I recently had a bad experience with DiscountTireDirect.com. I was ready to place my order using the same tires that I've been using for years and I received a phone call telling me that they would not sell me the tires. I asked why not and they told me that the load bearing index or something wasn't sufficient. They then recommended a tire much too large for my wheel. I took my business to tirerack.com that had no problem with my specific tire sizes.

Anyhow, has anyone experienced this from DiscountTireDirect? When did they change their policy?

 

I haven't had a bad experience with them albeit i've only used them a handful of times. What kind of tires did you order? Did you tell them they were for aftermarket wheels not your oem wheels?

 

yeah, I told them they were for last generation's f-sport 19" wheel. I was trying to buy 225/35/19 front and 255/30/19 rear.

tirerack sold them to me without problem.

 

I haven't had a bad experience with them but I've always used their eBay site. I've purchased a set of tires a year ago and a set of rims just a few weeks ago. They only thing they contact me for was to confirm my address since I live in a newly developed area. Maybe the experience is a bit different on eBay vs. their website?

 

probably so. perhaps i'll give them another chance via ebay, but since tirerack was so friendly and understanding, i think they've captured my business.

 

another reason for this post is that they got really nervous and apologetic about me posting about the whole experience and wanted to talk to me in-depth about my problem with the company before writing here on the club lexus forum. damage was already done and so here i am, posting about the experience.

 

I've done business with both. I do like tirerack more than discount tire. Mainly because the staff at tirerack is awesome and very friendly.

 

agreed. they were really cordial and super informative.

 

lame, but doesnt sound all that bad. They're playing it safe. They may have got into serious legal issues with customers or insurance companies selling tires with mismatch load bearing indices. who knows. In all honesty, I believe they would have sold you the tires if you pushed for it. They would probably make you sign a waiver or something stating that you understand about the load bearing index mismatch and they cant be held liable yada yada yada

 

yes, i think that you are absolutely right. tirerack, however, has an option to bypass the model and year that you are buying the tires for which makes the transaction super smooth. i'm not quite sure why discounttiredirect doesn't have a similar procedural policy.

 

Never had a problem with discount tire direct. Always either brought from them or off ebay, going solely off of tire specs. Didn't tell them what car I was actually putting them on(if my tire blows out and wrecks my car, I'm not gonna blame the tire vendor). Tire rack has always been alittle expensive for me, and they charge tax/shipping so the tires end up being marginally cheaper than off my dealer or mechanic. DTD offers free shipping and majority of the time no tax if the tires come from another state.

Cooper is one of the better budget brands and tirerack doesn't carry them. I'm not putting crappy Fuzions on my car.

 

discount tire direct now refuses to sell you tires unless you provide for a make and model. tire rack has an opt-out regarding that information.

 

Hmmm never have had an issue with them

 

The only issue I have ran into with Discount Tire is when a big name tire installer in my town refused to install their tires. They would only deal with Tire Rack so this led me to believe they had some kind of deal with Tire Rack. Kinda strange but I moved on and took my business elsewhere.

 

The last 4 or 5 sets of tires I bought all came from Discount Tire and they have always been great to deal with. I mentioned this issue to the local manager and he says that it is company policy to assure that the tires are safe for the intended vehicle. The load rating is one of the critical items they check. If they sell you the wrong size tire and you have an accident because of a tire problem then they are at least partially responsible.
Steve