Topic: Does the low USD mean it's time to buy tires from the US?

[klms]

I've been giving a lot of thought to this issue over the last week or so ( actually started a thread with questions- buying tires, living in montreal etc...)

The way I see it, if the price is 'sort of close' I prefer to buy canadian. For example X-Ice from Tire rack would cost me about 506 ( If I could buy before 31st midnight I would get another 50$ back from Michelin USA, I cant do that though unfortunately)- OK so it would cost 506$ as I said

If I buy from Tire Trends (canadian) it would cost 579$ (if I buy before the 25th Nov which I should be able to I get 50$ back from Michelin Canada)
then of course I have to pay for instalation but thats OK- the point is it will all be less than what Canadian Tire quoted me and other garages at 750$ plus tax which is just to out of my reach.

Not sure what to buy yet but I will likely go through Tire Trends. The way I see it, the customer service aspect-giving advice etc is something that is also of a huge value to me. In general anyone anywhere can try to sell you anything- and if you are ignorant of the issues, you are therefore vulnerable. Trust is a huge issue to me with business matters

Now if I did find some way to get teh same tires for 400$ sure I would be tempted, I wont deny that... but money is not the biggest factor

[jmiddleton]

While the Canadian dollar has only been at or above par for a couple of weeks, it's been above 90 cents for 6 months and above 85 cents for more than 2 years. So why do many prices still reflect the 2002 exchange rate of 60 some odd cents? Has there been price fixing somewhere in the supply chain?  It should not be possible for me to pay UPS $150.00 to ship a set of tires  from the US and still save $150.00 compared to purchasing them locally. (Goodyear Assurance TripleTred. TireTrends website lists 215/60R16 at $176.95 compared to $104.00 at TireRack) Consumers finally woke up to the disparity as the exchange rate approached par and are now demanding price parity from retailers who should, in turn, demand price protection from whoever has been raking in the extreme profits for the past year or two. This is a tire thread but the same conversation applies to many other products where Canadian prices are 40 to 50 percent higher than they are in the US. If the squeaky wheel gets the grease, it's time for Canadian consumers to make some noise!

[TheMAN]

Prices will never be close to the same as in the US. It's called supply and demand. The US manufacturers get to market their product to 330 million people, in Canada your only marketing to 36 million people, spread over a huge area to.

[klms]

I've been giving a lot of thought to this issue over the last week or so ( actually started a thread with questions- buying tires, living in montreal etc...)

The way I see it, if the price is 'sort of close' I prefer to buy canadian. For example X-Ice from Tire rack would cost me about 506 ( If I could buy before 31st midnight I would get another 50$ back from Michelin USA, I cant do that though unfortunately)- OK so it would cost 506$ as I said

If I buy from Tire Trends (canadian) it would cost 579$ (if I buy before the 25th Nov which I should be able to I get 50$ back from Michelin Canada)
then of course I have to pay for instalation but thats OK- the point is it will all be less than what Canadian Tire quoted me and other garages at 750$ plus tax which is just to out of my reach.

Not sure what to buy yet but I will likely go through Tire Trends. The way I see it, the customer service aspect-giving advice etc is something that is also of a huge value to me. In general anyone anywhere can try to sell you anything- and if you are ignorant of the issues, you are therefore vulnerable. Trust is a huge issue to me with business matters

Now if I did find some way to get teh same tires for 400$ sure I would be tempted, I wont deny that... but money is not the biggest factor

Crunching the numbers here for a set of Michelin X-Ice
I spent hours on this

- TireTrends - 579 (shipped to my home)   then I deduct 50$ for MIchelin rebate = 529. Then I add the instalation cost here from a garage I trust/know so add  $60, lets say 70$ wtih taxes
           = $599 GRAND TOTAL

- Tire Rack/I travel to Vermont-   366 (including shipping to Vermont), I cant get the michelin rebate as am not US citizen. THen I have to add the following costs- $85 for installation is the quote I got from      Vermont      installation partner(the range seems to be from 70-105$) then  I have to add easily $50 for gas (cost likely $40 but I will add $10 as I have no idea where to drive to and will likely get lost etc....)
         =   $501 GRAND TOTAL     

- Tire Rack- 507$ (shipped to my home) no michelin rebate. I add the 70$ for installation
        = 577$ grand total                                         

- Canadian Tire- $ 888.01 including taxes, installation, they are 5 minutes from my home. Then I deduct the $50 rebate
         = $838 GRAND TOTAL             

I guess you can draw your own conclusions. For sure the prices here are ridiculous. I cant buy from a local garage here as all the prices that I got including the 50$ rebate were well over 800, some even over 900. US tires are so much cheaper, its really crazy. This whole affair though with travel would make me lose easily a day for travel and the installation. For me buying on line CANADIAN seems to be the best option.

[1TSX]

How about Discount Tire?

I don't think they sell Michelin X Ice though.

[klms]

How about Discount Tire?

I don't think they sell Michelin X Ice though.

Hi 2Hondas, thanks for your post
No they dont. In any case I was just using it as an example. Its quite revealing. On line Canadian seems cheaper. 1010Tires gave me a HUGE quote also, I did not even bother mentioning them in my example.

[DoubleClutch]

When I started this thread tire rack had a disclaimer for Canadian orders that said UPS would collect additional duties and customs brokerage charges. Thus when you ordered your tires there was always a question of exactly how much you would really have to pay. But now it's changed, the following is what I see now:

CANADIAN ORDERS:

    * The sales taxes and duties included in this order are collected on behalf of the applicable Canadian government agencies. No additional taxes, duties, or fees will be collected by UPS Canada upon delivery of this order.
    * Delivery may be delayed by customs procedures.

When you check out, the total includes gst/pst, duties, provincial tire fee and brokerage fees. And the final total IS the total you pay. I think more and more Canadians have been ordering from tire rack and so the change.

[safristi]

TYres frum tha STATES........HERCULES UN_TAMED....

[Loudpedal]

It should not be possible for me to pay UPS $150.00 to ship a set of tires  from the US and still save $150.00 compared to purchasing them locally. (Goodyear Assurance TripleTred. TireTrends website lists 215/60R16 at $176.95 compared to $104.00 at TireRack)

Tirerack lists the Goodyear Assurance TripleTread (225/60/16, for my wifes van) at $109 (before shipping).   Every week in the Toronto Star wheels section there are tire ads like crazy.  A nearby GTA Goodyear dealer has the exact same tire for $129.  Ad in hand, my local dealer agreed to match the price (and the $10 for install, valve and balance). 

Now I just need to make a decision on all seasons or winters for wifeys van...   Anybody know where I can get a deal on Gislaveds or Nokains? 

[Titanium48]

Prices will never be close to the same as in the US. It's called supply and demand. The US manufacturers get to market their product to 330 million people, in Canada your only marketing to 36 million people, spread over a huge area to.

If there was actually a significant difference in the product your argument would make sense.  But tires are exactly the same in both countries. They come off the same assembly lines in the same manufacturing facilities.  Transportation costs might be a bit higher here, but that shouldn't add more than $5 to $10 per tire.  Anything more than that indicates that we are being ripped off somewhere along the line.  It doesn't appear to be the retailers that are ripping us off, so who is it?

[gotak]

The customs man. If you don't have to pay tax and duties most people would be buying stuff from the US online.

[jmiddleton]

Tires manufactured in US, Canada or Mexico come in duty free under NAFTA. Tires imported from Europe or Asia are subject to duty - usually 6%-7%. The biggest cost of importing is the shipping - typically $130.00-$150.00 for a set of 4 tires. You will also have to pay brokerage unless you deal with someone like TireRack that collects GST/HST at the point of sale. You also have to pay GST/HST but that is the same wherever you shop.

There is usually no warranty if you import the tires yourself. If you get a tire that is noisy or won't balance properly, etc... you lose. Even if the vendor is willing to replace it, the round trip shipping will probably cost as much as a new tire and the installer has no responsibility - they will charge for every mount and dismount. If you are willing to accept the risk you can still save - especially with premium tires where the shipping charges are a small percentage of the total price but that is changing.

Posts on this board suggest that TireTrends are being very aggressive on pricing and 1010 Tires have dropped their price on Pirelli tires to the point where it's cheaper to buy them in Canada. If you buy online in Canada you will get a manufacturers warranty but I'm not sure the local dealer is expected to honour that warranty (maybe Morty can comment on this) Personally I want about $150.00 in savings to compensate for the risk and that is getting harder to find.

[TheMAN]

By the way. Don't blame your Canadian Retailers like Tire Trends and 1010tires for the higher Canadian tire prices. They make very little markup on tires. The problem lies with the Canadian Manufacturers and Canadian Suppliers, who are unwilling to drop their prices to sell to the retail outlets. As a matter of fact, most Canadian manufacturers continue to raise prices about 2-3 times a year. Case inpoint, Pirelli Canada has just sent out letters to Canadian retailers, that they will be raising their tire prices 5% starting Jan.1/08.
The only way companies like Tire Trends and 1010tires can provide any savings to their customers, is by doing do what they have started to do now, buy the tires in the USA and sell them in Canada, and skip the Canadian supplier alltogether.

[morty]

We do purchase many tires in Canada. But we now shop the world for tires along with other products coming from the US, Asia and Europe.

[safristi]

... that's a SLIPPERY SLOPE.............................from Whistler to 100 Mile House.........

[No H2O]

What are your thoughts? Is the extra trouble worth the $200-300 saving you might find in the states? Has anyone tried and would care to share your experiences?

There is no might about it.

I saved a mere $175 after all was said and done.

Worth it? It was to me. If it weren't, I might just as well have taken $175 out of my wallet and burned it; that would have amounted to the same thing.

Brokerage fees? Thats why I ship to a UPS Store just across the border, just to avoid those rip-off charges.