Which tire retailers drive the best bargains?

In an era when cars need much less maintenance than they once did, it can be easy to forget the role tires play in a smooth, safe ride. When they’re in good shape, your treads help you avoid skids in the rain or ice, improve your gas mileage, and make driving more pleasant.

It’s time to replace your tires when they wear down to 1/16 inch of tread. They’ve reached this level when tire tread is even with the wear bars built into the tread. You can also measure the tread with a penny: Insert it Lincoln-head-first in a tread groove; if the treads don’t cover part of Abe’s head, they are worn down too far.

If you don’t drive often, you might need to replace your tires before their tread is worn. Tires dry out with time, reducing performance and safety. Many manufacturers recommend replacing tires after six years, no matter the tread wear. Regardless of tread wear or age, replace a tire if you see a bulge or blister on the sidewall; and if you see cuts or cracking, have an expert inspect it.

You can buy a fresh set from tire specialty outlets, online sources, independent shops and car dealers.

But where can you get the most for your money? Undercover shoppers for nonprofit Delaware Valley Consumers’ Checkbook collected prices on popular name-brand tires from local and online operators, and found it pays to shop around — you can save hundreds for the effort.

To fuel your search, Checkbook is giving Inquirer readers free access to its full report on tire stores, plus all of Checkbook’s ratings and advice, until Feb. 5.

Here’s what Checkbook’s shoppers found.

Prices for a set of four Goodyear Assurance MaxLife tires for the Honda Civic ranged from $692 at Sam’s Club to $1,317 at Piazza Honda of Philadelphia — a difference of $625. Overall, Ardmore Tire, BJ’s, Costco, and Sam’s Club had the lowest prices, but Checkbook’s shoppers also found deals at Tires Etc., Tires Plus, Firestone Complete Auto Care, and some independent tire dealers and repair shops.

Online-only sellers also offered consistently low prices — with vast selection. These retailers ship tires to your home or to a local shop for installation. Among them, prices at SimpleTire.com and Tirerack.com were the lowest. But factoring in installation costs, the average prices offered by all internet-only sellers were higher than prices at Ardmore Tire, BJ’s, Costco, or Sam’s Club.

When shopping for price, specify exactly what you want. If you want mounting, balancing, and valve stems to be included, make that clear. And because there are so many tire models, many with very similar names and specifications, cite the tire model precisely, preferably by the parts number.

One way to get a good price on tires and quality installation is to order tires from a low-priced online seller (for the four models of tires Checkbook shopped, SimpleTire.com and Tirerack.com offered very low prices), and have them shipped to a top-rated auto repair shop. Not all repair shops install tires, but many do.

While shopping for tires, you may be offered road-hazard coverage. Some stores, including Costco, provide this type of coverage for free, but many charge an extra $50 to $200 to cover a set of four tires.

The protection covers damage to tires due to road hazards during normal driving. If you get a flat caused by a nail, glass, or other road debris, the company promises to repair or, if necessary, replace the tire. But if you get a flat from accidentally running over a curb or other driver-caused errors, you get nothing. And these plans never pay for failure from worn tread; that type of problem is poorly covered under the manufacturer’s warranty.

Unless they’re free, these plans aren’t good deals. If a nail flattens your tire, a shop will charge only $25 to $50 to plug it. Just as you can’t predict when or where you’ll have a flat, you can’t predict which tire will get one, so you’ll have to buy the plan for all four. So you’re paying $100 or so to protect yourself against having to pay $25 or so for each tire repair — and you may never need it. As with any type of “protection plan” pushed by big-ticket sellers, what you’re really being offered is insurance that is highly profitable for the seller but provides little benefit to the buyer.

If the roadside assistance element of one of these plans is of value to you, consider joining AAA, which offers various membership benefits in addition to roadside help.

Delaware Valley Consumers’ Checkbook magazine and Checkbook.org is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help consumers get the best service and lowest prices. We are supported by consumers and take no money from the service providers we evaluate.