Does no one bother to shop locally anymore? I'm also in the market for new tires and just called my local yesterday for a quote on the Michelin LTX M/S2 and the Conti CrossContact LX20. His out the door price is lower or within a few bucks of the online *delivered* prices I checked, which would still add an install fee. No negotiating required. Been the same story for the last 3-4 sets of tires I've purchased. Even if you have to pay a little more locally, that relationship building will probably come in handy one day...in my case, it just got me a "pass" on my state safety inspection when my tires had gotten down to the wear bars (automatic fail) without me realizing it. Before they even told me I failed, they'd already pulled my customer history.
And if you think about how the business works, it just makes sense. The wholesale tires cost the same whether you're Tirerack or a Local volume dealer. And all have to add shipping in some form unless the tire mfg is literally in their backyard; it's a cost of doing business. Price difference simply becomes how much profit the business' need/want to make.
-Brent
