Wheels...buy yourself or through a shop? Pros? Cons?

New territory for me. Never purchased aftermarket wheels. I see some guys go through tirerack, wherever, etc. and have them shipped to their home, then bring to tire shop for mounting. Any advantage of this? Saving money? I'm a do it your selfer so I could manage that. I've called a couple shops recently that don't deal the wheel manufacturer I'm looking for so it's increasingly becoming a hassle to try and get what I want indirectly. Experiences appreciated.

 

I bought a tire and wheel package thru tire rack, and picked them up at their distribution center. They mounted and balanced for free, and I didn't pay shipping. I got a set of wheels only available thru tire rack (hurst wheels for my '13 dodge charger) and pirelli p zero tires, which many tire shops don't carry. I did have a problem with one center cap that appeared damaged, but tire rack sent me a replacement immediately. Customer service is pretty good. I had to shop around to get them mounted to my car though...NTB put them on for only 20 bucks....i had quotes for $40-$80 or more from other tire shops. They have specially approved installers that you can select from but there aren't many of them. You'll have to shop around for installers. Be sure you can reuse your tpms from your old wheels. Sometimes the shop will break them or say they can't get them off and make you buy a new set.

Its hard to really save a lot of money thru tire rack. i saved on shipping costs by picking them up but had to pay sales tax instead. I got them mounted and balanced for free but had to buy new TPMS sensors in order for them to do it. For me, I got a special high end wheel set that isn't available anywhere else, so it was worth it for me. My Father also bought a set of tires from tire rack and got them put on locally. He has a shop that does a lot of work for him. And we both picked our stuff up at the tire rack distribution center so we saved a little more. If you pay shipping and get beat up by an installer then you may not come out well, unless you're getting something that's hard to obtain locally. I would definitely use them again, but I don't use them for every situation. I got a better deal on bfg radial TAs for my 75 roadrunner at Discount Tire. So it depends heavily on what you're getting. I shopped around a LOT before I pulled the trigger.

For my Taco, I recently purchased a set of TRD bead lock wheels from a toyota dealer up north. Took forever for me to get a decent deal on those. I plan to have my local dealer mount them. I'll let you know how it goes with pricing.

 

I bought my wheels on ebay and then took them to Discount Tires to get them mounted. I saved money on the wheels because there wasn't much demand for the ones I got. DT also does a free tire rotation and there close to where I live.

 

I always order online and bring tires and wheels to a shop for mounting. I work hard for my money. If I can save a couple hundred bucks by shopping around a little bit than that's what I'll do. The tire shop still makes money on the labor.

Cons: my last 2 wheel orders had damage. The hassle of returning and exchanging from an online/out of town company.

Pros: better deal. Saving money is good.