When we get a quote for new tyres, how much are we paying for the tyre itself, and how much are we paying for someone to fit it?
Are we overpaying, and if so, what are we overpaying on?
Usually tyre fitment ranges from $15 to $50 for an average tyre, plus tyre cost, but you can easily pay double. Prices go up exponentially the bigger your rim, or the more serious your roadster or off-roadster. For example, I kitted my Mitsubishi Delica out with Bridgestone KO2s in 15″ for HALF THE PRICE of the 16″ equivalents (ironically the Land Cruiser target market).
In this article we’ll look at how you can figure out how much you’re paying for the tyre, and how much you’re paying for someone to fit it. Only then can you really know what you’re paying for.
We’ll also cover choosing the right tyre, and how to avoid being an utter mug and overspending unnecessarily.
I amazed myself writing this article. Seriously. You’ll see how I saved $352 on one set of tyres, and better rated sports tyres at that (suitable for a Lamborghini). I kid you not, that’s $352 savings on tyres for my Honda Civic daily driver.
Don’t believe me? Read on:
Your biggest savings – Choosing the right tyre
I can’t stress this enough, but most of us choose the best, most premium tyre we can buy. Especially if we have a car we love, and we love our cars.
The problem with this is premium tyres (like W rated), cost $$$s more because they can withstand speeds of 270 km/h. I don’t drive at those speeds on Australian roads, and I bet you don’t too. No matter how much you hoon.
Top brands like Michelin, Bridgestone, and Pirelli might be the only brands you’ll choose, but did you know some of their mid-range tyres are perfectly capable of withstanding your cornering antics, and cost far less than their flagship brands which command the biggest profits?
If you’re not a brand wh*re, then the likes of Yokohama, Toyo, and Kumho can be really good too. Sometimes better. I swear the Toyo Proxes R888r tyres were the grippiest, most fun tyres I ever ran on my Honda CRX, and I recommend you don’t turn your nose up at such brands.
I talk at length about finding the best cheap tyres here, but if you want to know how to find out exactly how much you’re paying for the tyre, and exactly how much you’re paying for fitment, and save money on both, then keep reading.
How to find the real price of tyres – and finding the best deal
You could ask at Tyrepower or Bob Jane T-Marts for a breakdown, but you may be none the wiser. Thankfully I’ve found an easier way, and that’s using the search tool on Tyroola.
If you don’t know who they are, then they’re an online Australian tyre retailer who send the tyres to a local tyre fitter of your choice. The best thing about them is transparency, and you’ll exactly what I mean as you read on.
Firstly, go to their website (linky above), and click the “Find Tyres” button on the homepage. Grab the numbers from your current car tyre (Width, Profle, and Rim Size) and enter them in like below. Then click “View Car Tyres”.
This will give you a list of tyres prices without fitting. This is a great way of finding out exactly what you’re paying for the tyre itself.
For the search above I was given three recommended tyres – Premium (Bridgestone), Value (Hankook), and Budget (Winrun) – with a huge difference in price. $167 for the Bridgestones, H rated to take a sports coupe to 210 km/h, down to 60 bucks for the budget Winrun’s, also capable of taking a sports coupe to 210 km/h.
That’s the difference between $668 for 4 x Bridgestones, or $240 for the Winruns, and both are rated the same (H). That makes the budget tyres almost one third of the price! That may suit you perfectly, but keep in mind cheaper tyres can be noisier, less grippy, or suffer in wet weather – reading reviews should give you a better idea.
* Note - Please expect prices to differ from the above. We know all too well how much prices of everything are rising, and it is very likely tyre prices will be higher at the time you read this guide!
I actually found a gem by scrolling down a bit – Kumho ECOWING‘s with 15% off for only 100 bucks a corner!
That makes the Kumho’s much cheaper than the Bridgestone’s, and an even better rated tyre (V rated, for 240 km/h) suitable for sports cars. That’s a stonking $268 saving over the Bridgestone’s, and a better rated tyre to boot. For me I really didn’t want to opt for the Winruns as I’m not a Sunday driver, so the Kumho’s are the perfect middle ground for what I want, and much cheaper than the big brand name.
Before we find out the price of the tyre fitment (labour), why not nip over to Tyroola yourself. What deals can you find?
Then of course, come back here, and read on. More money saving tips to come!
How to find the real price of tyre fitting – and hidden costs
Continuing from the above, now we’ve found a tyre we’re interested in simply click it to see further details.
It’s well worth checking out the finer details and customer reviews to give you a better understanding of the tyre itself. Check out other reviews as well, not just those on a retailer website. Don’t be too put off by “noisier tyres”, as most modern cars are so well insulated you won’t notice any difference whatsoever – I know this for a fact having just returned from a three week 4,000km road trip on Yokohama Blue Efficiencys, apparently noisier than most.
On the tyre details page you’ll be given a fitted total inclusive of “tyre protect” which is basically a 1 year warranty (I removed that because I’m a bargain hunter).
But now for the interesting bit…
You also have the option to select a FITTING SERVICE – this is exactly how you’ll find the real cost of labour to fit your tyres. You may be surprised how much tyre fitting prices can vary.
Like most cool people, I live in Scarborough, Western Australia. I was surprised how many options I had for tyre fitters in my area, and some of them come right to my door:
You can see from above the labour part of buying new tyres will set me back between $108 and $192. That’s a big difference when you consider how many pints of beer you can buy with the difference in cost.
With such a range of tyre fitters it’s easy to choose one suitable for you. A really nice benefit of finding tyres on Tyroola is you can choose a tyre fitter which suits you – one which is highly rated, a mobile tyre fitter who will come to you (handy if you have a flat at home), or one which saves you a lot of money.
You can also clearly see additional costs. In the screenshot above you can se the tyre fitter on Cleaver St offers a really good price for tyre fitting, which is attractive despite their current lack of reviews, but wheel alignment would set you back an additional $90. Wheel alignment is recommended, but it’s good to see the difference in price between tyre fitters.
It’s really beneficial to me to have complete control over what I buy, and the transparency of buying tyres through an online platform like Tyroola can really save money in these modern days of technology and tyres at our fingertips.
I hope this guide has helped! If it has, all we ask is for you to tell your mates about this guide so they can save money too!
$352 savings on one set of tyres!
If you’ve been tapping away on your calculator while reading this guide to finding the real price of tyre fitting, you may realise I’ve saved myself $352 (or thereabouts).
If I opted for the budget Winruns I would’ve saved a further $160! That’s $512 cheaper fitted than the Bridgestones!
Most Aussies would’ve taken the first tyre recommendation, the H rated Bridgestone ECOPIA at $167+ per corner. This is because we generally pick a brand name we’ve heard is good, and usually the best (or first) recommendation.
Instead I found the Kumho’s much cheaper, on offer, and as an added bonus with a better V rating. Even though I have no plans to drive my road car on Perth streets at 240 km/h, I know from other car enthusiasts they’re a perfectly good, perfectly respectable tyre.
That’s a big saving over the Bridgestone’s, which I know are rated higher than what I need, and I also know I’d be paying quite a bit for the name.
Secondly, being given the choice to choose a reputable local independent tyre fitter which suits my needs also allowed me to save money. I actually went with the cheapest, which meant travelling 18km, but they did a perfectly good job and it saved me hard earned bucks.
I know I’ve used Tyroola as an example throughout this article. I checked the prices of local tyre fitters as well, and I’m happy to say Tyroola got me the best deal.
