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Tire Rack
Tire Information World : your friendly
independent source of tire help
Tire Rack
 Is Tire Rack Competitive?
Chances are you will get a good deal from Tire Rack. Most of its
products are competitively priced and buying on line can give
you access to some great savings.
Like many others I've ordered a lot of
auto products by mail in the past, whether it was on line
or the way we did it in the old days, when magazines were full
of warehouse-style ads for mail order specials. I've
purchased seats, engine parts and even complete engines.
Is It Safe to Buy Tires On Line?
There's a lot to be said for the option of mail order. There's not a lot that can go wrong
with a new tire, the problems usually occur in the mounting and
diagnosis of existing mechanical issues. However, a poor choice
on tire load limits plays a big part in poor results.
A lot of people will tell you that they are sick and
tired of the lack of quality service offered by the
traditional old style tire dealers. Although it may be true that you
can't find the kind of competent help you did before, you must
ask if changing to a different kind of buying is going to give you
any better results.
 Recently
my friend Andy and I were talking about buying from Tire Rack and he
told me that one thing that would worry him with Tire Rack is its policy on
wheel purchases and returns. He said that according their
return policy, which is clearly stated on their website, they
will not accept the return of wheels if they have had tires
mounted.
Then he asked,"So what happens if you put the tires on and find out the
wheels are faulty and it's no fault of yours?"
Andy's woes with Wheels
Then he told me the following story:
A long time ago I was taking care of a small fleet of cars
in a family business and shopped around a fair bit for tires. I
owned a shiny, teal blue Toyota Celica that was only a few
months old when I decided to purchase a hot set of wheels to
replace the factory ones.
I purchased the new wheels from a local tire dealer
who had a good reputation. I still had a lot of wear left in
my original set of tires so I had them mounted to the new wheels
and off I drove.
Half way home I noticed that one of the tires was going flat. I stopped at a nearby service station and pumped it
full of air. I figured it was just an oversight by the dealer, but I
was still very happy.
When I got home that same tire was nearly flat again, just
like before. I inflated it again and went to bed planning to
ring the dealer the next morning.
That brand new wheel turned out to have a tiny, porous hole
in it. It wasn't my fault and the tire dealer who sold them to me
couldn't have known before.
Then he went on to say, "The point I want to make is what
would have happened if I'd made the purchase from Tire Rack
under the policy they state on their website?"
A valid concern
That certainly would be a valid concern, however, I asked Andy if he
would be wanting to return all his wheels and get his money back, or
simply get the defective wheel replaced with a good one. He conceded
that getting the defective wheel replaced would satisfy him.
So, the question he would need to ask, before purchasing wheels from
Tire Rack -- or anywhere else for that matter would be is whether or
not they would replace any wheels which were defective in materials
or fabrication -- regardless of whether they had been used or not.
And, if so, how long of a period would he have this protection.
This, certainly, is a different issue apart from the option of
returning a full set of wheels for a refund or exchange because, for
some reason or other you changed your mind or didn't like them when
you saw them in real life.
Maybe I'm just overly cautious, but I like to have
issue like this clearly spelled out before I make a purchase of major
value anywhere.
Perhaps this is one of the arguments for ordering a
tire and wheel package in
which the tires are already mounted and balanced when they are
delivered.
 So,
in the end, this is not a question of whether or not buy online, or from Tire Rack.
Instead it is a matter of knowing what your expectations
are, learning what policies and protections are available
to you and then making an informed choice about your
purchase.
Thousands of people are satisfied with Tire Rack and will
likely repeat their purchases from them. You could
have the same issues with a local dealer too. All I'm
suggesting you do is to ask questions -- wherever you
decide to shop -- until you get the answers that you can
feel comfortable with.
Want to check out what Tire Rack has to offer? This
link will lead you to some manufacturers promotions
Tire Rack's Special Offers
 or you might want to read
about how to use your tire
dealer to your best advantage.
Other useful links
cheap
tires
tire-humor
tire-protection
tire-wear-problems
Did you know we have a special
place to show-off your favorite wheels?
See the Hot Wheels Show Room
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