Hello everyone, I just don't know how to go about researching this, it feels like I'm going down a rabbit hole. I have money to pay for it, I just want to make sure I'm not getting taken advantage of. My 2013 Prius c needs new tires. I bought the car in 2017, so this is the first time I've done this. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I mention this because I imagine that location can affect overall price. I drive mostly in the city. Lots of potholes and rough streets. Every couple of months I drive to visit my Dad, about 500 miles round trip. The tires are 5 years old. The tread is fine, but there are a lot of cracks in the sidewalls. They are P175/65 R15, Goodyear Assurance. In the past, I went to an independent tire store, he gave me a couple of options and I choose one. I spoke with him yesterday, he quoted $776.92 for 4 Sumitomo tires, (I did not get the model number) installed and balanced, tax and disposal. I do not have a Costco membership, so that is not an option. The short version of this is: How much do new tires cost installed? Is the price he quotes "reasonable?" Thank you all for your help.
Yeah, that quote is ridiculous especially for tires that aren't even designed for Prius. And the biggest scam with tires is having all four replaced at the same time before they're even worn out. It's incredibly wasteful. What I do is buy "low-rolling-resistance" or LRR tires online when there's a sale and eventually have a stack of them ready to go. Then when I get a flat tire, or decide there's an issue with traction from lack of tread depth I put on my donut spare and take the new tire and wheel into a shop down the street and they mount, balance and dispose of old tire for $20. Then I repeat that process... This keeps the total cost of all four tires in the $400 range and it ensures I don't waste good tire tread before its gone.
