Opinions on Walmart's Tire Installation & Lifetime balancing and rotation?

[cookiemonster]

Thanks for your input, everyone! I did end up going with WM, but they didn't fill up the tires to the recommended psi (on the door jam) and they messed up the odometer reading on the receipt which I'm trying to get fixed (they entered in the service reminder mileage, instead of the actual mileage!) Other than that, everything seems okay so far, fingers crossed.

[cookiemonster]

Care to expound on this? Curious what manufacturer is so ballsy to require proof of 5-6k rotations for warranty measures...

Nexen does - I went with their N'Priz AH5's: "In order to maintain the tread wear warranty, all tires must be rotated at least every 5,000 – 6,000 miles (8,000 – 10,000 km)." https://www.nexentireusa.com/app/def...hure_March.pdf

[Mark]

Nexen does - I went with their N'Priz AH5's: "In order to maintain the tread wear warranty, all tires must be rotated at least every 5,000 – 6,000 miles (8,000 – 10,000 km)." https://www.nexentireusa.com/app/def...hure_March.pdf

Did you do the $15/tire or $25/tire mounting/balancing packages?

What did they say about lifetime balance/rotation every 7,500 miles?

Can you change that to every 6,000 miles for the Nexen tires?

Walmart options listed below:
Basic Tire Installation Package
$15 per tire if purchased at Walmart (additional $10 per tire if purchased elsewhere)
Tire mounting
Valve stems/TPMS service pack
Lifetime balance and rotation every 7,500 miles
50-mile lug re-torque

Value Tire Installation Package
$25 per tire (available only for tires purchased at Walmart)
Tire mounting
Valve stems/TPMS service pack
Lifetime balance and rotation every 7,500 miles
50-mile lug re-torque
Road hazard protection warranty

[fc321]

6 years ago (maybe 8)........

I bought 3 new tires on my Moms pickup truck Toyota shipped to Walmart and did the $12 thing and I am NOT satisfied. First of all they made me wait over 4 hours and fast forward 2 years and the car shakes back and forth at >50 mph like Michael J Fox dancing merengue and I suspect they never balanced them AT ALL. That they skipped the balancing all together and just threw them on. Completely over-torqued also.

The hell with Walmart, its the lowest quality if service from people who simple DONT CARE about customer. The Mom and Pop shops will do it for $15 each tire and actually do it properly and wont leave you waiting for hours. Like I said in another thread I am not going to throw any more business to Walmart and the other corporate bohemoths.

Life time balancing is a joke also, who the heck has time to waste to sti there for hours until they get to your car? Reminds me of a similar sham that the local Ford dealership was pulling: Free Lifetime Car Washes after you buy a new car from them. But they would leave you sitting in waiting room for over 3 hours to ensure you never come back a second time and also will swap out your air filter with some old, nasty one and then bring it out to waiting room to show it to you "Hey bud, you gotta change that engine air filter......$80". The hell with these crooks.

Oh yeah, that is a common sham at Dealerships. They keep some old, dirty, digusting engine air filter behind the desk and then bring it out to the waiting room to show customer (usually females) they are sleeze-bags

[inuvik]

I've never had any issues at Walmart. Ordered my tires online at Walmart.com, got them at home. Took the receipt with me and no issues. Balance and mounting have been fine but that way over 2 years ago so it's doubtful the same people that were then are there now so it's a crapshoot most likely.

[Mark]

I've never had any issues at Walmart. Ordered my tires online at Walmart.com, got them at home. Took the receipt with me and no issues. Balance and mounting have been fine but that way over 2 years ago so it's doubtful the same people that were then are there now so it's a crapshoot most likely.

I have zero issues/problems using Walmart for tires, but I don't give them my vehicle.

I dropped off two tires to be replaced this summer with two tires purchased from them. Mounting is free, lifetime balance is $14 ($12 one time charge), and old tire disposal was $1.50/tire.

I dropped the tires off on my way to a driving lesson. I was sent a text that they were done about 45 minutes later. I picked them up a few hours later, and it was exactly $31 + tax for the two new tires mounted/balanced/disposal of old one. No extra charges were added.

Since fc321 (you) bought your tires elsewhere, I would never use Walmart for that. Free mounting become $25 mounting, which Tire Rack installers sort of quote, too. My local guys are usually cheaper than Walmart for everything (tires/mount/balance/install), but that was not the case for a known brand name 165/65r14 tire this summer.

My nearest Walmart serves a town that has a population of 5,000. It's the only town of over 500 people in the entire county. Service may be better @ a smaller community Walmart?

[Dirk Diggler]

IF Walmart is your only tire shop around, go for it. Walmart could potentially 'update' their warranty according to the manufacturer too. I use to work at Sam's Club Tires and warranty for certain tires would always change but that's the kicker, they could purchase our 'life time warranty' if anything happened to the tire. I haven't worked there since 2008 so I'm assuming A LOT has changed since then, maybe.

Anyways, I would highly recommend Discount Tires if there is a Discount Tires near you. I went from working at Sam's Club Tires to Discount Tires and they're HEAVY on customer service. Discount Tires will do basically anything to keep their customers and keep them happy. Lots of 'positive' stories at Discount Tires compared to Sam's Club/Walmart from my experience.

It's worth the extra $$$ at Discount Tires. Especially if you let them know your driving situation.

I couldn't agree more. I'll gladly pay more for premium customer service at Discount Tire vs the underpaid poor schmucks at Walmart. You get what you pay for. If you're going to pay poverty wages to your staff, expect a staff that doesn't give a sh&t.

[CROSSBOLT]

We have a local tire shop that beats both Wally and Sam on price including install, balance, TPMS senders by experienced techs instead of beginners. King Tire in Jackson, Tennessee.
They are straight up in all past dealings. Will go back there but not Wally or Sam's.