Getting new tires is expensive, and there are a lot of different things you need to consider before you commit to a purchase. You’ll need to make sure that you’re getting tires that suit your vehicle, climate, driving habits, and budget while simultaneously considering other things like efficiency, expected longevity, and warranty coverage. You’ll also have to decide where you’re going to go to buy them.

There are a few decent places to get some new rubber on a budget, but Discount Tire is often considered one of the best tire retailers on the market. There are several factors that have likely contributed to the company’s reputation. As the name implies, its products are often sold at extremely competitive prices, but Discount Tire also offers a comprehensive warranty and has a broad selection of different wheels for shoppers to choose from, including options from top major tire brands like Michelin, Goodyear, Continental, and Falken.

That’s impressive enough on its own, but there are also a whole host of other perks and services that customers have access to when buying from Discount Tire that a lot of people don’t know about. These perks might not be the sole deciding factor on where you choose to buy your next set of wheels, but they certainly might tip the scales if you were thinking about giving Discount Tire a shot.

For most vehicles, you’ll want to get your tires rotated every 5,000 to 8,000 miles. This ensures that your tires wear evenly, keeping the tread level, prolonging their life, and ultimately saving you money. A lot of places offer free rotations as a perk, Discount Tire included, but one thing that Discount Tire offers that many places don’t is free lifetime spin balancing.

Balancing tires involves removing the wheel assembly with the tire still installed and placing it in a machine. This spins the tire and helps reset the center to account for any heavy points in the manufacture of the wheel or tire that make them a less than perfect circle. Leaving this unchecked can lead to vibrations in the chassis that can make driving uncomfortable and can even damage your suspension. This process usually costs $100 to $200, but Discount Tire shoppers get this service for free for the entire lifetime of the tire as part of the company’s upfront installation charges.

Another service the company offers is free air pressure checks. Regularly checking air pressure is important for the health of the tire, but having the right pressure can also affect things like traction and gas mileage. This is easy enough to do on your own with a gauge most of the time, but it’s nice to know you have the option of swinging through your local Discount Tire if you’re ever worried one of them is getting a bit low. The only situations where Discount Tire might refuse to fill up a flat are if it’s over 10 years old or too damaged to safely hold air.

Getting a flat can be stressful at the best of times, but you don’t necessarily need to get a brand new tire every time you run over a nail. It isn’t that hard to fix a flat at home if you have the right tools and equipment, but you don’t need to take on the extra DIY headache if you buy from Discount Tire. The company offers free tire repairs to all of its customers. This is probably better than trying to fix it yourself anyway, as its employees must follow the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association guidelines in every repair that they make.

Of course, there are some limitations to this service. You can’t exactly bring in a tire that’s been slashed to ribbons and expect them to stitch it back together. Discount Tire employees have four specific guidelines that they need to follow when servicing a damaged tire: Repairs are limited to the tread area, they’ll only fix punctures smaller than ¼-inch in diameter, a new repair can’t overlap with an old one, and a patch alone is not considered a sufficient repair. If any of these apply to your tire, then the Discount Tire employees will gently suggest that you replace it with a new one.

Discount Tire also offers free tire inspections to all of its customers, and actually recommends that they bring their vehicle in at least once a month to get their tires checked, as well as before any long trips, after any sort of impact, or after driving through hazardous road conditions. This ensures that any damage to the tires is caught and repaired quickly, before it can spread and become unsafe.

There are a lot of situations in which a tire simply cannot be repaired. In instances where a tire does need to be replaced, Discount Tire gives buyers access to its Certificates program, which offers either refunds (including sales tax) or replacements in situations where a tire cannot be repaired. This isn’t a free perk like the others mentioned thus far, but it is a service that is exclusively offered to Discount Tire shoppers.

This is designed to cover road hazard damage and manufacturer defects for the entire tread-life of the tire for up to three years from the purchase date. Unlike warranties that cover a specific mileage, the certificates program is designed to last until the tread depth gets below 3/32 inch, which is widely considered the point at which a tire becomes unsafe to drive on anyway. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends drivers replace tires once they hit 2/32 of an inch.

Most people won’t hit that mark in three years, but those who spend a lot of their workday in the car might find the added protection to be well worth it. Discount Tire claims that it conducted a poll of 5,800 customers who redeemed Certificates and that 97.1% of them claimed that they would buy them again. Of course, those who don’t drive much or who are looking to keep upfront costs down might want to decide for themselves if they’re better off without the extra expense.

Most tire shops recommend tires based on generic data about what fits your vehicle and your price range. Discount Tire’s system is a little more in-depth. The company offers a decision guide called Treadwell that makes custom recommendations based on several different factors. It starts with you inputting your vehicle information and then identifying your driving style and the kinds of roads, terrain, and weather you drive in most. 

Once you’ve input all of these data points, as well as your zip code, Treadwell will provide custom recommendations that are based on value and performance. It will also show you which of the tires that fit your vehicle are popular among other buyers in your local area. This is particularly useful for shoppers who don’t know a ton about tires and want to make sure they’re getting something that suits their vehicle, their environment, and their wallet all at the same time.

Much of this data is based on in-house testing that Discount Tire performs at its private test track, Treadwell Research Park, which is located in Pearsall, Texas. Though much of its winter testing is performed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The company performs extensive stress tests under various manufactured conditions in order to see how the tires respond and then makes its recommendations. Treadwell has also been expanded to accommodate EV drivers, offering EV-specific insights and letting shoppers search for tires based on criteria such as handling or efficiency.

Sometimes it isn’t convenient to take your car into the shop to get the tires replaced. Maybe the tires currently on the vehicle are already damaged and unsafe to drive on, maybe the vehicle itself is in a state of disrepair, or is unregistered and can’t be driven. Whatever the reason, there are several Discount Tire locations that offer mobile installation. This means that the professionals at the store will load up your tires, bring them to your home, and install them on site without you ever needing to so much as buckle a seatbelt.

This isn’t available at every Discount Tire. The listed locations are currently only in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Discount Tire has stated that it’s planning to expand this service in the future, and that it eventually plans to make mobile tire repair available as well. If your local store does offer the service, you simply need to purchase the tires that you want online and then call the store to confirm that the order information is correct and schedule a mobile installation.

This isn’t a free service, however. Pricing starts at an additional $50 on top of the regular cost of the tires and service fees, but it’s certainly handy to have as an option if you can’t bring the vehicle in yourself.