Recent tire prices.
 

Within the last 2 years I've purchased 3 sets of tires. 1 for the 4runner, 1 for the Camry and 1 for the Lemans. Maybe it's just me but it seems like the prices have doubled or more from about 5 years ago. Does anyone know the answer to this?

oil
rubber
have gone up

and because they can

Both natural rubber and oil are controlled by cartels and do what ever they want to do, then you have the United Steel Workers Union who bought out the defunct Rubber Workers Union of America, those boys are only making about $30.00/hour plus bennies.

Just bought a brand new set of four tires for my GMC crew cab 4-wheel drive for about $750, installed, including tax from the local GMC dealer. I expected to pay about $1K and was very pleased. They are Goodyears identical to the ones that originally came on the truck. We had gone 56,000 miles on the original tires and they still had some tread left, but since I pull a car trailer and do a lot of back-road driving in the mountains, I decided to go ahead and get a new set.

Jim

I didn't know that.

A set of four Michelin's cost $775 for my SUV in 07' and this year they were $997 for the exact same tire.

Of course the cost of money has risen dramatically during this administration.

Yes, the prices on tires have doubled and then some in the past two years. Something has been left out of a lot of the rubber being used these days, too. Rubber falls apart and cracks....just deteriorates in months now. Used to last years. A pal bought new boots for his tie rod ends and ball joints, and the things rotted and fell off the car while we were still restoring it...took six months. Ended up putting used, 40 year old GM rubber back on without issues. Same with reproduction tires for my Model T: the 40 year old New Zealand manufactured tires I'm running are crack free and fine. The 6 month old, extremely expensive but Vietnamese made tires for these same cars that other T'er's are running are cracking like a dried up lakebed. High prices, low quality. A Lose-Lose for the consumer and a big Win for the companies that sell this crap.

Source?

3 years ago the "Cheap" tires I got at Discount for my car were $26 each. This year, the exact same size & brand ar $79 each. I about choked!!! Still running my worn out ones.

My checkbook. Steer tires I used too pay $160 each for are now well over $300. Recap trailer tires were less than $100(after core) are now almost $300. $1,200 for a full set of new drive tires are now $2,800.
Tire and rim combo that used to cost $50 for boat/utillity/car dolly are now $70-$120 just for the tire.

Aset of tires I could buy in 2008 for $800 for my Dodge 2500 now cost me $1200... I just bought a set Monday so I know!

How many miles out of a tread? 150K?

Steers are around 100K and drives abour 150-200K rotateing and rebalancing (ON ROAD)
off road is maybe 50-60k(constuction/off road is hard on tires) IN town is hard on tires as well.(all the turns and cloverliefs)

1/2 ton?
 

I bought a set of USA made Firestones for my Dakota for just over $800. I always get the road hazard warranty also. I won't buy R.O.C tires unless I have too.:usa2:

I Own a commercial mower dealership in Detroit. Two new rear tires for a commercial ZTR are up to $220.00 a pair retail for a 24x12x12 4 ply Carlisle tire. About three years ago, you could retail the same set at $145.00. Our markup is not as high either, as we have absorbed some of the increase. Don't even get me started on commercial mower BELTS!

Thanks for the examples. That should satisfy Jim's request.

Actually, no. Examples are OK, but survey data would be better.

Jim

Sorry, Jim, I don't have that. In my original post I said it seemed that the price....... I just wanted to see if others felt that way or saw the same thing. No graphs or statistics.

Another point that may be contributing to the rising costs...

Since the 2008 ABC expose' on outdated tires ( http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4822250&page=1 ) many states have passed legislation about retailers selling "old" new tires ( http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7327783&page=1 ).

If the retailers and the manufacturers are now "eating the cost" of these outdated tires, it only makes sense that that would increase the cost of current new tires.

This is one case of government intervention that I can understand and agree with. I've had the experience of a steel belt letting go due to age on a tire that still looked "almost good as new".

I bought a set of four 245/60/15 radial t/a's for my formula in March 2011. I paid $99.00 a tire for them. A few weeks ago I went back to the tire store to buy a fifth tire (spare) and the price was $137.00 for the same tire.

That's why I didn't quote your post when I asked for the source. I quoted the post of the guy who said tire prices have doubled. It's one thing to state your own experiences, as you and I both did (as well as others). It's another thing to look at the big picture. It seems to me the CPI should have data about tire prices (though I couldn't find it easily). Though surveys of prices are not perfect, they would probably give a better idea than anecdotal evidence. When someone says "Here's what I paid for tires", I have no problem. When someone makes a blanket statement about tire prices doubling, I would like to know the source for that statement.

My short search indicates that tariffs on Chinese tires have at least something to do with tire price fluctuation. So it might come down to this: do you want cheaper tires (made in China) or do you want to see more Americans employed? If you opt for cheaper Chinese tires flooding the market, do you mind that the Chinese government subsidizes the tire industry over there? Or is price the bottom line, regardless of how it's reached? As with many of our problems these days, the answers are complicated, not easy or simple.

Jim

Do any of you guys have netflix? There is a "how stuff works" episode on rubber. They talk about the price of tires, and rubber in general. Lots of cool info and just a neat show to watch.

I wouldn't buy Chicom tires just as I don't buy Chinese furniture. It's bad enough that practically everything in stores today is Chinese made.

It's like everything else.... prices go up with the rising fuel prices. What gets me is when fuel prices drop, costs for everything else stay the same.

Be thankful you're working... or able to. Those with fixed incomes suffer a hell of a lot more with price increase than the rest of us. Now you know why you see those little ol ladies buying canned cat food. The wife and I have seen em in the grocery store and asked what kind of cat they have.... 99% say "Oh I don't have a cat". We just stand there and don't know what to say.

Canned cat food costs more than the hamburger they are avoiding buying.