On Mon, 29 Apr 2019 08:06:31 -0700 (PDT), trader_4 wrote:

About the same here, 4 in the last 5 years. Got them mounted at Costco
for $15 each. They will even mount tires that you don't buy there.

Hi trader_4,

Usenet is a shared information source, sort of like a Potluck Picnic, where
each person tries to bring something of value to all to the picnic table.

Hence, every post is designed to add value for everyone, so I THANK YOU for
that purposefully helpful and very useful information about the Costco
setup.

The Costco near me _used_ to refuse to mount non-Costco tires, so I was
surprised that you said yours mounts non-Costco tires.

Armed with your purposefully helpful information, I called the local Costco
at (831)469-0961 x5 (other), x4 (auto), who confirmed EXACTLY what you just
said!

This is great news, where I'll contribute this to the Potluck Picnic:
o $60 to mount four tires on four wheels (on or off the vehicle)
o $20 to dynamically balance four wheels (if they are off the vehicle)
o $22 to dynamically balance four wheels (if they are on the vehicle)
o $11 to repair a tire
o $1 to dispose of old tires (the guy said that's what they get charged)

In addition:
o They won't let you ship tires to them; but you can bring them in.
o They won't mount tires older than 3 years (based on the date stamp)
o They will rotate & balance tires that are older than 3 years though
o You don¢t get the Costco-tire free lifetime balance & rotation though
o They will not touch tires below the 2/32" wear bars for any purpose

When I asked the Costco guy _when_ this started, the guy said they used to
work on non-Costco tires years ago, and then stopped, and now started it up
only about two years ago.

And they dynamically balance them too, which you can't do at home.

Just to be clear, and to ensure we're always adding value to the potluck
picnic that is Usenet, the empirical dynamic balance test is free, and
extremely easily done "at home".

You just drive the car at highway speeds.
o If you can't feel vibration, it's dynamically balanced (AFAIK).

Besides, with this new information you've kindly brought to the Potluck
Picnic which is Usenet, for $20 in toto, we can _check_ how well we
statically balanced the four wheels.

This is _great_ news you brought up that Costco does this for us!
o Thanks for bringing value for all in the Potluck Picnic that is Usenet

I do a lot of work on cars myself, brakes, transfer case chain, valve
cover gaskets, water pumps, but not this when you can get it
done in 20 mins for $15 a tire.

Hi trader,
I agree with you on your facts of the Costco prices, and on most of your
logic (adults are funny in that facts are easy to agree on, as is rational
logic).

Your logic is that it's "easier" to let Costco do it all for you, where the
facts I'll contribute which affect the logic is that I've never been to
Costco tire center without standing on long lines, even if I get there at
opening time, so the _actual_ time is no where near 20 minutes for four
tires.

Obviously the actual time will vary greatly, but 20 minutes doesn't seem
rational to me for four tires at a typical Costco, which, I hope most
people know, isn't exactly known for short lines (e.g., even the gas
station lines are long, as are the food court lines, and the purchasing
lines, and even the line to ask a question of the eyeglass center or
pharmacists).

Where on earth to you have a Costco which not only has no lines, but which
does the entire job in 20 minutes for four tires, where I can't even get to
the counter in that time frame, let alone have them do all the paperwork
and pay for it, etc. in that time frame?

Those other repairs just use the typical
shop tools that I already have and I saved $$$$. Transfer case chain is
a good example, it would be $3000 at the BMW dealer, I did it for $100.

Hi trader,
As you're aware, I did a clutch a few months back, with the help of this
newsgroup, as I had to replace the flywheel, for example, which required
tools that I couldn't find at the local auto parts stores (the pilot
bearing pulling tools were too large to fit in the ID of the pilot
bearing).

This newsgroup is GREAT for learning things, since there are helpful people
here who contribute to the potluck picnic something that EVERYONE can learn
from.

My contribution is that the job is easy, and it takes about the same amount
of time (when you factor everything in) as having a shop do it, so you
don't do the job at home to save time.

You mostly do the job at home to learn, and to enjoy doing it, and to
relish in the _knowledge_ gained by doing things yourself, which is, after
all, a key purpose of doing _any_ repair by yourself.

As for savings, with this "new costco math", the savings, in 5 years, a
o $450 at Costco for 30 tires minus $200 for tools = savings of only $250

If we add the dynamic balance check, the math becomes:
o $250 minus $20 = about $225 (I'm rounding numbers for easy math)

The key point to make is that there are _benefits_ to home repair
o One key benefit is that you _learn_ more about things
o Another key benefit is that you can do it any time you want to
o Another benefit is that you can do it more often when you do it yourself
o Another benefit is that you can "save" tires they won't repair (if you
want to, as it's your choice based on your decision tree)
o The best benefit is the satisfaction of self sufficiency

The cost benefit is always going to be there ... for example, the tools
almost always pay for themselves ... but that's not the main reason you do
home repair yourself.

The main reason is that you learn about and enjoy home repairs, and that
you have the convenience of doing the job the way you want the job done
(e.g., you use steel tire valves even if the tire shop doesn't use them).