The best tyre shops in Canberra

poetix said :

If you’re that tired, have a nap.

This spread of Americanisms may seem trivial, but the first time someone says ‘howdy’ to you, seriously, all will be lost.

Ooops

poetix said :

If you’re that tired, have a nap.

The Australian spelling is tyres. This spread of Americanisms may seem trivial, but the first time someone says ‘howdy’ to you, seriously, all will be lost.

+1

And I hate it when some Australian calls me “buddy”.

Damn! I wish I’d read this a few days ago! I just got 4 tyres fitted at Costco – not a bad deal, but still…

Costco has a big sign on their car servicing bay saying Tyre Centre. You know they really wanted to spell it Tire Center. A good fit with the “Gasoline station” attached to their new Sydney store.

Northwest Tyres can be reasonably cheap if you know a bit about tyres and don’t take the first thing they throw at you.

I notice that they will never give a receipt unless you specifically ask for one, and then they do so begrudgingly.

If you know what tyres you want spend 15 minutes on the phone ringing around, you can nearly always get what you want on special somewhere, assuming they are a common size.

I can normally get a name brand, such as Dunlop, Goodyear, etc for around $110 each fitted for standard 15 inch Commodore/Falcon without to much trouble.

EvanJames said :

North West TYRES is a useful source, but be aware. The owner imports second hand tyres from asia and the middle east. Most are from known brands HOWEVER the build standards for tyres sold in those jurisdictions are lower.

The standards aren’t automatically lower, for example, the new Michelin Primacy 3 ST are a regional specific variant, built for a unified Australia/Malayisa/Thai market. But definitely need to research it. Even if built to the highest standard by a well known brand, tyres in different jurisdictions can have differences in tread pattern and compounds to suit local conditions, particularly true of European tyres.

Personally I’d never touch a second hand tyre, and particularly in Canberra where it’s the outer edge that is likely to go below the legal depth long before the main width tread does (thanks to our roundabouts).

I took my BA XR8 ute (not white!) to Tyrepower in Tuggeranong in April – NEVER AGAIN! I had been going there for nearly 10 years and asked to speak to the owner ‘Johnno’, only to be told that ‘he was out at the moment’. Turns out Johnno had gone into business for himself in Hume and had not been working there for quite some time.

I had just bought the ute and the previous owner had fitted dodgy Chinese imports that were downright dangerous (Nankang?). They had plenty of tread, but SFA grip even in dry weather. I got a reasonable deal on Mickey Thompsons in 245/40/18 at $220 per corner and I am very happy with them.

BUT … the next day I noticed that two of my FPV GT rims had severe gutter rash. Much worse than the little scrapes they had when I bought the car. And I also had a new wobble coming from the right rear wheel, which has since been diagnosed as a bent axle. So they got $880 out of me for new tyres, and caused over $1000 of damage to my car in the process. And naturally, they deny knowing anything about it.

Don’t go near them if you value your car! They lied to me to get my cash and damaged my car while they had it. Those dodgy bastards will never get another cent out of me, and I will tell the whole world about my experiences with them at any given opportunity.

Johnno (whom I absolutely trust with any of my cars) works for himself out at Hume. Best prices on the good tyres, brilliant service, and absolutely trustworthy. 6260 2945.

North West TYRES is a useful source, but be aware. The owner imports second hand tyres from asia and the middle east. Most are from known brands HOWEVER the build standards for tyres sold in those jurisdictions are lower. And many aren’t compliant with the standards that are law in australia, namely, the standards set by the european union and/or the US department of transport. Most people don’t know this but if your car is wearing non-compliant tyres when it has a crash, depend on it your insurance company will know about it.

That said, I get my tyres there but have had some interesting go-rounds with them, like the time he sold me four nice-looking chinese tyres which turned out to have on their sides “trailer purpose only”. Researching what that meant led to my learning a LOT about tyres (after some bluster, I got two second hand and compliant tyres, and two new ones for the front).

I still have an illegal spare from them. Bridgestone, but not legal here. the magic codes and numbers aren’t on the sidewalls. but I’ll be visiting them for some newish tyres soon, it’s still quite a good lurk. Maybe I can get some more like the new ones, which are superb and were a good price.

Why on earth would you skimp on tyres? They’re kind of important, you know – being the only thing between your car and the road…

Tooks said :

Holden Caulfield said :

You drive a Boxster and you’re cheaping out on tyres. Awesome!

Besides price comparisons are meaningless unless you tell us size and brand quoted at all three outlets.

Moreover, $1000 to buy something suitable for a Boxster is hardly expensive.

You can pick up a late 90s Boxter for around 22k. If he’s skimping on tyres, he probably doesn’t have a new model.

Awesome, I can’t wait for the next installment about servicing costs, haha.

Bob Jane let me drive away with poorly fitted wheels and nuts not fitted correctly. A pox on their house.

JAX have always been good for regular around town car sort of tyres.

Goodyear in Gungahlin did a very good deal on five 15 x 7 tyres for the Panelvan of Justice.

Antique Tyres in Melbourne are the place to go to for hard to find tyre sizes (like 15 x 10 with a 65 profile etc).

If you are cheaping out on tyres for a Porsche, I dont think i would ride in your car. The performance of cheap chinese tyres in wet conditions is known to be poor, and their durability is also not up to par with better tyres. In general, with tyres you get what you pay for.

Less the typical charge for wheel alignment, that means you spent around $115 a corner for tyres. Even on some cheap city car that’s pushing it.

Now that’s not to say you should go out and get some Michelins for $370 or so a corner, though if you can afford a Porsche I’m not sure why you wouldn’t, but least invest a bit. I put in about $200 a corner for a modest performance tyre and the difference between them the the mid-range Dunlops is night and day, particular in the wet, and Dunlops aren’t slouches.

What kind of nasty tyres did you get for $550?

It really surprises me the shit people put in their cars, or in the case of some bogan at Kippax the other day didn’t put on their car. This bogan had tyres that looked like racing slicks, saw her on Monday when it was pissing with rain.

For the average Camry, Commodore etc I wouldn’t touch a tyre that costs under around $200 per wheel. I like Michelin tyres myself had two cars where they were standard fitment and they were brilliant. My current car a Camry I have got around 70,000km out of them and they still handle the road as good as the day I brought them, will need to be replaced soon though, replacements are $250 per tyre which is reasonable.

I won’t touch Bridgestone after a bad experience 10 years ago, but Dunlop and Pirelli not so bad.

As for companies I have only dealt with Jax (transtate) tyres in Belconnen in the last 10 years, never had an issue with them, prices about the same as elsewhere.

Do you run it on E10 too?

If you’re that tired, have a nap.

The Australian spelling is tyres. This spread of Americanisms may seem trivial, but the first time someone says ‘howdy’ to you, seriously, all will be lost.

hint for young players, bob jane at Campbeltown will price match tempe tyres. would be interesting to find out of bob jane locally will too

Holden Caulfield said :

You drive a Boxster and you’re cheaping out on tyres. Awesome!

Besides price comparisons are meaningless unless you tell us size and brand quoted at all three outlets.

Moreover, $1000 to buy something suitable for a Boxster is hardly expensive.

You can pick up a late 90s Boxter for around 22k. If he’s skimping on tyres, he probably doesn’t have a new model.

Lol, enjoy having all 4 blow out within the next 3 months. Their tires blow, literally.

Though from the particular ball-gargling going on in this post I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the owner attempting to drum up some business for free.

And if you are legit, why the hell are you complaining about spending premium money on tires for a premium care? If it bother you so I recommend you get a Corolla

You drive a Boxster and you’re cheaping out on tyres. Awesome!

Besides price comparisons are meaningless unless you tell us size and brand quoted at all three outlets.

Moreover, $1000 to buy something suitable for a Boxster is hardly expensive.

I wouldn’t call Ant’s response to your first post hurling abuse.

MelonHead, I agree with you – but please don’t be surprised that this topic, like every other topic on RA, has evolved into a debate on one of the underlying issues found in the OP.

My first post never said there wasn’t public servants who didn’t work hard just some who didn’t.

Oh and as for stalking id rather spend my 30 minutes outside in the sun than following you, but i read and remember quite a bit.

Well said MelonHead.

What a complex, mudslinging, tyre deflating, business economic, sociology assuming, history re-interpreting time we seem to be able to have over two flat tyres! Well done ladies and gents.

There was this one time when I need to buy four tyres. They were an unusual size (possibly a 205R16LT, I can’t remember) that none of the 6 shops/chains I called on the phone had in stock. All said that I could order them and they would be here Tuesday. That’s the day the big red truck cruises over from the Wagga Wagga warehouse. The point of this story is that the price of these tyres varied from place to place, but we all knew they came from the samy warehouse.

None of the prices reflected anything in the service/hours/waiting rooms offered.

I concluded that selling tyres is a tough business, and that staying open on Sundays would not be a viable proposition.

As for “tradies hours” ….GET STUFFED whoever is trying to deride this. Shopkeepers and business owners have lives too!! It is the same for “tradies” I don’t see bank branches open on Sundays. Hell, WA supermarkets are barely open on Sunday. Try making an appointment to see your accountant on a Saturday afternoon?

So let’s keep well off the topic and let the rambling continue. . . ….. .

Link to your first post?

Starry, stalk much?

Wow i almost feel sorry for you ant but see i allegedly get 15 minutes for a break but am too busy to take one, so i wait until i go home.
I also don’t take sickies but if i need a day off to take kids to appointments i do but with no pay once again my choice and a understanding employer.

However, i forgot all retailers have to accommodate the office worker and work longer for them.
Didn’t stores have less opening hours years ago?..How would you have coped then?

On a side note ant, your a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to some of your posts.
“I’d probably (sadly) say that posters who stand and scream abuse and hurl dung at other posters and contribute nothing of worth, should have their posts nuked. Or else you’ll end up with a few old stagers who hang around, and anyone else who ventures to try and contribute will turn tail and disappear.”

ring a bell?
I distinctly remember you hurling abuse over my first post.
Practise what you preach.

ant said :

I need to buy four new tyres, and my choice will have to be from a shop either walking distance to where I work, or one that’s open on weekends.

Most (if not all) open early on weekdays, and will gladly deliver you to work. They’ll even pick you up again afterwards.

ant said :

This concept of business hours and the working week was created when most workers were men, with wives who could go out and transact the family’s business during the week. Now we all work, and this set working week/business hours thing is stifling.

What rot! The main reason the standard working week exists is to achieve a little thing called work/life balance (very few women in the early days of the industrial revolution would have had anything to do with money matters – they would have done general food shopping, but certainly would not have organised things like banking, insurance and other more cerebral matters. They would have all come over with the vapours if they had to have dealt with anything resembling a tradesman).

If your job is so terribly important that you can’t find ten minutes at 7am to drop the car off, then I think you need to have a very serious discussion with your boss.

L

Also, I’m pretty certain you knew I meant 10 minutes to drop the car off. I’ve certainly never actually waited at the tyre joint while they fit my tyres.

How nice for you.

I guess those that missed out will just have to deal with, you know, business from everyone else.

Fair chance that the fact most businesses aren’t open those hours in an indication of just how unrealistic an expectation it is that they should be.

I did my “emergency” shoe shopping on Sunday. Doesn’t that tell you anything? I eat my lunch at my desk. I allegedly get 30 minutes for lunch, but in reality, it’s part of the day. 10 minutes to get tyres put on the car? I wish. If a shop offered that, it would help, but fact is I’d be there for hours. As fro chucking sickies, at my work you just can’t do that, because the day you get back, it’ll all be there waiting for you, piled up. It pays well though.

Any business that offers more than 8.30-5 Mon-Fri gets my business. One such got $329 today. The others missed out.

ant said :

Places could easily open on weekends or later at night, with some creative staffing or even having their “weekend” on different days.

I assume you’re entirely unfamiliar with the way pay structures work in this country? In most cases, weekends and later at night attract *penalty rates*. It isn’t worth it for the business to trade in those hours given the added wage costs. It could be made worth it if they were to charge extra for it being after 5pm or it being a weekend, but can you imagine the whining that would attract?

Business people are in business to make money, it is that simple. Being open outside of business hours often isn’t worth it, and thus there’s no point in opening to convenience the few that can’t be bothered doing what the rest of the western world does – go to places when they’re open.

We all get lunch hours. We all get days off. We all chuck sickies. We can all explain to our bosses that we need 10 minutes to drop the car off and get new tyres on it (or go and do some emergency shoe shopping).

oh and that price includes fit + balance

Northwest Tyres in Fyshwick- may not be close but I got 4x near new (90%tread) tires for the falco for $220..

They import near new tires from Europe and on-sell to us, the consumer… Cheap $$ but not quality…

Tyre shops I know of have very good hours Mon-Sat, work long hours and do good work. I’m happy for them to have a Sunday off. If you have a flat on a Sunday and there’s no emergency requiring you to have use of a car, just be patient or get a tyre repair kit from SuperCheap that plugs punctures.

I need to buy four new tyres, and my choice will have to be from a shop either walking distance to where I work, or one that’s open on weekends.

Places could easily open on weekends or later at night, with some creative staffing or even having their “weekend” on different days. Where I work doesn’t need to be open weekends, but I’d quite happily work weekends and have my weekend on Mondays and Tuesdays, or whenever. This concept of business hours and the working week was created when most workers were men, with wives who could go out and transact the family’s business during the week. Now we all work, and this set working week/business hours thing is stifling.

I went shoe shopping today, but two of the places I wanted to visit were closed Sundays. Kingston and Manuka were jumping, and the shop I ended up buying from was getting plenty of business, but the two closed missed out. All three sell expensive shoes, but the one that was open sells more, I’ll bet. It won a small business award, I notice.

RuffnReady said :

Whatsup said :

Some of the auto shops have some ‘green goopy stuff’ that is liquid and you put it into your flat tyre then blow it up. If the hole is not too big then it is able to put a thin rubber lining on the inside of your tyre and seal the hole. We have used that for slow leaks and its been great. It also seals new holes, we have got a nail in our tyre, after pulling it out and driving to the end of the street the hole had been sealed by the goop. Sorry I can’t remember the name of the product.

Anyone know the name of this stuff?

Finileak (may be slightly different spelling to this and there may be other brands that do the same thing).

tyre sealant

Dinosaur snot.

Whatsup said :

Some of the auto shops have some ‘green goopy stuff’ that is liquid and you put it into your flat tyre then blow it up. If the hole is not too big then it is able to put a thin rubber lining on the inside of your tyre and seal the hole. We have used that for slow leaks and its been great. It also seals new holes, we have got a nail in our tyre, after pulling it out and driving to the end of the street the hole had been sealed by the goop. Sorry I can’t remember the name of the product.

Anyone know the name of this stuff?

Whatsup said :

Loquaciousness said :

Maybe they have one of these new cars with the ‘space saver’ spare tyre. They are only good for short distances and have a lower speed rating than normal. It could really be a problem if you have a bit of a distance to get to work.

The space savers are fine for a good distance, provide you stick under 80km/hr and drive sensibly. They would at least get you to work and back (assuming you both live and work in the Canberra region) and then in to the tyre shop the next day, with plenty of wear to spare.

L

skaboy12 said :

ant said :

These “tradies hours” businesses can be frustrating when you work full time.

So why should I have to work different hours to you?? If you need tyres or work done on your car you can drop it off at 8am and we will drive you to work.

I have a family, and I work 6 days a week, why should we open later at night or on sundays just in case you get a flat tyre??

I forgot to add that I have already extended my saturday hours in response to customers who couldn’t find a tyre place open after noon on saturday. We now open until 3pm saturday to make your life even easier.

skaboy12 said :

ant said :

These “tradies hours” businesses can be frustrating when you work full time.

So why should I have to work different hours to you?? If you need tyres or work done on your car you can drop it off at 8am and we will drive you to work.

I have a family, and I work 6 days a week, why should we open later at night or on sundays just in case you get a flat tyre??

Indeed.

ant said :

These “tradies hours” businesses can be frustrating when you work full time.

So why should I have to work different hours to you?? If you need tyres or work done on your car you can drop it off at 8am and we will drive you to work.

I have a family, and I work 6 days a week, why should we open later at night or on sundays just in case you get a flat tyre??

If you are an NRMA member call them, whilst they won’t fix your problem they may be able to advise who is open or who is prepared to do an after-hours call out.

Loquaciousness said :

[The only reason people would require a tyre shop to be open on a Sunday is for a flat … if that’s the case, where’s your spare? Two flats to me shows either really bad luck, or poor planning. Get your tyres checked regularly.

L

Maybe they have one of these new cars with the ‘space saver’ spare tyre. They are only good for short distances and have a lower speed rating than normal. It could really be a problem if you have a bit of a distance to get to work.

Good luck with your search for a tyre shop.

Some of the auto shops have some ‘green goopy stuff’ that is liquid and you put it into your flat tyre then blow it up. If the hole is not too big then it is able to put a thin rubber lining on the inside of your tyre and seal the hole. We have used that for slow leaks and its been great. It also seals new holes, we have got a nail in our tyre, after pulling it out and driving to the end of the street the hole had been sealed by the goop. Sorry I can’t remember the name of the product.

Make sure you don’t get the foam stuff that fills the air space, it creates heat and can cause major damage to your wheel and tyre.

ant said :

These “tradies hours” businesses can be frustrating when you work full time.

So “tradies” shouldn’t be entitled to the same non-working as hours as you? Business hours exist for a reason.

As a small business owner it amazes me the number of people who call at 9 or 10pm (or even later) expecting you to be sitting by the phone waiting for their call. Emergency calls I can deal with, but people calling for a quote?

bubzie said :

^ agreed. Or do different hours to the humble monday to friday, 9 to 5.. (Ok, i’ll give them some credit, they open on saturdays..)

You will also find that most open around 7am, and close about 6pm.

L

ant said :

These “tradies hours” businesses can be frustrating when you work full time.

I don’t know of a single tyre shop that is not open Saturdays – mostly mornings, but at least some are all day. The only reason people would require a tyre shop to be open on a Sunday is for a flat … if that’s the case, where’s your spare? Two flats to me shows either really bad luck, or poor planning. Get your tyres checked regularly.

L

^ agreed. Or do different hours to the humble monday to friday, 9 to 5.. (Ok, i’ll give them some credit, they open on saturdays..)

These “tradies hours” businesses can be frustrating when you work full time.

Similar thing happened to me a while ago and I couldn’t find a type place that was open so I used Tyres on the Move (0402 132 428). A bit more expensive, but the guy was very good and turned up quite quickly.