Ok...I can't drive another day without(ok I can go a few days) getting some new feet on my Max...approaching 55K on my stock Toyos.

Who can give me any experience stories about ordering tires from Tire Rack.com and have had them drop shipped to an installer? I did the math and I figure I can save almost 160-200 over buying them direct from Town Fair or NTB. Any problems with getting them installed and balanced?

Next is the rotors...I've had the front cut twice but now I'm at the point that I swear I'm going to lose control during high speed braking...it's that bad.

I'm probably going to go through the dealer as I don't trust any shops around me not to throw on cheap rotors made in China. Am I screwing myself by putting OEM rotors back on?

Also how much do you think Nissan will whack me for 4 rotors and whatever else it needs?

Oh yeah...tires I'm looking at are Dunlop Sport A2's...any comments?

 

The NTB's in my area will match Tire Rack's price + $15. I do it that way to eliminate the hassle of having them shipped to me. NTB will charge you extra for mounting if it's not their tire, so by the time is all said in done it's only like $20 more to make them match the price and it saves on the hassle. I'd recommend this method over drop shipping, it also builds a little goodwill since I constantly deal with them on things and they cut me breaks here and there.

Do NOT turn the rotors again. If they have already been cut twice, chances are they won't be to spec after you cut them again and the heat capacity of them is already drastically reduced as is. 4 rotors and front pads shouldn't be any more than $300 even at the dealer. Your best option would be to find someone local to you who can show you how to do it yourself.

The Dunlop A2's are a very good all around performance tire, much better than AO5's IMO.

 

Thanks for the info! I thought that the rotors would be a heck of a lot more coin than that. I think I shelled out like 600 ballons for my Celica at Midas(I know, I know) 300 sounds low especially from Nissan of all places!

Anyone else had any dealings with bartering with NTB or other dealers on matching Tire Racks price?(or adding a bit like iwannabmw said?

 

I'm not sure what dealers are actually charging, but anything over $300 is a rip off. Where in MA are you located??

 

I'm on the Cape but am moving(escaping)to NH at the end of July!

I agree..for the amount of work that is required to swap out rotors it is hideous what they charge....I just don't feel comfortable or confident doing it myself


PS I see you are in Andover... I work in Peabody...yes I do make the drive from the Cape every day to Peabody and back...200 a day...Max is piling up the miles and accelerating the wear and tear on it


What NTB do you deal with? Since I'm in the area during the week I'd swing in and see them and have it done.

 

Bought Dunlop 8 tires from Tire Rack 4 for Maxima and 4 for Civic (SP5000 and D60A2). Drop shipped them directly to local installer. They got there in a few days and I made appt. and had them installed. The tire you are considering is the one I would put on if I were installing tires now. The local installer did the best job of installing tires on my cars that anyone ever has. Anti seizure compound on all lug nuts and torqued each one by hand and was extremely careful. I tipped the guy 10 bucks, I appreciated his treating my car so well. I believe Dunlop makes one of the best price performance tires available. You can go to WWW.TIRERACK.COM to get the names of their installers in your area. I would definitely go the Tire Rack route again!

 

I was wondering how you piled the miles on so fast. That commute would certainly explain it.

I usually go to the one in Salem, NH to avoid tax. I have used the one on Rt. 114 as you head towards Middleton for stuff before also.

 

The one in Middleton would be perfect for me...so did you just call and ask if they match the Tirerack price? You've done this at Middleton?

Imagine it can't hurt to ask

thanks for the tip!

 

I would just call them and ask if they match prices, because you found the tires on tirerack for xxx but would rather buy through them. They should respond with something like, "yeah, we'll match it plus $15 to cover the cost of shipping." If they don't say this mention that you'll guess you'll just have to drive up to Salem, since you know that NTB will. If they don't agree to match, they're stupid. I don't think you'll have any problem though.

 

I was quoted $310 for pads and rotors at the dealer. I think this is a lot. Since I didn't want the OEM rotors again, I opted for the Stillen cross drilled rotors and Metal master pads. This was about $250 and it took me (a novice mehanic) 45 minutes to install.

You really should think about going the route I took, not because, you'll save money, but because you'll end up with better brakes.

Find a friend that knows how to do brakes, it's really nothing to be scared of. Or buy the Chiltons book, it shows you step by step.

My last set of tires was off tirerack drop shipped to a local installer. I would definitely do this again, I saved a ton of money. You save on tax too. I say screw the local tire guy if he can't compete.

 

If you are going to do it yourself, just use high quality blanks like Brembo and good pads. You will save a ton of money and still have phenomenal brakes.

 

I called the NTB in Middleton and the guy said sure they would match tirerack.com. My price for all 4 installed and balanced would be 589.62!! Thanks but no thanks NTB Holy ****!!


I called Town Fair Tire in Danvers and he said total would be 462.95 installed. Thats more like it! Plus he said all I needed to do was leave a small deposit and I'd have the tires in 3 days. NTB said pay in full up front and a week to get em.


Guess TF is the way to go.


I'm not sure on the brakes. I suppose Chiltons or Haynes would help...I'm petrified of screwing something up...hey its the brakes we are talking about here!

Appreciate the advice though!!

 

for those of you that has that had your stuff drop shipped to the local installer; what did they charge?

did they charge you if you had rims and tires shipped?
did they charge if you bought new rims (or tires) and needed them installed to the tires (or rims) that you already had on the car?

 

I think TireRack has the rates listed for most of the installers listed on their website. When you do a zip code search that returns participating installers in your area, it tells you what they charge for mounting.

In my case, I bought rims off Ebay that I brought to the installer, and new tires from TireRack. The installer charged me $12 a tire to mount and balance. The cost would have been $16 per tire if there were existing tires to remove.

 

I was charged $15.00 to remove the old tire and to balance and install the new tire. This price included tax and disposal fee. The local installers charge less if this is a TireRack deal! I was very satisfied with the tires and local installer. I would give it an A+ Rating.

 

That price from NTB sounds like something is up. I checked the price at Tirerack and added all the extra costs involved and came up with $466, pretty much the same deal Town Fair is offering. NTB is really doing something screwy, I've ordered lots of tires through the shop in Salem and I only leave $50 as a deposit, they never required me to pay in full. I guess I'll avoid Middleton from now on.

 

Heh..I went for a sticker today and asked the service writer for a quote on rotors and pads...she said 400-425! I asked if that was for all 4 and she said no, just the fronts....um nope

 

Nissan rotors and pads for all four corners cost $389.53 from Courtesy Nissan. Considering your rear brakes are probably fine and don't need replacement, you should be able to do the job for a lot less.