea what their credit score is when they go car shopping. All three credit reporting bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — can give you your FICO score for a small fee.

You trust your dealer representative to quote you your actual credit score, but some could supply a different score effectively putting you in a bad credit car loancategory. Thinking that you won’t get financed and therefore be without a car, you agree to the higher interest rate auto loan. Tip: Always check your credit score before you begin shopping for a vehicle.

Bad Financing Deals

What type of car loan are you getting? You may think that you are getting a good deal based on a competitive monthly rate, but on closer scrutiny you may find that the terms really are not so favorable, at least not to you.

To bring your payments in line with what you can afford, a dealer may stretch out your loan terms from 5 years to 6 or 7 years. Or, you may find that your payments are low and your term short, but discover that a lump sum balloon payment is due at the end of the loan term.

When talking auto loan with your dealer, examine the finance deal very carefully. Understand the amount of money that you must put down. Know the interest rate and the length of the loan. Everything should be clearly spelled out and acceptable to you.

Rebates and Loans

bad credit car loanOne area where consumers get it wrong has to do with cash incentives. Rarely do you get both a cash incentive and discounted auto financing.

You must choose one or the other.

Know that not every cash rebate is worth it. Then again, if you arrange for low rate financing with your credit union or bank, then apply the rebate to your down payment. Ask your dealer about other rebates including specials for recent college graduates, military service personnel, veterans and other promotions.

Arranging Financing

In the last point, we touched on arranging your financing before heading to the dealer. This is important because it gives you a clearer picture of what you can afford and what your loan terms will be. It can also serve as an instructional lesson for car shoppers as they understand what options are available to them based on their credit scores.

key fobKnow that car financing comes easy today with even bad credit or subprime borrowers finding themselves eligible for a loan. In these cases, where your credit score is below 580, your traditional lenders may not be interested in underwriting your loan.

Such subprime lenders include Wachovia, Capital One and Ally Financial, along with the financing arms of Toyota, GM and Ford. Smaller lenders are many and include Nationwide Auto Lending, Drive Time, Prudential Auto Loan and BlueSky Auto Finance.

Even if you qualify for a loan you will always be charged a higher interest rate and pay more for a car then you might imagine.

The Bottom Line

Please know that not all dealers are rip-off artists. However, when taking on the role of car loan financier, your best interests may take second place to the dealer’s bottom line. Know what you are getting into before shopping for a car loan, looking at financing options from other lenders too. That means using a car finance calculator to learn what you can afford before heading out.

Car Leasing: How to Make it Happen

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Piggybank
Should you take out a loan or should you lease your car?

You have your eyes set on a race red Ford Focus Titanium sedan, a model loaded with such goodies as MyFordTouch, a Sony audio package, dual zone climate control and heated front leather seats. Buying this car is one option, but so is car leasing. You decide on the latter financing option, intending to keep this car for about three years. Read on and we will discuss how to make a lease deal happen.

1. Know your needs. One of the pitfalls of car leasing is that for some drivers it just never pays off. Those people include road warriors who easily put 20,000 miles or more on the odometer annually.

Car leasing typically caps mileage limits at 15,000 miles per year, thus those extra miles will cost you dearly, usually 20 cents per mile. Thats an extra $1,000 in payments per year for every 5,000 miles you travel above the limit.

If you drive at or below these limits then car leasing still makes sense. On the other end of spectrum, if you drive just a few thousand miles per year, you should negotiate for a low mileage lease. Your monthly lease payments will come in lower too.

2. Negotiate the price first. When looking for a car to lease, you should treat this transaction like you would any new car deal: you negotiate your best price first, then you talk about your financing options.

Many consumers fall for the published lease offer and miss out on a better deal. For instance, that Ford Focus Titanium model may be leasable for $209 per month with $1,899 down, but you usually can get a better deal as long as the sale price has been reduced through negotiation.

3. Your lease terms. Lease terms generally are for three years, but you have some options here. If you want different terms, be sure to ask for them.

New car leasing can be as short as one or two years and as long as four or five years. Keep in mind that the longer term leases may extend beyond your vehicles warranty, which means that you will be responsible for whatever maintenance needs to be made. Ideally, you will have the car long enough to break it in, but not too long where it begins to break your wallet.

4. Cost of leasing. Some of the obvious costs of car leasing are the down payment and the monthly payment. There are other expenses, however, including residual and acquisition fees, costs that can also be negotiated.

Car leasing can be a bit more complicated than standard car financing, therefore you should go into the deal with a good credit score. Read the lease contract carefully. Know what costs you will be responsible for. Make sure that your lease includes GAP or guaranteed asset protection, coverage that pays off your car if you suffer a total loss.

5. The lease contract. Once you are satisfied that the car leasing is right for you and after you have examined the contract and seen your requested changes included then sign it

You can get a car lease through the financing arm of your car manufacturer. You can also get a car lease through your bank, a credit union or through an independent leasing company. You do not have to lease with the company your dealer suggests, therefore shop around for a lease arrangement that is right for you.

Car Leasing Notes

Car leasing typically means lower monthly payments than car financing. That means you can usually upgrade to the next model or choose a higher end brand than one you might have previously considered. Keep in mind that at lease end you will return your vehicle. Optionally, you may exercise the option to buy the car.

Author Information

Contract hire sales executive David Gillon, works for www.frontierleasing.co.uk.  He is a car finance expert who regularly blogs about car leasing and the benefit of contract hire versus. buying a car for business or individuals.