18/05/2011: Have you looked at tyres online lately?

If you want to buy tyres online then it’s worth taking a peek at a few websites to see what’s on offer. Needing a new set of rubber for my Ford Focus I decided to have a look at tyres online for myself. I found by searching on Google that there are a number of different options you can choose when you buy your tyres online. As you might expect, both the leading websites and high street retailers are well represented, along with suppliers who will come out to you and fit your new tyres.

In addition, tyres online are promoted by major tyre manufacturers who offer a considerable amount of information and assistance to help you decide. For example, you can select tyres online by your car make and model. Looking at one manufacturer I found that after I entered my car details they offered me their entire range! I decided to look for tyres online with a different manufacturer who only told me what type of tyre I could choose. This wasn’t much help either.

Continuing my quest to find tyres online, I next turned to a leading high street retailer. This looked more promising but you could only search by entering your registration number and I couldn’t remember mine. Their tyres online website offered big savings and no hidden costs. I decided to click on another website instead. My next choice for tyres online was a local company. Their website showed a picture of a wheel and a few pointers about their service. Frankly, it was useless.

So I decided to look for tyres online at a very well-known high street name. This was an instant improvement! You could search by tyre size, number plate or vehicle. OK, I entered Ford, Focus Estate, but they didn’t list the 1.8 petrol engine. Hmm – tyres online eh? OK I thought, I looked at my number plate, entered the details and I now had to enter the specifications for the tyres. This gave me fifteen options ranked by lowest to highest price so at last I could buy my tyres online.

Now that I had got this far in my quest for tyres online I decided to look at this retailer’s offer for the Continental tyres that are actually fitted on my car. Guess what, they weren’t listed. Finally, I entered the actual specification figures and this tyres online website gave me a fully fitted price including new valves, balance, VAT and environmental disposal at a special offer for four tyres of £82.90 each. I wonder what I would pay elsewhere I thought?

I decided to google tyres online again and then clicked on the first listing. This was a leading online retailer and their website offered searches by number plate, tyre size, car make and model and tyre manufacturer. I entered my number plate details and found my tyres online for £82.75 each and this was a normal price – not a special offer. I noticed too that this website offered me a staggering 143 choices ranked by special offers, recommended tyres, mid-range tyres and premium tyres. The lowest price I could have paid was £55.15 per tyre. It makes you think doesn’t it?