I recently wrote an article about the Costco Tire Center, and it dawned on me that I probably need a new set of tires myself. So while I was researching that piece, I checked out what a set of new Costco tires would cost for my car.
As it turns out, although Costco is a great place to buy an upright freezer, when it comes to my tire needs (and budget), Costco is not where it's at. Now, I don't want you to leave this article thinking that Costco is a rip-off, because that's not at all what I'm saying. Depending on what it is that you're looking for in a tire, Costco may be a killer deal for you. But boy, it isn't for me.
Here are three reasons why.
1. Costco only offers name-brand tires
Buying quality tires is a great idea for most people. You want to be safe when you're transporting your kids to baseball practice or back and forth from school (or Costco), but I don't have any small kids and I don't drive my non-existent children to sports.
I also have roadside assistance on my insurance policy, so I'm covered should my Temu-quality tires go south on me. Quality is about the last factor I'm really worried about for tires. As long as they do the rolling thing and the stopping thing, I'm set.
2. I rarely drive
For those of you who live the commuting lifestyle, this is not meant to rub salt in the wound, but as it turns out, a lot of journalism jobs these days are fully remote. We can do this job from anywhere, and since we largely call people for interviews, even that can be done via the internet.
So, I rarely leave the house, because most of my life is spent in front of this computer, comparing deals at Costco and trying to help you figure out if you should invest in certificates of deposit.
I drive so rarely that in the eight years I've owned my car, I've only put about 20,000 miles on it. It's about 15 minutes to the fancy grocery store and five minutes to the "nicer" Walmart. The vet's office is half a mile away.
It's under 30 miles round-trip to take my dogs hiking in a pretty decently remote spot, or it's one-third of a mile to the nearest reasonably sized city park, which we just walk to anyway.
In short, it makes no sense to invest in my tires when I am never going to wear them out before they simply die of old age. In fact, the whole reason I'm even shopping for tires is that I've realized how old the tires I have are. I don't want to be caught by a surprise failure that is certainly no longer covered under the warranty I got for them at Walmart eight years ago next month.
3. Costco is simply not in the budget
Everybody's budget is different, but I admit that I am stingy about car expenses. I'll pay for insurance, because that protects me and everyone else in the event of a serious accident. But I'm not prioritizing getting my air conditioning fixed since I don't drive much, and I'm not going to spend more than is strictly necessary on tires that I won't use but half of.
Walmart's tires start at around $50, and although I have to pay for installation, and insurance if I want it, the whole cost only comes to $336 plus tax and my time where I'm located. That's for size 215/55R16 tires that have a 50,000-mile tread life warranty.
Compare that to Costco's best deal in the same size, the BFGoodrich Advantage Control, with a 75,000-mile tread warranty. A set of four of these, including installation (Costco does not charge for installation) and road hazard warranty, are just over $600 in my location. I'm sure they're amazing tires, and I'm sure I'd love to drive around on them, if I drove more. But just to get groceries and to go to the nearby wilderness to pretend to be a tree? Way overkill.
That's a difference of $264, a 44% savings over Costco tires. I can do a lot with $264 where I live. It's my entire utility bill (remember, I'm home basically 24/7), two weeks of groceries, or just extra money to toss into my retirement savings or toward paying off bills.
Costco tires are good deals -- but not for me
If Costco had a cheerleading squad, I'd be cheer captain. Well, no, that's not true, my friend's husband Anthony would be, but I'd sure be supporting him on the human pyramid. Regardless of my place in the cheer hierarchy, I'm a huge fan.
But like anything at Costco, you have to compare apples to apples, and the tires Costco Tire Center offers aren't really comparable to the type of tires I need in my life.
If you drive a lot of miles, often, then Costco is almost certainly your best bet for tires that you can count on to not leave you stranded on a busy and terrifying five-lane highway. But for me? A set of Walmart tires will get me where I'm going, and for a lot less.
