Best place to buy tires in 2020 - Roadshow

NTB stands for National Tire & Battery. It has more than 600 stores nationwide, which sell a wide variety of tires (including Goodyear, Bridgestone and Firestone Tires). It's owned by the TBC Corporation, which gets an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, though NTB does not have a separate BBB rating. 

You can use its online search to find locations near you and then shop for tires based on the year, make and model of your vehicle, by size and by brand. It advertises that it offers "brand name tires at the guaranteed lowest price," and continuously runs deals, discounts and rebates on tires. It also offers tire and wheel packages and has a "visualizer," which you can use to see what the particular tire and wheel combination might look like on your car. In order to buy tires from NTB you have to be near a store. It doesn't ship to consumers.

When you get your tires installed at an NTB or affiliated service center you get a few warranties and perks. It offers a 30-day ride guarantee that allows you to drive on your new tires for 30 days. If you don't like them, you can trade them for something else (full value). It also offers a Road Hazard Warranty, for an added price, which it doesn't disclose on its site because costs vary based on the tires you purchase. 

NTB offers a unique feature in that when you purchase tires from it you get free, lifetime rotations at any NTB or TBC retailer. NTB locations only go as far west as Texas, however, and most locations are in the South and Southeast US. It operates in 26 states. 

NTB scored a 79 on Consumer Reports Tire Shop survey and got good ratings across the board, with fair ratings for free perks and installation time. 

Discount Tire is a bit of a hybrid in the online/brick-and-mortar tire space. While you can purchase tires online, through its site Discount Tire Direct, you can have them drop-shipped to your local Discount Tire or America's Tire shop (the name is different depending on where in the country you live). You can also choose to shop in-store at a Discount Tire as well.

You can choose to shop for tires at one of the local shops or you can shop online, have the tires drop-shipped to the Discount Tire or America's Tire of your choice, and have them installed. 

If you aren't sure which tires would work for your vehicle, Discount Tire offers Treadwell, an in-house system that uses data from customers as well as real-world testing data (like that which Tire Rack creates) to help you find the right tires for your needs. You put in your vehicle year, make and model, how many miles you drive per year, and the ZIP code you drive in, and the system gives you a number of suggestions based on your input. You can prioritize handling, stopping distance, the life of the tire, and comfort and noise, and the system will give you a recommended list. Discount Tire offers free ground shipping in the 48 contiguous states. 

The site also allows you to make an appointment online to have your new tires installed. Discount Tire offers a handy tire size calculator in case it seems like you can't find the exact size that is currently on your vehicle. 

Discount Tire says that if you're not satisfied with your purchase, it will do its best to make it right. If you've bought tires online and they turn out to be wrong, you can return them, but the language in the return policy is a bit strict for Discount Tire Direct. You have to repackage them correctly with the original packaging or you could forfeit your return. 

The tire vendor also offers a pretty robust road-hazard warranty, too, for a price. While it offers a pro-rated and free road hazard coverage, it also offers a warranty that extends for three years. It covers road hazard damage for the first three years of tire ownership with its Certificate program that you can opt for when you buy and have tires installed at one of its shops. The prices can range from $10 to as much as $100 per tire, depending on how pricey the tires are. 

For those on the hunt for a tire deal, Discount Tire does offer rebates and promotions that are always changing. You can see more about the most recent discounts and promotions here. 

Discount Tire finishes high in the Consumer Reports survey, garnering 90 out of a max score of 92, but, like Tire Rack, it also scored lower on the Free Perks scale. Its lower BBB rating is a result of 23 complaints against the company and failure to respond to 21 of them, as of this writing. Most complaints, however, deal with specific Discount Tire locations.

Costco is a members-only big box store that sells many items at a discount and in bulk. For $60 a year members get access to more than 700 stores nationwide. Some Costcos offer tire and wheel retail and installation. 

Start your tire search by using Costco's tire selector tool where you can search for the right tires for your car with your year, make and model, license plate or size. You can also shop for wheels if you're in the market for them, though Costco only sells Velox wheels on its site. Once you've picked your tires, you choose a store to ship them to and have them installed and you make an appointment from there. The tires are then shipped to the Costco you've chosen and you can get them installed. Not every Costco has a tire center, so be sure to check online before heading to the store.

Costco continuously runs deals on various brands of tires, including its "1 cent" installation deals on specific tires. It also carries a wide variety of tires, including Goodyear, Michelin, Firestone and Bridgestone. One of the big bonuses to buying through Costco is that it offers a five-year road hazard warranty. You also get a suite of free features when you get your tires installed at Costco including free lifetime (of the tire) balancing, rotating, flat repair, air pressure checks and new rubber valves and stems. Costco also offers exchanges if you take your car to a Costco Tire Center. It doesn't do online exchanges and it doesn't offer mobile installation. You have to bring your vehicle to a Costco Tire Center to get your tires installed. 

In Consumer Reports' survey, Costco scored only "Good" on selection, waiting area and installation time. It scored "Very Good" to "Excellent" in the other four categories. 

Sam's Club is another big-box, membership-only, warehouse-style retailer that sells and installs tires as well as other goods. It's owned by Walmart and has nearly 600 stores, though not all of them have tire sales and installation. For $45 a year you get access to any Sam's Club in the country. There's also a $100 membership that gets you more perks like cash back and free shipping. 

To buy tires at Sam's Club you use its online portal to choose the right tires for your needs. You can select tires based on your vehicle's year, make and model, or search by tire size. Once you choose the right tires, the search shows you where those tires might be available in your local area. If they aren't available you can order them and have them shipped to your local Sam's tire center where you can get them installed. Sam's Club says that once you order tires it will email you within three to five days to let you know when your tires arrive. Then you can schedule an installation appointment. Sam's Club does not offer mobile installation. 

Like Costco, Sam's Club offers lifetime (of the tire) balancing, rotating, flat repair, air pressure checks, and new rubber valves and stems. It also includes emergency roadside assistance, as well as road hazard protection, though as always there are some catches, like you'll still have to pay for installation for the new tires if you use it. 

Sam's Clubs does run some limited deals and discounts on specific tire packages so it pays to check its website to see what might work for you. 

Sam's Club does not have a rating on the BBB, and in Consumer Reports' survey, the company scored an 86 out of 91 max. It got good ratings on selection, installation time, waiting area and sales service. It scored "Excellent" and "Very Good" on the other three sectors. 

According to Goodyear, there are more than 1,100 Goodyear tire and auto service center outlets across the country. Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire suppliers and manufacturers. It's also the manufacturer of tire brands like Dunlop and Kelly. Goodyear does not sell tire brands other than those owned by the company at its stores or on its site. You can, however, find Goodyear (and its affiliated brands') tires at other tire shops and online stores. 

Goodyear offers an online tire selector that you can use to choose the right tire for your vehicle. You can search by vehicle, tire size or even your license plate. The system uses your public vehicle record to match your car to the right tire. If it doesn't find the right tire for you, it suggests that you get in touch with one of its local stores. If the system does find the right tire for you, you can filter for the type of tire you're looking for (such as performance, off-road, summer or all-season), speed and load ratings, and rebate offers. Most of the rebate offers at the time of this writing include signing up for a credit card. 

Once you've chosen your tires you can have them shipped to a local Goodyear Tire installer and schedule an appointment through the site. One thing of note: Goodyear only offers tires -- so no custom wheel and tire packages. 

A wide variety of warranties are offered by Goodyear on its tires, too. Depending on the type of tire you buy these could include a limited treadwear warranty or a tire replacement limited warranty. Goodyear also offers a 30-day grace period to decide whether you want to return your tires or not -- whether you purchase them online or in one of its shops. The tire replacement warranty is not a road hazard warranty, however. 

During the pandemic, Goodyear is offering no-contact mobile installation. You choose the right tires, check out, and Goodyear sends a mobile installer to your house with the new tires to install them. You pay via credit card so you never have to have contact with the installer. The cost is the same as having the tires installed at a shop (and based on your vehicle). 

Goodyear's return policy is pretty restrictive. Once you are out of the 30-day window, there are no options to return or exchange the tires unless there is something wrong with them, such as a manufacturing error. If you decide to return the tires before you have them installed, you simply need to call Goodyear and cancel the order. 

In Consumer Report's survey, Goodyear only scored "Good" (not "Excellent") ratings in the categories of selection, free perks and installation time, which is why its score is slightly lower than other retailers. 

Like Goodyear, Bridgestone and its partner company Firestone offer a blend of brick-and-mortar and online stores to help consumers get the right Bridgestone, Firestone, Primewell or Fuzion tires for their vehicles. Like Goodyear, Bridgestone does not sell any other brand of tires than those the company makes and it does not sell wheel and tire package sets. You can find Bridgestone and Firestone Tires at other tire retailers, both online and in real life. 

The company is slightly larger than Goodyear in that it has more than 2,200 stores across the country. Both Bridgestone and Firestone offer an online tire selector to help you find the right tires for your vehicle. You can shop by vehicle type, tire size, tire type or brand on both sites. You can also shop via special offers. Once you've chosen your tires, the site directs you to find those tires locally and set up an appointment with the shop you choose. When you choose this option, you'll notice that places like Costco show up as locations for installation (more on that below). While Bridgestone offers mobile installation (at no extra charge) in only one place in the country (Nashville), Firestone does not offer mobile installation through its site. You have to take your vehicle to one of its installers. 

Bridgestone and Firestone both offer a variety of warranties for their tires. Both offer a 90-day try and buy guarantee that lets you return tires if you are unsatisfied with them (even if they've been on your car for those 90 days). The only catch is that you have to buy four tires. Firestone offers a warranty that covers any manufacturer defect for up to three years. It calls it its Gold Standard warranty and it comes with the Firestone tires you purchase. Both companies also offer a Road Hazard Protection warranty good for the first 2/32nds of tire tread wear when you get your tires installed at a Firestone Complete Auto or other associated tire installer.

Firestone Complete Auto got "Good" scores on selection, free perks and installation time in the Consumer Reports study. 

Big O Tires is a brick-and-mortar tire retailer and installer with more than 400 locations, mostly in the West and Midwest. Like NTB it's owned by TBC and essentially covers the locations that NTB does not. 

The outlet carries a wide variety of tires and wheels (including its own Big O brand) and you can search for the right fit for your vehicle. You can search by year, make and model, by tire size or, like Goodyear, by your plate number. Once you build your estimate you set up an appointment at your local Big O and have the tires installed. It offers a variety of discounts and rebates, as well as a credit card, with rebates and coupons, too. 

Big O and its affiliated retailers offer a variety of warranties on tires, including an impressive three-year repair or replacement road hazard warranty on Big O brand tires, and a 12-month/12,000-mile Nationwide Limited Repair Warranty. It also offers an upgraded Tire Protection Package for a cost based on the type of tires you buy. This covers your road hazards and replacement issues, the same way that NTB does. Big O also does not offer mobile installation. 

Big O does not offer any kind of initial return grace period like the other brick-and-mortar retailers listed here. Like NTB, each Big O Tires often has its own rating and review on the BBB, though TBC has an A+ rating. In Consumer Reports' survey, Big O scored 84 out of a possible max of 91. It scored "Good" on selection, installation time and the quality of the waiting area. It did score "Excellent" on free perks, though.