Joe's Auto Service is now BIG O TIRES *********Yes we still do all mechanical work BUT WE NOW CAN OFFER TIRES AT A BETTER PRICE THAN THE BIG BOX RETAILERS******* ***YES, JOE IS STILL HERE AND OWNS IT***** 2 Locations PROUDLY Serving Hamilton County Since 2001 Joe's is now BIG O TIRES, A POWERFUL VALUED NATIONAL BRAND FOR OVER 50 YEARS IN THE UNITED STATES! WE WILL MEET OR BEAT ANY PRICE ON TIRES...Now Offering the very best in tires and auto service at each location, we serve a growing community including Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Indianapolis, and Noblesville. All of this is due to our loyal customers support and the trust they have put in us along the way. Excellence in Customer service is and always will be the cornerstone of our philosophy We have always thought of it this way: For over 15 years you have counted on us for repairs & service, now as a national tire retailer you can count on us for the best tire deals Too!!!!! NOW the best Tire warranty in the business!!!
Come see why Big O Tires is your best choice in tires and service. I'm shopping for tires at my local store in Long Beach, California, when I say, "I need four 205/55/R16 Michelins. Tires, all the extras and tax, out the door. What's your best price?" Standing in front of a row of service bays, Scott the manager says, "Who am I up against? "Yeah, and Discount Tires," I say. "Plus everybody on the Internet." The Michelins on my 2004 Volvo station wagon are, put politely, shot. Rule of thumb in tire life is that the tread groove should be as deep as half your thumbnail. Having chewed up 46,253 miles' worth of road, my tread is maybe as deep as my thumbprint. In a wildly varied price world where a set of tires that costs $700 at Tire Shop A can cost $900 at Tire Shop B down the street, tire buying is like a trip to Las Vegas — you can lose your shirt if you make the wrong bet. The good news is that a decent set of tires today will last you half the life of your car.
The bad news is that those tires can end up costing you twice their real value. So, how not to get burned? The first thing you need to know about tire buying is that it gets complicated. If you ask how much a tire costs, that's just the beginning of a string of charges and "upsells" for other services. A tire isn't much use until it is mounted and balanced, a valve stem is installed and the old tires are carted off to their environmentally responsible reincarnation. All this can easily knock the price of a single tire up about $20 at such chains as Discount Tires.When you walk into your local tire store they know you are an easy mark for anything wheel-related — shocks, struts and brakes. So be ready for the inevitable upsell for these products, too. To simplify things, try to get them to wrap it all up in one neat price — the "out the door" price — for four tires. Bricks and Mortar vs. Online Tires As Woody Allen once said, 90 percent of success is just showing up.
If you want your tires done right, be there. Yes, it is simple to order online. But buying tires online is a project. And I hate projects. Besides, who wants to cart tires all over town just to save pocket change? It's time-consuming, and time is money.Get a quote from Costco first. Costco stands behind everything it sells, from halibut to Hawaiian vacations. And it has notoriously affordable tires sometimes referred to as "club tires." Why spend a mortgage payment on new tires, have a flat on Dead Man's Curve and leave your surviving relatives with no legal recourse? But, if you consider you are charging yourself for your own time, you must figure in the human factor, like what it will cost to keep yourself entertained while the tires are mounted. At Costco, the experience is linear, nothing but tires, tires, tires. But at Discount Tires you are vertically integrated into the wheel and shock absorber universe — eminently buyable examples of its "racing" wheels stand like Godzilla's coin collection in the waiting room amid catalogs for shock absorbers able to turn your buckboard SUV into Aladdin?s flying carpet.
I can replace my Michelins at Discount Tires in Long Beach for $904.01 out the door — including all the extras: mounting, balancing, tire stems and disposal fees. (You used to get $2 apiece credit for your old tires as "retreads" — now you pay to get rid of them.) I can get four of the MXV4 for $484, plus $91 for shipping for a subtotal of $575. So, that appears like a huge savings. However, remember that you still have to taxi the tires from your doorstep to, say, your closest local service station where you will likely pay another $64 for mounting and balancing, stems and tire disposal. My advice if you decide on this route: Call your service station, work out an "out the door" mounting pact and have UPS "drop ship" the tires. If, however, I go with Scott at my local place, I can split the difference at $675 — the price he charges for the Michelin package. This is a savings of $230 over what I'd pay at Discount Tires. First, though, I call Costco. Its verdict: "$625 and change."
Now it is time to pit these reliable companies against each other. Wonder how that'll work? Playing Two Ends Against the Middle The devil is in the details. Remember that at places such as Discount Tire you have to tack another $20 on each tire for mounting, balancing, stems and a "disposal" fee for each tire, a $7 "state-required tire fee" you have to pay for the privilege of doing a tire transaction in California and, of course, sales tax. You are also invited to spend $59.96 on something called a "Life of the Tire Service Agreement" (but if you need to spend an extra $60 to warrant your warranty, you are purchasing the wrong product). Again, this is a reason to be at the tire store to check out the details. But at the store you are vulnerable to spending a lot more money on "upsells." Things like new shock absorbers that can improve both your ride and your standing with your credit card company dramatically and make you wish you'd gotten into either crime or medical school.
More importantly, especially if you have an older car, a tire store can provide important, if painful, diagnostic information. The only thing more depressing than having a tire store manager lie to you about a need for expensive repairs like brakes and shocks is for him to be telling the truth. Which, sadly, he usually is. The main thing, however, is that before you sign off on the work, you know exactly what your final bill will be. As a buyer, your chore is to triangulate at least three local tire venues and pit them against each other in a bidding war that'll save you money as you dig your way through retail topsoil toward wholesale bedrock. But take care, lest you work your way from unsuspecting rube to informed consumer, then past capitalist visionary to penny-pinching, stone-hearted jerk. I call back Discount Tires. The best it can do is $800, but it'll throw in a free alignment. So it's probably Costco this time. I'll be out the door as soon as I can find the $625 and change or...