Tag: Canadian Tire

Cheap United States tires for Canadians

Cheap United States tires for CanadiansMany Canadians are heading to the US to purchase tires for their cars. The simple message is that tires purchased for the same car and the same kind of tire are often 32% cheaper than in Canada. Cheap United States tires for Canadians means that most can save a great deal of money. For example my own set of tires would’ve cost me approximately $1000 including taxes, installation and wheel balancing for my car in Canada.

The exact same set of tires purchased in the US would have been approximately $700. Many people view the savings of $300 as being typical. It is worthwhile for making a trip to the United States to purchase their tires. Particularly in border towns such as Cornwall, Niagara Falls, Windsor and Vancouver. Thousands of Canadians will head to the US just to purchase tires for their car. However the question is whether this upfront initial savings is really worth it or not in the long run?

Cheap United States tires for Canadians – Additional Points to Consider When Buying Tires

There are number of things to keep in mind when purchasing tires in the United States. If you need repairs to your tires, replacement tires, or have any difficulty with the balancing of the tire a trip back to the US will be required since no Canadian dealer will provide you with any kind of warranty support. For many people this is just not an issue and for $300 they will take the chance and purchase tires in the United States.

The writer has discovered though that if you deal with a national chain tire provider, one that is also operating in the US, such as Costco you can have your tires serviced at any Costco store in the United States or Canada. In fact Costco provides for one price the tire installation, tire balancing, tire rotation, and filling the up the tires with nitrogen which is a more stable gas and retains air pressure in the tire for longer periods.

Any Costco will service your cars tires as long as you have the receipt and the same set of tires. This is a good deal in my books. Tire rotation and balancing can cost as much as $15 or $20 per tire each time you have this done. If you have to pay for tire rotation, many people will forgo this step which means their tires may wear prematurely which lowers the overall savings.

Great Service

They will service the tires at any Costco in the United States or Canada, and the best part you get the price differential by buying your tires in the US as well. Even a set of tires purchased at Costco in the United States is between 20 and 25% cheaper than the same set of tires purchased at Costco in Canada. This is why many Canadians are heading south to the United States to purchase their winter tires, and summer tires and saving a great deal of money. Don’t forget that the tax is also usually much less than in Canada as well which provides added savings.

We also want to mention that this is not an advertisement for Cosco. Do your research and look for the best deal that meets your situation. You may not have a Costco near you or you can get a better deal closer to home based on a negotiated price for the kind of tires you are looking for. Investigate and compare, then make your decision.

For more about tires and tire sales, click here.


Canadian Tire Hours of Operation in Ottawa

We recently have had a lot of people looking for information about the Canadian tire hours of operation in Ottawa. We decided to include a short page on this site to provide that information. Store hours for Canadian tire stores will vary based on location and also if there is a holiday or not.  You should really check with your local store to confirm if they are open.

For example the Canadian Tire Store in Orleans which is just outside of Ottawa on the east side is open during the following hours.

  •            Store                                   Auto Center
  • Mon 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Tue 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Wed 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Thu 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Fri 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Sat 08:00 AM – 07:00 PM 07:00 AM – 06:00 PM
  • Sun 08:00 AM – 06:00 PM 08:00 AM – 05:00 PM

Different Hours

Each store will be slightly different. For example the Canadian Tire store in Gloucester, on Ogilvy road which is also part of Ottawa on the east side has the following hours. Each store is independently owned and operated under the general franchise and they keep their own hours based on the market need in their area. This store stays open longer on Saturday nights for example.

  • Store                                   Auto Center
  • Mon 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Tue 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Wed 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Thu 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Fri 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Sat 08:00 AM – 09:00 PM 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM
  • Sun 09:00 AM – 06:00 PM 09:00 AM – 06:00 PM

Canadian Tire Hours

We cannot possibly list all of the stores along with their hours, however we wanted to give readers an example of two stores and their general hours. I think that you can be pretty safe in going to any of the Canadian Tire stores between 8am and 6pm. You may want to check with the store closest to you if you need to go to the store after 6pm, especially if you are thinking about getting some work done on a vehicle.

They may have to keep it in the garage over night before they can fix it. Many of the stores will give their customers a ride home under these circumstances. This is a really great service if you have to drop your car off to be worked on and cannot wait for the car to be completed.

Canadian tire is not typically known for selling hardwood floors which is what this web site is all about. It is known for car parts and repairs and of course tires. Recently they have expanded into a broader market offering small appliances, sports equipment, paint, Christmas products etc. They also include including plumbing, electrical and hardware related items for most repairs around the home.

Tools as Well

You can find a lot of the tools that you may need for work around your home at the Canadian Tire store including the tools you may need for laying a hardwood floor. Compare prices and warranties. Some items although they may be a bit more expensive, have a life time warranty on them and this can be valuable for items that are more expensive. this store in Orleans is close to us and we tend to go there a lot to get whatever we need for general items for our vehicle and our home repairs. On top of that, this company is Canadian and we should support Canadian companies who are competing with the big box stores from the US. This is a Canadian Company and represents the very essence of Canada. Let’s support it.

We hope you have found this short post useful. leave us a comment if you did.


What Tire Supplier Should You Choose

What Tire Supplier Should You ChooseThe last post that we added to our blog was all about the criteria and information you needed to have in order to select a set of tires for your vehicle. It was aimed at the average consumer planning on buying a set of tires for their car. Now we will focus on what Tire Supplier you should consider.

We had recently bought tires for our own car and wanted to share the experience and also what we learned. Every ones criteria will be different, so it is important to give some thought about what you want, what is important to you or high priority and who you need to talk to about tires for your car. The title of our previous post is “How To Select New Tires for Your Car” and you may want to spend a few minutes reading this post as well. Buying tires does not have to be complicated if you have all of the facts.

Our High Priority Criteria for Tire Supplier

For us, we wanted a good quality tire at a reasonable price with a high mileage warranty that would give us stable and safe driving characteristics. We also wanted the following key features :

  • TPMS compatible
  • Nitrogen filled
  • Lifetime Balance and tire rotation included
  • Canada / US Warranty support

Most tire shops carry all of the big name tire brands and most will price match, so after doing a little homework to determine what price I should expect to pay for a set of four tires, it pretty much came down to the above 4 categories that would determine who I would go with.

America’s Tire

Very few Canadian companies operate in the US or have affiliates that you can go to if you have tire problems. The same is true for US companies. We really like Americas Tire, They have given us really good service in the past and we would like to use them. However, they do not have a relationship with any Canadian company and cannot provide warranty service in Canada. They do have shops all over the US and within 100 miles of our home in Canada, but there are companies that are closer to Canada – US coverage.

Wal-Mart

That pretty much left Wal-Mart and Costco as the two places that we could turn to that provided the coverage we were looking for. Wal-Mart had two negatives that caused them to fall by the wayside. Their price certainly was competitive, however, they do not have the facilities to provide nitrogen filled tires or at least the location I visited. Also, their shop did not inspire confidence when I went in to get a price for the tires. The person helping me really did not know that much about tires and I just was not satisfied with the service they provided.

Tire Supplier – Costco

Costco was just so much more professional in quoting a price for tires plus they met all of our requirements. They provided Nitrogen filled tires at no extra cost, they were able to show me the tires they recommended. The tires were on sale at the time , they could install the tires within an hour of purchase, they supported TPMS and they provide a lifetime balancing and tire rotation service.

They are actually international, however being only concerned about Canada and the US , they have lots of stores throughout both countries and they fully support their warranty at all locations. In terms of TPMS, they had skilled technicians that knew enough to not damage the TPMS devices when installing the new tires.

So all in all, it was the right decision to go with COSTCO in this case for tires. The price and the service were excellent and they met all of our criteria for new tires for my car.

For the record we chose Michelin X-Radials DT with an 80,000 mile  warranty, nitrogen filled, lifetime balancing and tire rotation at any of their locations across North America.  Everything included the price came to $539 including taxes!

For more info about the right tires for your car, click here.


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