So you don’t know much about tires, but you’re sure you’ve had enough of the local dealer taking you to the cleaners on your tire purchases, and you’re wary of those possibly unscrupulous dudes at the local tire shop… Good, that’s all the motivation you need to take a few steps toward online tire purchasing empowerment.
The good news is that buying tires online is seriously simple, you just have to know a where to start. And so begins our “Idiot’s Guide to Buying Tires Online.”
Learn the size of your vehicle’s tires
First things first, you’ve got to learn the size of your vehicle’s tires. That’s accomplished by locating three key numbers on your tire sidewall. So get your kicks on, grab a pen and paper, and visit your vehicle.
Find these three numbers to unlock online tire buying freedom.
In the example above the three need to know numbers are 245 35 19.
We could get into what each of these numbers means, but you probably don’t care, and it’s not need to know info to make this happen, so moving on.
(***Note that many cars have different size tires front and rear. You’ll want to write down both sizes if that’s the case.***)
Visit an online tire store
Next up, visit an online tire store. We recommend either simple Tire or Discount Tire –>
Time to put the noted tire sizes to use.
With either website you’ll want to select the option to shop by tire size. On online tire store the shop by tire size option looks like this –>
Online tire store shop by tire size menu
Plug in your tire size(s) and view the results. More often than not tire size(s) will return a wide variety of options. To refine the results and focus in on tires of interest, select the desired performance category or categories.
Need help with that process?
Makes sure to review our Pre-Purchase Checklist for Tires and 5 Things to Know When Replacing Tires articles. Trying to decide between the various types of tires? Many of our other tire articles and tire reviews may be of help.
Final Step
Once you’ve made a tire decision, you only have to find a local tire installer. online tire store makes the process as easy as plugging in your zip code –>
From there it’s just a matter of getting the tires installed once they’ve arrived at the selected tire shop.
Lastly, make sure to visit our Tire Deals page to take advantage of current online tire purchasing deals.
Congrats, you are now ready to buy tires online!
