what site for tyre imports as I'm sick of being robbed

[Ozzy119]

Hi all,

Time kick the buy local slogan right off the pitch as I'm just sick of it now with such high prices.

Where can I go to get Cooper At3 from USA to here. My local shop now wants $440 each which has gone up $45 in just 2 months. WTF is it with these crazy prices we have here?

Anyone know how to get them shipped?

cheers,

[clubagreenie]

Tire Rack in the US. Shipping is cheap, reliable and fast from all reports. Don't know if they have coopers but they have enough variety and the pricing is such that you could go better.

[PhilipA]

Do a search or google TIRE RACK.
Regards Philip A

[Disco4SE]

Hi all,

Time kick the buy local slogan right off the pitch as I'm just sick of it now with such high prices.

Where can I go to get Cooper At3 from USA to here. My local shop now wants $440 each which has gone up $45 in just 2 months. WTF is it with these crazy prices we have here?

Anyone know how to get them shipped?

cheers,

Ozzy, I was quoted $370.00 - $390.00 last week, for the Cooper AT3 265/60/18.

Cheers, Craig

[Geedublya]

There are a couple of Aussie companies that import direct as well and pass on the savings.
Tempe Tyres (http://www.tempetyres.com.au/)
St George Tyres (http://www.stgeorgetyres.com.au/)
These guys on eBay (http://stores.ebay.com.au/Tyre-Tech-Online-Store?_trksid=p4340.l2563)

They may not have AT/3s in stock but can probably get them for you.

[Tank]

Yeh, good luck with a warranty claim in the US, Coopers warranty runs out if you leave or live outside a metropolitan area of a major city, good luck there also, Regards Frank.

[101RRS]

The OP is in Cairns so Sydney dealers are not much help - just bought some tyres locally for $30 ea more than Tempe Tyres (they do have great prices) because the shipping cost or cost in fuel to drive and get them more than offset cost savings.

Garry

[discotwinturbo]

When I made my first contact with Cooper Australia I queried as to why it costs so much less after transport costs to buy overseas. Was the importer not taking into account the favourable exchange rate and pocketing the difference as I did not believe it was the tyre dealer ? I have since found out that the Cooper and Mickey Thompson tyres have a recommended price that the importer wants the dealers to sell them at....they really want them to keep the same price everywhere.....but we know that is not happening. I have also seen the price that the dealer gets them at.....they have making a very tidy some, so negotiate hard (more than 150 a tyre based on rrp)

Cooper Australia talked about warranty and old stock. No Australian warranty which is fair, and they reckon that it's likely to be old stock (doubt that). I have never had a warranty claim on 3 sets of coopers so don't see that as an issue. They also believe that there could be insurance issues....have not spoken to my insurer about this. they also advised that some that have brought them in have been hit with import taxes....cant confirm this either.

After talking to me sister, and purchasing tyres at cost, I can tell you that there is a big difference and almost the same as the us price, but with the perks of buying in oz. the us dealers are still making their own profits so the importer would obviously be taking a nice slice.

Just keep shopping around in oz, and take quotes from the us to show the dealer. If they want your business they will get close...better than making no sale and no money.

Brett.

[clubagreenie]

The reason Tempe et al have such good prices, have a look at the manufacture date on their stock. A lot of it is old, really old and I'd rather buy a lesser new tyre than a "better" "old/new" tyre.

[33chinacars]

Here's a link to Tirerack

Tire Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels (http://www.tirerack.com/)

Just keep your order under a $1000 not including frieght to avoid GST & import duty. If you go this way don't forget to add fitting & balancing costs

Gary

[~Rich~]

Unfortunately Tire Rack does not supply Cooper tyres. :(

[clubagreenie]

Lots of other options though, personally, while I've never used them I never will from the neg reports and the warranty restrictions I've seen.

[Geedublya]

The reason Tempe et al have such good prices, have a look at the manufacture date on their stock. A lot of it is old, really old and I'd rather buy a lesser new tyre than a "better" "old/new" tyre.

This isn't my experience. I have bought from St George and from Tempe, both times the tyres were "fresh".

I suggest people check for themselves. I doubt you will get manufacturers warranty on the grey imports though.

[DiscoMick]

Coopers just seem to be expensive generally. Are Bridgestone D694s, which appear similar, cheaper? What about General Grabbers?

Has anyone tried importing from the UK? How does it compare with from the US?

[PhilipA]

This isn't my experience. I have bought from St George and from Tempe, both times the tyres were "fresh".



I bought a set of Bridgestone performance tyres from Tempe really cheap, but later checked and found they were 5 years old.

My assumption is that they bring them in with second hand shipments from Japan.
Having said that, seeing they were in original wrapping, they seemed excellent on my M3.
Regards Philip A

[clubagreenie]

The 694's are around $225- to 250- for 245/16's in LT, less than $200- for non LT. They'll be my next tyre if I go all terrain. Otherwise Maxxis 764's.

[newhue]

I just brought in BFGoodrich KM2's from Tire Rack. Landed for $300 per tyre. I could get Maxxis locally for $310 was the best I found. Quite happy to go with Maxxis but when the perceived better tyre came to the same price I gave them a go.
Tire Rack are very easy, profession, and efficient to deal with. I had two orders of $900 for 3 tyres, all 6 delivered together, 7 days after I paid for them.

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/741/tyresd.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/tyresd.jpg/)

[Judo]

I ordered some Maxxis MT Bighorn's yesterday for $275 fitted.

Tyres, Wheels, Rims, Brakes & Suspension: JAXQuickfit Tyres (http://www.jaxquickfit.com.au/)

Lots of places quoted me over $300, so I'm glad I rang around. I buy lots of stuff online, but for tyres fitting is the hard part. If you take tyres to a garage and ask for fittings, I'm sure you'll get charged more than if you bought the tyres through them... Right?

[Tank]

Cooper Tyres have problems and they are not willing to do anything about it, I have a pic of a Cooper ST that was knocked back on warranty because it had been used off-road, Doh!, Regards Frank.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/148.jpg

[brougham]

Coopers just seem to be expensive generally. Are Bridgestone D694s, which appear similar, cheaper? What about General Grabbers?

Has anyone tried importing from the UK? How does it compare with from the US?

I ran the D694's on my D1 and was really happy with them both on and off road. For the money, very good tyre.

[vnx205]

Cooper Tyres have problems and they are not willing to do anything about it, I have a pic of a Cooper ST that was knocked back on warranty because it had been used off-road, Doh!, Regards Frank.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/148.jpg

The tread pattern certainly looks as if it was designed for off-road use, even if the rest of the tyre wasn't. :)

[richard4u2]

after been caught once with a old tyre sold as a new tyer i now ask how old the tyer is and write that down on a piece of paper in front of the person

[101RRS]

Where will I find the lettering on the sidewall and the decode for the build date of the tyre??

Thanks

Garry

[Mike_S]

Has anyone tried importing from the UK? How does it compare with from the US?

Loads of places in the UK & Europe, but I've found it depends how busy they are as to how interested they are in sending tyres to Aus. The prices aren't as competitive as they used to be either. I've just checked the ones I always used for SWMBO's car and they don't list shipping to Aus, worth dropping them a mail though tyres online @ mytyres.co.uk: tyre dealer for cheap passenger, summer, winter tyres (http://www.mytyres.co.uk) All their tyres are shipped from Germany, certainly when I was in the UK they used to arrive next day by courier, which is stunning service.

Couple of other sites to try are:

Silverline Wheels and Tyres: Welcome to Silverline 4x4 (http://www.silverline4x4.com) (I've had a set of Pirelli ATR's fitted by them, very helpful chaps to deal with and very competitive at the time)

AJS will do good prices, shipping isn't one of their preferred options if they're busy fitting tyres, but Andy's been happy to wrap tyres up if you arrange a courier to collect Home (http://www.ajstyres.co.uk/) Just drop him an email. Again, helpful chap.

Micheldever are one of the most well known importers / resellers, they'll ship anywhere. Either through their main site or through 4SITE 4x4 Tyre Centres (http://www.4site4x4.co.uk/home.aspx)

Just remember that a lot of these UK websites will have the price listed including 20% VAT so they don't look competitive at first glance. You'll not pay VAT, but you'll need to mention it and make sure the seller 'remembers' to knock it off.

[newhue]

I ordered some Maxxis MT Bighorn's yesterday for $275 fitted.

Tyres, Wheels, Rims, Brakes & Suspension: JAXQuickfit Tyres (http://www.jaxquickfit.com.au/)

Lots of places quoted me over $300, so I'm glad I rang around. I buy lots of stuff online, but for tyres fitting is the hard part. If you take tyres to a garage and ask for fittings, I'm sure you'll get charged more than if you bought the tyres through them... Right?

Good work Judo, fitting and balancing seems to range from 10 to $20 per tyre. How that is priced into new tyres who supply and fit I'm not sure. For me I was well in front so to add another 120 for fitting didn't matter. I guess it all goes into the decision process.

[clubagreenie]

I've seen the dealer conditions of warranty for coopers on line some where I shouldn't have been and lets just say if you fit them to a rim then they aren't warranted let alone used off road. Coopers definition of off road, not on bitumen so in other words if you have a gravel shoulder at your house, warranty void.

I think there's an out clause as well under "Use of passenger car tyres in "commercial" application" plus none of their tyres seem to be labelled (on their web site at least) as LT rated.

[Redback]

Cooper Tyres have problems and they are not willing to do anything about it, I have a pic of a Cooper ST that was knocked back on warranty because it had been used off-road, Doh!, Regards Frank.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/148.jpg

This was my experience with Cooper as well, although they did honour the warrenty for us, once we explained to the Cooper rep about tyre pressures we used for the different terrains and loads we carried and the type of driving we did (ie) mostly touring.

It's a shame really, because the tyres have good grip in all conditions, they just don't last or handle harsh conditions.

Baz.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

The tread pattern certainly looks as if it was designed for off-road use, even if the rest of the tyre wasn't. :)Maybe the tread pattern is designed for when theres snow or mud on top of pavement?

[ramblingboy42]

Hi all,

Time kick the buy local slogan right off the pitch as I'm just sick of it now with such high prices.

Where can I go to get Cooper At3 from USA to here. My local shop now wants $440 each which has gone up $45 in just 2 months. WTF is it with these crazy prices we have here?

Anyone know how to get them shipped?

cheers,

HERE WE GO AGAIN.......
the more you purchase directly off shore the harder it is for local business to maintain cash flow and therefore must increase their prices to maintain profitability. If they cant maintain good profitability levels they go out of business. Dont you guys understand this? For ****s sake put your hands in your pockets and support your local sheriff. Theres a lot of good guys on this forum trying to run businesses.....help them out or dont you give a **** for your fellow Australians.

[101RRS]

HERE WE GO AGAIN.......
the more you purchase directly off shore the harder it is for local business to maintain cash flow and therefore must increase their prices to maintain profitability. If they cant maintain good profitability levels they go out of business. Dont you guys understand this? For ****s sake put your hands in your pockets and support your local sheriff. Theres a lot of good guys on this forum trying to run businesses.....help them out or dont you give a **** for your fellow Australians.

Sorry - not prepared to support companies who are quite happy to blatantly rip us off. There are many many fair and reasonable companies in Aust but a lot just take advantage of us.

If they were competitive then there would be no reason to buy overseas.

The huge difference in tyre prices highlights this aspect as does the price of goods made in Aust and sold O/s which can be reimported for less than the Aust retail price.

No sympathy but when I do find an Aust supplier doing the right thing I stick with them.

Garry

[460cixy]

Sorry - not prepared to support companies who are quite happy to blatantly rip us off. There are many many fair and reasonable companies in Aust but a lot just take advantage of us.

If they were competitive then there would be no reason to buy overseas.

The huge difference in tyre prices highlights this aspect as does the price of goods made in Aust and sold O/s which can be reimported for less than the Aust retail price.

No sympathy but when I do find an Aust supplier doing the right thing I stick with them.

Garry



Your dead right about Australian product exported os and and imported cheaper. We are getting rammed plain and simple. I'm in the automotive game and tyres are the biggest rip ever. Stick it up em I recon how ever I still try to buy Australian where can with other products

[101RRS]

I think you have to be cautious about tyres as savings can be illusionary - I bought some big BFGs MTs yesterday - best price I could get in Sydney was $430, local was $450.

Tire Rack are $410 landed at my door (assuming I do not get stung for GST etc) - locally they charge $25 to fit (Canberra is a backwater for car stuff) so there is only a couple of dollars in it so I went local.

Garry

[460cixy]

Canberra is bad for over charging I fit my own but many can't and get stung. I got some new/second hand Dunlop road gripers from milperra and saved about 60 bucks a tyre shipped to my door they were used but still had the nipples and ink on the tread I recon they had been from the dealer to the tyre shop. I got stung once at jax in Philip I got a wheel and 33"tyre off them and they were trying to sting me for tyre disposal but there was no tyre to dispose of clowns

[land864]

Newhue/Jason

235 85 R16's at $300 each from Tirerack?

I think I had that price some time ago and had a local price at $ 315 each F&B.

For the $60 I think I would go local

pete

[Tote]

I bought two General Grabbers in June last year after waiting 4 months for the local reseller to try and get stock from the distributer. Arrived in a matter of days after ordering and were fitted by the smae dealer for reasonable cost. Freight was comparitively expensive but all up the cost was around $850 Fitted

I bought another two tyres just prior to Christmas after damaging a sidewall beyond repair. these were able to be sourced locally within 3 weeks or so and cost marginally less ( about $750 Fitted )

You can make greater savings depending on what tyres you buy and freight is cheaper per tyre for shippingb 4 tyres but Tire Rack aere well aware of how much we pay locally and I would imagine are making some margin from the freight cost as well.

That said I found them easy and efficient to deal with and their shipping was far superior to extracting them from the local distributor.

Regards,
Tote

[rick130]

I'll be going local again for another set of Maxxis 762's next month as I want to support another small business that also supports me.

He also tends not to charge for rotations and balances down the track, and often repairs tyres for nicks or for a very modest fee too.

I may be able to obtain tyres more cheaply OS but my local community means more to me than potentially saving a few $'s in the short term.

[vnx205]

I'll be going local again for another set of Maxxis 762's next month as I want to support another small business that also supports me.

He also tends not to charge for rotations and balances down the track, and often repairs tyres for nicks or for a very modest fee too.

I may be able to obtain tyres more cheaply OS but my local community means more to me than potentially saving a few $'s in the short term.

Maybe your local bloke is also smart enough to realise that some people appreciate good service. Good on him!

[newhue]

Newhue/Jason

235 85 R16's at $300 each from Tirerack?

I think I had that price some time ago and had a local price at $ 315 each F&B.

For the $60 I think I would go local

pete

255/85/16 delivered $300AU Dont forget I was buying 6

I did get quotes from my local, Maxxis $360, Cooper $340, Bfg $400. If I rang around and perhaps drove across town then perhaps I could do much better. But these came to me, and I went 1.5klm down to my other local who didn't sell the size I was after and had them fitted.

I like to support Australia, and for most of my life I have been the one paying $100 for something while others pay $40. Just a bit over it.

My real grip with all this sort of thing is Chinese made. I will suck it up usually if made in AUS, US, UK and so on. But when you start to realise what things actually cost to be made in Asia, then what they are sold to us for, is just criminal. People reckon Banks are crooks, you local selling imported asian crap beats them hands down.

[Drover]

I just (3 weeks ago) bought 6 x 285/75x16 MTZ's, paid $355 fitted and balanced from a local supplier, total $2130.00

TireRack had the same tire for $300. The freight charge brought the total cost up to $2050.00

If you shop around local you can find a good deal. I was quoted upto $410 per tyre from some of biggest local dealers for the same tyre as I ended up paying $355 for.

[rick130]

Maybe your local bloke is also smart enough to realise that some people appreciate good service. Good on him!

It's just him, he's a bloody good bloke with low overheads.

The tyre companies often slug him $25/tyre just for delivery, and he's on a major transport route between capital cities :rolleyes:

Most of you fella's are getting into the retailer, IME the bigger margins usually go further up the chain.

About fifteen years ago I asked for a quote from a major wholesaler in the industry I'm in and the local branch manager subsequently faxed it through, but he faxed through his copy with all their margins on it :lol2:

It made for very interesting reading, and what surprised was how the margins varied all over the shop, from as low as 5% on some very high turnover, highly competitive items (they couldn't have covered their paperwork at that I'd reckon) to well over 260% on major items they imported and carried the warranty on, things that at the time cost me $1000 wholesale.

Some industries are incredibly price competitive in some areas here.
A mate's an agronomist in The Riverland in Sth Oz and margins on fertiliser can often be as low as 1.5% on massive orders, just to get a customers business :eek:

[DiscoMick]

Yes, often its not the retailer that's charging a big margin, but the wholesaler/middleman.

[scarry]

The quote i got for the BFG A/T's from tire rack(including freight plus $100 for fit & balance here) was the same as getting them local.A no brainer for me,even if local were slightly more i would have used em.

If anyone wants BFG in Brisbane,try ace tyre & mech at 8 Container st ,Tingalpa.They also do the GG's.

They were for the D4 & were the only people around with them in stock.

[101RRS]

Yes, often its not the retailer that's charging a big margin, but the wholesaler/middleman.

I agree - BFGs are imported by another large tyre manufacturer into Australia and different dealers get different deals - affiliated dealers get better prices and independents not as good.

I normally buy my tyres at a local independent who has good deals but when I was pricing my BFG MT Km2s was by far the most expensive because of their cost price - a large major franchise was the cheapest.

I am not sure how importers are able to charge different wholesale prices but they do - I guess the sellers do not want to rock the boat just as suppliers to Woollies and Coles will not complain about their practices, even in front of the committee set up to investigate.

Garry

[TerryO]

Also believe it or not many fringe niche tyre brands product managers are the youngest apprentice managers who are given the small niche brands to gain experience as it is not such a big deal if they make mistakes or lack vision.

At Michelin here in Australia they often start off as the manager of bike tyres, then as they gain experience they go to BFG etc. and then further up the volume brand ladder if they show nouse or out the door if not.

Over the last few years Michelin over here have had some (not all) very interesting to say the least young managers in these positions.

cheers,
Terry

[scarry]

The other issue here with Michelin,is they are very often out of stock of some sizes of BFG which is very frustrating for tyre retailers.

[rick130]

I agree - BFGs are imported by another large tyre manufacturer into Australia and different dealers get different deals - affiliated dealers get better prices and independents not as good.

I normally buy my tyres at a local independent who has good deals but when I was pricing my BFG MT Km2s was by far the most expensive because of their cost price - a large major franchise was the cheapest.

I am not sure how importers are able to charge different wholesale prices but they do - I guess the sellers do not want to rock the boat just as suppliers to Woollies and Coles will not complain about their practices, even in front of the committee set up to investigate.

Garry

FWIW BFG are owned by Michelin, lock, stock and barrel.

Anyway, wholesale price is usually based on volumes and as you've said, affiliation or authorisation come into it, and even then it doesn't make sense at times.

As an example, I'm the warranty service agent for (among other things) a certain brand of air conditioner that I sell.

This also gives me account status with head office in Sydney and a certain discount level as I'm an 'authorised' dealer.

I was offered a trade discount on the supply of units as well as spares.

Yippee.

That worked out to be the selling price at places like Betta Electrical, and was already my selling price as I had started buying through a wholesaler who had started me at 20% below trade.

Head office can't work out why I don't buy units directly from them, and worse still, took the service agency away (unbeknown to me, thanks for contacting me) as I hadn't bought any spares in four years. (Your units don't break down guys, that's good, isn't it ?) :rolleyes:
I wrangled the service agency back after a bit of talking and pressure from the wholesaler I buy through. I like to offer full back up for anything I sell.

I'd love to know what discount my wholesaler is on, just out of curiosity.

[scarry]

Rick130,been there done that few yrs ago now.The price i get from RT Edwards beats any wholesale trade price on any brand.They get rebates which help them as well.
Except of course Daikin,but only use em if i have to.

Pty we can't buy refrigerant from them as well:angel:

Sorry guys for hijacking the thread

[Hoges]

I agree - BFGs are imported by another large tyre manufacturer into Australia and different dealers get different deals - affiliated dealers get better prices and independents not as good.

I normally buy my tyres at a local independent who has good deals but when I was pricing my BFG MT Km2s was by far the most expensive because of their cost price - a large major franchise was the cheapest.

I am not sure how importers are able to charge different wholesale prices but they do - I guess the sellers do not want to rock the boat just as suppliers to Woollies and Coles will not complain about their practices, even in front of the committee set up to investigate.

Garry

Yeah..no doubt the importers warn their dealers to "tread" carefully..:eek::eek: