Another rip off attempt at the local tire shop

[Garth Libre]

I went to Tire Discounters in Chattanooga because my tires are coming due for replacement (4/32"). I've also been noticing the shocks are getting old. However I specifically mentioned that the sway bar ends look trashed. The estimate came back just for tires and shocks at .... $1,595 !!!!!! Wow!!!! Now, I have a certification in brakes and front end so I can say:
1) The shocks are getting a bit sloppy
2) The tires do need replacement
3) But the sway bar ends definitely are toast

Question: Are national tire shops usually this much of a rip off?
I just ordered two new sway bar ends from Amazon for $22 a pair (a one hour swap job for an old man like myself)
Tires shouldn't be much more than $100 a piece and balancing and tax shouldn't add more than $150

 

[Brain75]

depends on the size... the stock 14" on the old 2nd gen rangers are now rare.... so I am moving to 16" - cause the size I picked in those are $92-108 /ea instead of $170-somethin/ea. (Discount Tire in Colorado - that includes mount balance, but not taxes.) Labor is just off the hook insane, did they give you a breakout of how much of that was labor? Charging a stupid insane amount for replacing shocks?

 

[Curious Hound]

Go online and compare price for the exact tires (brand, model and size) that they quoted, instead of guessing that they are $100 each. Do the same with the shocks they quoted. Furthermore, for other parts, the shop isn't going to go on ebay or Amazon and order any part that's the cheapest. You expect them to warranty parts and labor. So they're going to use reputable parts. How rusty and nasty is your truck? Shocks can be a pain to remove. I could easily see the tires and shocks job going at $1000 or more at a shop. Want to save money? Do everything yourself except the tires.

 

[Blmpkn]

Mount & balance in my area is 20 a tire. Cheapest set of "real" tires I found in a 235/75/15 was 420 on ebay (with shipping).. so all said and done with tax up here the tires would be 520$

Parts & labor for shocks and end links definitely don't make up the additional thousand bucks.. even on a rust belt vehicle.. and even if they were to give you bilstiens AND pay retail on motor craft endlinks..


Yeap, ripoff.

I've gone through many many sets of tires. Way more than the average joe. In my experience.. they're ALWAYS cheaper to source yourself. I've NEVER bought tires from a local brick&mortar..Big national tire businesses definitely tote themselves as being the cheapest, smartest place to buy new tires... But... It's just marketing (lies)

Take 10 minutes to scour the Internet for whatever tires you want, it's damn near guaranteed you'll find a set.. shipped.. for much less than the same set from a local tire stealership.

 

[Garth Libre]

depends on the size... the stock 14" on the old 2nd gen rangers are now rare.... so I am moving to 16" - cause the size I picked in those are $92-108 /ea instead of $170-somethin/ea. (Discount Tire in Colorado - that includes mount balance, but not taxes.) Labor is just off the hook insane, did they give you a breakout of how much of that was labor? Charging a stupid insane amount for replacing shocks?

My Ranger takes 15 inch tires.
Here's a breakdown of the estimate:

2 front shocks: $272.62
2 rear shocks: $301.12
labor $280
wheel alignment for 4 wheels - Can you even align the rear wheels of solid rear axle truck? I don't think so...: $129.99
225/70/16 tires x4 : $456
tire install: $139.96
Tennessee tire fee: $4.50
disposal fee: $19.00
discount: -143.75
sales tax: $135.11

Total: $1,595.75

What gets me is the very high price of the shocks. It seems four high quality shocks are less than $100 everywhere. Then there's the labor for the shocks - I'm slow but I feel once I get the truck up on 4 jack stands I could swap out four shocks in a half hour. I'm going to get the tires installed for under $500 with tax and fees. Then I'll go for an alignment at about $150. That brings my cost to $750. I just bought the two front sway bar stabilizers for $28 a pair. The worst part is that even if I paid them $1,600 for the work they proposed, they still wouldn't have fixed the big issue which is the worn out rubber parts on the front sway bar stabilizers, and that would have been negligence on their part.


I'm going to post a photo of the stabilizers. Even in bad light at 5 feet away, you can see they are shot.

 

[Curious Hound]

The worst thing I see there is the price for the shocks. Those must be some amazing shocks.

 

[Snoranger]

Almost $900 for shocks w/ install… find someplace else for that.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

This is cheap where I'm from (L.A.).

The alignment was a bit high, its like $70 bucks here.

The only tire around $100 bucks nowadays would be a cheapo toyota camry sized tire.

Also I would like to note that maybe everything is expensive and yet businesses are still closing down (especially small ones) because the US dollar has become worth much less.