From Costco...the question is, will they balance and do all the other stuff, and are they a bunch of morons who might mess everything up? I am a little weary of store chains that do auto work.

Anyone ever get tires from Costco before? $210 for the Pilot Sport A/s installed is a darn good price which make me wonder what's the catch...

 

If anyone cares, I just ordered them, should have them installed on Wednesday evening...

I'll let you know what I think...

 

about Costco, about 5K more and I will probably follow your lead. I have had good work done at the Costco in Manassas VA. I'm sure like most shops it just all depends, IE: Manager, tech who does the work, etc... Good luck, please post the outcome.

 

i've bought tires from tire rack and had them mounted at costco, manassas, va. no problems.

 

Off subject, sorry.

I live in Gainesville, and I originally posted this to UMD, he gave me some good info about some shops in MD. Could you give me any info about shops in Manassas or close?

I plan on ordering the Cattman Y-pipe, don't worry I will make sure I get the right one. Did you do the install yourself? I have seen the instructions, but without a lift I would rather take it to a shop. Could you recommend one? if not no bigee I'm sure I could find a local shop. Also, about what will I pay to have it installed? Thanks in advance for any info.

 

That is a good price. I paid $230 mounted, balanced, etc., etc. That is well under list price already, so $210 is good stuff. I thought about Costco. I just had nothing to go on for history, but the tire shop had a good reputation.

 

unfortunately i haven't done the y-pipe mod yet, so i'm not really sure who to recommend in the area for installs. have you tried the dc area forum?
i've have used costco for tire mounting&balancing (they don't do alignments), with success.

 

I checked with my local Costco about 2 months ago for these tires and they did not have them nor woould they order them (Mountainview, CA). I am wondering if the tires selection is regional or if they have recently added the Sport A/S to their inventory? It looks like some folks bought them at tirerack.com and had them installed there.
How do these compare to the OEM Bridgestones? Is the tire nosie level any different in your opinion?
Thanks for the help, I am still shopping around for new tires.

 

Is excessive motorsports still open off of Euclid Ave.? If so, they would be able to do with no problem. They are a speed shop that caters to mustangs, but I doubt they would turn down the work. To be honest I took mine to Midas and they only charged $50.00. If they give you any crap, tell them it only takes 1 hour. It took me 10 minutes to convince them that they were not removing any cats. In VA that will be you hardest part. You can also check Speedy muffler across from the mall.

 

Is the installer recommending an alignment and or tire insurance? That's what Sears recommended and I am not sure if this necessary or they are just padding there numbers?

 

Doesn't installing a y-pipe require removing pre-cats?

 

Uh, well there's the precat that is part of the y-pipe...yeah, I suppose they are removed.

 

There's a road that travels next to an Army base here in NJ that I've taken with these Michelin A/S's that I purchased at Costco. I'll tell you one thing about these tires, they can take the rain like a squirrel sticks to the road on the interstate in July.
I took the this 10 mile windy road in the rain at full throttle in 2nd and 3rd gear all the way, and these Pilots A/S' didn't move.
I think I've said this before, buy a strut tower brace. It makes such a difference in the dry, and on wet roads the change in handling will blow you mind. Love is a strong word to describe a set of tires, my wife doesn't love them at all. I do.

A word on Costco, make sure they appear to know what they are doing. You are dealing with people that have the potential to screw them up, however they got mine right.

ROAD HAZZARD WARRANTY!!! COSTCO!!! Got a flat on a Z Rated tire, Costco will NOT fix it as they should not, they REPLACE the tire!!!
No Additional cost, no questions asked!!! Try that at your local dealer.

Andrew, NJ
My wife hates my driving too...

 

I had my lugs broken not once, but twice at Costco. It was on my chevy blazer. When it happened the 1st time, the guy mentioned it to me. It was like it was no big deal. I asked him how to resolve this, and he wouldn't help. Had to talk to the manager. To make a long story short, had to goto Sears, get lugs replaced (front and rear). Took a couple hours.... Then had to drive back to costco and get reimbursed.

Also have had bad experiences with Sam's club breaking lugs on our oldsmobile.

Be very specific with Costco about 80ft-lbs of torque for the max.

When I need new tires in the future, I would prefer to slap on my winter set, and have the ones that need to be serviced in the trunk. I'm very particular about my max, and would prefer to hand torque my lugs with my own torque wrench. Its not worth the frustration of dealing with broken lugs and getting the run around.

 

Which Costco was this? I'll make sure not to go there.
The ones in Wharton and East Hanover are pretty good, they don't screw too much up. I agree though, you have to be cautious with them, they screw up a bit too often.

Andrew

 

Excessive will not work on Maxima's period! I've tried and the guy was a jerk.

I had a Honda Civic that I hit a bad pothole in and bent the rim. I tried Sears, Merchants, NTB and Midas and none of them could balance that rim correctly. Costco in Manassas did and I have no problems recommending them. As far as good shops to get your Y-Pipe and other performance parts installed, Autothority in Fairfax does an awesome job, with awesome customer service, albeit an awesomely high price for doing the work. I had my UDP installed there almost 6 months ago and I've had no problems and my belt tensions are still good.

I live in Bristow

 

It was at the Costco in Waterbury, Connecticut.

 

I just bought my 235/50/17s from Costco about 2 weeks ago. I paid the 210$ plus there was a 60$ coupon as well. You may want to check on this coupon. I had to opt for the 235s since they said it could be months before they got the 225s in stock. I had no problems with the mounting/balancing from costco. You should also take your car to the dealer to get the tires aligned.

I also posted sometime ago that the Pilots were onsale for ~181 at www.onlinetires.com . The local sears did do a price match for me but costco was still cheaper with the 60$ coupon.

 

I was told that it only removes precats on the 2k-2k1, 2k2&2k3 it does not.