Costco and Tire Sizes

RobS10 · Jul 27, 2023

It's been a while since we put new tires on our 1999 SR5 and saw a good deal at Costco on some Firestone Destination A/Ts. But it says they follow the vehicle's door jam OEM tire sizing sticker, which says P225/75/R15. We've always run P255/70s and can't even imagine running 225s. Has anyone been able to get Costco to install tires larger than what's printed on the OEM sticker?

Rushthezeppelin · Jul 27, 2023

Seems they would be stupid to turn down the business especially considering that ATs are often run at sizes larger than stock. Call them though.

Endlessblockades · Jul 27, 2023

Costco once told me the liability issue outweighs the sales they lose by being sticklers. Discount/America's will install 2 sizes up and beyond that you need to work it out with a store manager. Do they sell them unmounted? If so, you could mount/balance elsewhere.

fourwd1 · Jul 27, 2023

Moving to General Discussion.

RobS10 · Jul 27, 2023

Endlessblockades said:
Costco once told me the liability issue outweighs the sales they lose by being sticklers. Discount/America's will install 2 sizes up and beyond that you need to work it out with a store manager. Do they sell them unmounted? If so, you could mount/balance elsewhere.

We have a local indi shop we bought the tires at last time that we'll probably go with, but thank you for the suggestion.

We live in S.F., but it's now our son's car (he's home for the summer) and I liked the idea of our son being able to get flat repairs at the Boulder Costco where he lives.

Vice_II · Jul 27, 2023

Speaking from first hand experience working for Les Schwab earlier in my life. We never turned down a sale if a customer wanted a different size tire. We always told them the issues they could face later by not running the recommended size, but never told them we wouldn't sell. Had friends that worked at discount tire and they would sell anything as well. Heck they would even mount bead lock wheels for guys, which was a no-no at LS.... I would highly doubt that Costco would turn down a sale. Maybe talk to a different salesperson there....

Endlessblockades · Jul 27, 2023

RobS10 said:
We have a local indi shop we bought the tires at last time that we'll probably go with, but thank you for the suggestion.

We live in S.F., but it's now our son's car (he's home for the summer) and I liked the idea of our son being able to get flat repairs at the Boulder Costco where he lives.

Oh OK - I'm in SF too. I went to Discount/America's in Millbrae on El Camino and they are also a national chain with a store in Boulder.

RobS10 · Jul 27, 2023

Endlessblockades said:
Oh OK - I'm in SF too. I went to Discount/America's in Millbrae on El Camino and they are also a national chain with a store in Boulder.

Looks like America's Tire doesn't have what we are looking for, brand wise.

Mighty Buffalo · Jul 27, 2023

I had the Concord Costco put on 265/75/16 KO2s on mine. I don't think there was any problem, but maybe because I had that size tire already on the car.

RobS10 · Jul 27, 2023

Mighty Buffalo said:
I had the Concord Costco put on 265/75/16 KO2s on mine. I don't think there was any problem, but maybe because I had that size tire already on the car.

Actually, when I plug in our '99 4x4, it gives you the choice of a 14" rim, and a 265/70/R15 size. But then it asks you to confirm the size with the door jam sticker, which says 225/75/R15. They won't answer the phone to confirm if they can install the 265s

Endlessblockades · Jul 27, 2023

RobS10 said:
Looks like America's Tire doesn't have what we are looking for, brand wise.

Understood. Not trying to promote them, anyway.

Boort · Jul 27, 2023

RobS10 said:
We have a local indi shop we bought the tires at last time that we'll probably go with, but thank you for the suggestion.

We live in S.F., but it's now our son's car (he's home for the summer) and I liked the idea of our son being able to get flat repairs at the Boulder Costco where he lives.

If you are referring to Boulder Colorado then there is a Discount Tire downtown on 28th street that did a free flat repair on my Tacoma back in the days when used to work in the PRB. I did not buy the tires they repaired there. They are just a few blocks from Campus and a lot closer than either of the "near by" Costcos. They were great to deal with. I've had another flat repaired by a different location years before that on a work truck as well also free. I believe they do it as a goodwill thing.

I've had both good and bad experiences with Costco Tire shops just doing replacement of stock sizes. One shop has been excellent any time I've had to deal with them (Westminster) but the shop in Thornton tried to FAFO and required some store management persuasion to do the right thing on the SWMBO's Camry. Other Costco stores in the Co and MT areas have been good to deal with on air ups and battery replacements over the years.

Boort

prospect25 · Aug 1, 2023

Just order the tires online and have them install. BOOM

RobS10 · Aug 1, 2023

I was able to finally get a hold of the Costco Tire Center on the phone. They said they could install the larger size as it is one of the official sizes listed on their website. I realized after rereading the sticker in the door jam that it doesn't show the actual size rims the car was shipped to the dealer with. The sticker shows 15" rims, but we have the 16" OEM aluminum rims, so end of problem.
Thanks for all the help!

Tcw1184 · Aug 3, 2023

For what it’s worth, I won’t buy tires anymore from Costco. They scratched my wheels (all of them) and 2 different stores couldn’t balance my tires correctly. Took all their weight off (which were about as effective as lick and sticks) and took it to discount tire. They got it perfect the first time.

RobS10 · Aug 3, 2023

Tcw1184 said:
For what it’s worth, I won’t buy tires anymore from Costco. They scratched my wheels (all of them) and 2 different stores couldn’t balance my tires correctly. Took all their weight off (which were about as effective as lick and sticks) and took it to discount tire. They got it perfect the first time.

The rims are pretty corroded so won't be a problem if they get a little scratched. Hard to believe they couldn't balance them correctly though. What size tires?

Tcw1184 · Aug 4, 2023

RobS10 said:
The rims are pretty corroded so won't be a problem if they get a little scratched. Hard to believe they couldn't balance them correctly though. What size tires?

235/40/19s. This was on my XSE Camry recently.

HiLife · Aug 6, 2023

RobS10 said:
It's been a while since we put new tires on our 1999 SR5 and saw a good deal at Costco on some Firestone Destination A/Ts. But it says they follow the vehicle's door jam OEM tire sizing sticker, which says P225/75/R15. We've always run P255/70s and can't even imagine running 225s. Has anyone been able to get Costco to install tires larger than what's printed on the OEM sticker?

I talked to costco tire workers about this. They said locations were getting burnt because of customers not knowing what sizes don't fit their car. And in response from costco corporate, they referenced the door jam sticker.
Heck, I had a costco tire pro give me an ear full. Blasting the other costco location and me for mounting 265/70/16 on my 2000. I fired back saying my rims are stock, and my tire size is stock if you know 4runners.
Upon leaving the store, this other pro ran up to me apologizing for his co worker's lack of knowledge.

Tcw1184 said:
For what it’s worth, I won’t buy tires anymore from Costco. They scratched my wheels (all of them) and 2 different stores couldn’t balance my tires correctly. Took all their weight off (which were about as effective as lick and sticks) and took it to discount tire. They got it perfect the first time.

In my experience, it all boils down to the worker who works on it. I had the same problem balancing the k02 load range e's. Tried 2 different Costco locations. And the third store sucessfully balanced the tire.
Thinking it was just a fluke. The rebalance/rotation had the same issue. And again that third location were successful.

RobS10 · Aug 7, 2023

HiLife said:
I talked to costco tire workers about this. They said locations were getting burnt because of customers not knowing what sizes don't fit their car. And in response from costco corporate, they referenced the door jam sticker.
Heck, I had a costco tire pro give me an ear full. Blasting the other costco location and me for mounting 265/70/16 on my 2000. I fired back saying my rims are stock, and my tire size is stock if you know 4runners.
Upon leaving the store, this other pro ran up to me apologizing for his co worker's lack of knowledge.

Exactly our scenario, the door sticker has nothing to do with the rims that actually came on the car...sticker says 15", but we have factory, OEM 16" rims. The website says the 4Runner has two choice of tires, and the 265/70/16 is one of the choices.

HiLife · Aug 8, 2023

RobS10 said:
Exactly our scenario, the door sticker has nothing to do with the rims that actually came on the car...sticker says 15", but we have factory, OEM 16" rims. The website says the 4Runner has two choice of tires, and the 265/70/16 is one of the choices.

You could try to argue your point to that location but, I think that location has already made up their mind that they as pro's know better than you.

I would save my energy and blood pressure and just to try another location that is more observant than the previous. Or, skip Costco altogether.

I don't know your location. We have Discount Tire and TireLink. Their customer service is great!

Costco and Tire Sizes

Member

New member

Senior Member

Moderator

Member

New member

Senior Member

Member

Member

Member

Senior Member

Member

New member

Member

New member

Member

New member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page

Trending content