You can practically buy absolutely everything at Walmart, from cornflakes to guns, and at good prices, too. Unsurprisingly then, with thousands of stores spread across the US, they happen to also offer services of the automotive kind. If your car’s tires are running a bit old and worn, you might be curious to know how much a Walmart tire installation cost would be.
Tires are, understandably, a very important component of your car. The engine might be what creates the power, but the car wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without the tires. So, it’s crucial for you to pay heed to that slice of rubber that sticks your car to the ground. Your tires might have been designed to last for a long time, but eventually, they will need replacing.
So, should it matter that Walmart offers tire services? Are they any good, and is Walmart really the best around when it comes to pricing? After all, you can find similar services offered by countless mom and pop workshops and dedicated tire stores. Well then, come and read along our Walmart tire installation cost guide to learn more on why Walmart is actually a pretty decent place to get your tires replaced.
- Should you need to change your car’s tires?
- Causes for tire wear
- Symptoms
- Costs for installation
- Types of tires
- Walmart versus other retailers
- Conclusion
Do I Need To Change My Car’s Tires?
Before we dive deeper into our Walmart tire installation cost guide and comparison, there are a few things we need to get out of the way first. Firstly, we need to help you understand if you need to replace your tires at all. I mean, if your car is moving, then the tires should be working in order, right? Well, it’s more complicated than it seems on the surface.
Your car’s tires are designed to last for a long time. For most tires, they generally have a lifespan of between 5 to 10 years at most. However, a tire undergoes an immense amount of strain. Eventually then, depending on your driving, usage, and external factors, they will need replacing. Sometimes, this would happen sooner rather than later.
What Is Causing My Car’s Tires To Be Wearing Out?
The importance of your car’s humble tires is often overlooked when it comes to general maintenance. So, to give you a better idea, we’ve compiled a short list of things that causes general wear and tear on tires. These are among some of the more common causes that will result in tire degradation.
1. Physical factors, and limitations
Naturally, nothing in this world is designed to last forever. Tires, too, are no different. As good as they may be, tires will eventually start ageing. It relates to the degradation of the structural integrity of the rubber compound itself. This wearing off process can happen even if you don’t drive your car often.
2. Climate, and weather
The weather around you is another cause for your tires to wear out. Once again, this is down to the structure and compound of the rubber. Extreme changes in temperature will cause the tire to undergo intense wear and tear.
This is since the rubber needs to constantly adjust its properties to better put traction down on the ground. Driving in conditions that are too hot, or too cold will also have an impact on your car’s tires.
3. Conditions, and surfacing of the road
A tire is not just a tool for transferring power from the engine to the ground. But by being in contact with the ground, it also absorbs a lot of the impact while driving. That is, unless you’re lucky enough to be driving along the creamy smooth tarmac of the Autobahn everyday.
Driving into potholes, cracks, speed bumps too often, and this will put a lot of stress and wear on the tires. That’s not mention driving over cobbled or gravelled roads frequently. And, don’t forget the occasional curbing or driving over debris like nails or stones. These can be very detrimental to the health of your car’s rubber.
4. Driving style
This is one of the easiest ways for you to prevent excess wearing on your car’s tires. Your driving style is integral in making sure the rest of your car, not just the tires, remain in serviceable condition. Drive carefully and moderately, and you can very easily aid in extending the lifespan of your car’s tires.
Driving too fast, smoky acceleration, or locking up your wheels under braking is a quick and easy way to cause tire wear. Oh, and there’s also the exuberant driving, power slides, or rapid changes in direction. Then, there’s the amount of load that you’re carrying with the car, which will also cause greater wear and tear over time.
5. Poor maintenance
As with every other component in your car, tires need adequate maintenance and looking after to make sure it stays in good shape. Always remember to keep on top of how your tires are doing, such as checking the air pressure. Low air pressure will increase rolling resistance, which will not only impact fuel efficiency and comfort, but also your tire’s condition.
Then, there’s the case of making sure your tires are properly aligned and balanced. Poorly aligned or unbalanced tires can cause load to be spread unevenly. This causes more wear in some parts of the tire, than others. Simple check-ups every now and then goes a long way in keeping your tires healthy and happy.
How Do I Know If I Need My Tires Replaced?
Okay, so now we know the causes for tire wear and tear. But now you might be asking yourself as to whether you really need to have your tires replaced. There are, thankfully, some easy signs for you to notice. So, pay attention to these clear symptoms to know if you need to have your tires replaced.
Understanding these will better help us guide you along knowing the extent of a Walmart tire installation cost. Besides, it’s important and normal for you to change your tires. Driving with poorly tires will cause more wear and tear on other parts of the car. Moreover, it will result in a more uncomfortable ride, and poor fuel economy. Even worse, it might result in an accident, as the tires fail or lose traction.
1. Uneven tread wear
This is a clear sign that your car’s tires have not been aligned, or balanced properly. As a result of this, your car’s tires are not spreading the load evenly. You can take a closer look of your tires, and see if one side of the tire is wearing out faster than other parts. For example, if the outer wall of the tires is running bald faster.
2. Tire treads wearing out
Tire’s have treads, or grooves, to provide optimal amounts of traction on the road. These grooves will eventually wear out. You can try running your fingers, or a coin across the car’s grooves. If the treads are becoming shallow, or worse, have gone completely bald, then this is a good sign that you need to have your tires replaced.
3. Changes in driving behaviour
A car’s tires are able to transmit a lot of feedback back to you, the driver. Among them is the condition and state of the tire itself. If you notice an vibrations while driving, mostly felt through the steering wheel, then your tires might be damaged.
Notice as well, if the car is running a bit hard and rough compared to usual. Or, try to hear if there are any odd noises while driving along. A ‘clinking’ sort of sound might indicate that something is lodged in your car’s tires. Maybe it’s a small stone, or a nail that has punctured through the rubber.
How Much Will A Walmart Tire Installation Cost Me?
Right, so now that we’ve understood what can cause tire wear and whether you need to replace them, we can get into the meat of our guide here. Our question is as to how much a Walmart tire installation cost is. The simple answer; is $15 per tire for its basic tire installation package. So, if you do your math right, that should be $60 for a whole set.
Under its ‘basic tire installation package’, Walmart will offer more than just mounting tires on your car. Included is a service of both the valve stems, and your car’s TPMS. The latter standing for ‘tire pressure monitoring system‘. This package also includes lifetime tire balancing in the cost.
Also, Walmart will throw in a rotation every 7,500 miles, and a lug re-torque after 50 miles. That’s all included within the $15 ‘basic installation’ cost per tire to get them installed. Although, you should take note that an added $10 charge for each tire is applied for tires that are not purchased through Walmart.
What Else Do They Offer Aside From The Basic Walmart Tire Installation Cost?
But, is that all of the services that Walmart offers? Of course not, and there’s a lot more to it than just its basic, all-in-one tire installation package. For our Walmart tire installation guide, we’ll be listing a couple more of the services offered there. This also includes some of the à la carte options if you’re not getting the entire set package.
1. Walmart Value tire installation package – $25 per tire
This is an upgrade over the ‘basic’ Walmart tire installation cost that we’ve explained to you earlier. It offers the same services overall. This includes mounting the tire, servicing the valve stems and TPMS, lifetime balancing, rotation every 7,500 miles, and a lug re-torque after 50 miles.
However, the added $10 per tire cost is owed due to the inclusion of ‘road hazard protection’ warranty. As per Walmart, this includes covering for unforeseen road hazards, and flat tire repairs. It also provides a free replacement for non-repairable tires, if you had only used up 25% of tread wear.
2. Walmart Lifetime balance and rotation – $14 per tire
Walmart offers this service for any tire. You can have them rotated and balanced every 7,500 miles. This covers for the life of the tires from the original date of purchase. We’ve learned earlier in our guide on Walmart tire installation costs on the importance of making sure your tires is properly aligned and balanced.
3. Walmart Valve stem, and TPMS service pack – $3 per tire
This service is provided by Walmart to charge you for the installation of valve stem covers, and to service your car’s TPMS. Note, that a reset of the tire pressure monitoring system may incur additional costs. This should allow you to better know if your tire’s pressure is, or is not running at its optimal condition in real-time.
4. Walmart Flat tire repair – $15 per tire
This only applies to tires that are tubeless in design. This is a structure where there is no air tube inside of the tire itself. Instead, air is retained within an air-tight seal between the tyre, and the rim itself. Depending on the damage, it can be repaired, rather than needing a full replacement.
5. Mounting tire – $10 per tire (carry-in), or $15 per tire (specialty)
This charge is only for mounting the tires onto the rim of the wheel, and then onto the car. Unlike the full installation packaged offered by Walmart, this doesn’t have any add on services as mentioned above.
6. Tire rotation – $2.50 per tire
If you don’t need a full tire alignment or balancing, then Walmart also offers a service just for rotation. This is simply rotating the tires to a different location on the vehicle. For example, switching out the front and rear tires.
7. Lug nut replacement – $2 per lug nut.
Lug nuts are what keeps the tires in place on your car. As per the strain caused on the lug nuts, they can sometimes break and wear out. Or, it might have fallen off while driving, or have gone missing.
What Sort Of Tyres Can I Buy At Walmart?
Now, we’ve understood in general what you can expect from a Walmart tire installation cost. But before paying to have the tires installed, you first need to buy them. So, you might wonder then as to what sort of tyres can you buy at Walmart. In short, you can buy almost any sort of tire at Walmart.
Walmart’s store page lists over 1,000 different tires for sale. It covers everything from economical tires for your hatchback, or a hardy and rugged tire for off-roading. And it’s not just regular consumer cars either. Walmart sells tires for heavy-duty trucks, trailers, ATVs, golf carts, lawnmowers, and even boats.
This is alongside being able to filter out tire loads, thread wear warranty, terrain, and so on. They also sell tires from dozens of different major brands. So, expect the typical Firestone, Goodyear, Toyo, Yokohama, Continental, Pirelli, Michelin, Falken, Bridgestone, Dunlop, Hankook, Kumho, BF Goodrich, and so, so much more to choose from.
Thankfully, the Walmart store-page very conveniently offers a simple solution to make choosing tires easier. You can select the model year, make, and model of your car. This way, Walmart will handily filter out only the tires that are best suited for your particular car. There is, however, another important consideration that can get overlooked when buying tires.
This is regarding the particular type of tire that you’re planning to fit, depending on the use and weather conditions. For our Walmart tire installation guide, we’re going to list some of the more common types of tires, so you’ll hopefully be more aware the next time you go tire shopping.
1. Summer tires
As the name suggests, summer tires are formulated to best work in more warmer climates. Their rubber provides greater traction and handling in both dry, and wet conditions. Summer tires are well-liked for their ability to make best use of your car’s performance and agility.
Summer tires also have reduced rolling resistance. This results in better fuel efficiency, and quieter road noise. However, summer tires harden when surrounding temperatures drop below 45°F (7°C). Thus, they have significantly reduced traction under colder, or snowy conditions.
2. Winter tires
In contrast to summer tires, winter tires are able to work best in cold, snowy, or wet conditions. This is owing to the special compound of the rubber that doesn’t harden when it’s cold. The rubber can stay flexible, and thus allowing your car better traction in colder climates.
It also has deeper grooves to provide better grip when there’s a lot of snow or grime on the road surface. However, winter tires are far too soft for use during warmer weather. This means that using winter tires when its hot outside will lead the tire to wear out quicker. Moreover, the increased rolling resistance will lead to higher fuel consumption, and more road noise.
3. All-season tires
All-season tires are a compromise between summer and winter tires, to have the benefits of both rubber compounds. With all-season tires, your car can work best in any conditions. This is especially if you live in parts of the world where the climate can be more unpredictable.
Or, if you don’t have the money or storage space to afford both summer, and winter tires. All-season tires means that you needn’t have to choose between either one. However, summer and winter tires do have increased benefits in its most extreme conditions, compared to the hybrid all-seasons.
4. Run-flat tires
Run-flat tires are unique in that they allow you to keep driving, even with a puncture or a complete loss of pressure. This is owing to the use of thick, reinforced sidewalls along the surface of the tire. Even when the tire is completely flat, you can still drive on top of these reinforced sidewalls temporarily.
In general, you can still keep driving at limited speed, and with a distance of up to 50 miles with a punctured run-flat. This has the benefit of increased safety, as you can keep driving the car until you’ve made it safely to the nearest workshop or service centre. However, you cannot have run-flat tires repaired. This means that a punctured run-flat needs to be replaced completely.
How Much Do Tires Cost At Walmart?
We’ve already learned how much is a Walmart tire installation cost. But now, it’s time to figure out the cost of the tires itself, and how much Walmart is selling them for. This is highly dependent on what sort of vehicle you’re driving. For example, you can get tires for a normal passenger car, such as a hatchback or sedan, on Walmart for as little as $30 per tire.
However, tires for heavy duty vehicles, like pickups and SUVs, can cost at least $100 minimum. Again, you can use the Tire Finder tool on Walmart to find the exact one to match for your car. It’s also worth noting that Walmart often has sales and discounts available. At the time of writing this Walmart tire installation cost guide, Walmart is offering several sales, giving away rebates and redemptions on tire purchases.
Are Walmart Tire Installation Costs Cheaper Than The Competition?
So far, we’ve learned the specific expense of getting a car’s tires mounted at Walmart. To further guide you in knowing more on Walmart tire installation costs, we decided to pit it against some of its competitors. We’ve compiled a list here comparing Walmart’s tire services, compared to other big-box retailers and more dedicated tire centres.
This is according to data compiled by Consumer Reports based on the experiences of over 30,000 consumers, showing not just the average cost of a tire, but also the average installation costs.
| Retailer | Average purchasing cost per tire | Average installation cost per tire |
| Walmart | $102 | $15 |
| Costco | $165 | $14 |
| Tire Rack | $161 | $24 |
| Lee Schwab | $179 | $22 |
| Discount Tire | $144 | $19 |
| America’s Tires | $167 | $21 |
| Amazon | $110 | $22 |
| Sam’s Club | $139 | $15 |
| Goodyear Auto Service | $161 | $25 |
From this data alone, we can see that Walmart is indeed the most affordable when it comes to buying, and installing the tires. However, it’s also worth considering that these are average buying prices. Competing retailers may also offer their own discounted tires and services, that might make them cheaper than Walmart. So, be sure to browse around between retailers to make sure you get the best deal when the time comes.
Walmart Tire Installation Cost Guide Conclusion
We can finally come to the conclusion of our Walmart tire installation guide. Hopefully, you’ve been able to learn a thing or two about tires, which ones to buy for your car, and how does it cost to have it installed. Moreover, you’re also now better informed now that you’ve gone through our guide here. There are countless different retailers, garages, and specialists that offer services for tires.
In the end, it’s up to you, the consumer, to choose which one is best for you. Our best recommendation is for you to have a quick glance at the retailers’ respective webpages. Browse through, and compare the pricing of the tires that best suit your car, and your needs. And consider not just the costs, but the convenience for you depending on where you live.
Walmart has an upper hand, owing to its large network of automotive service centres. Furthermore, the economies of scale have allowed them to generally undercut their competition in terms of pricing, and options. Thus, we can conclude from our Walmart tire installation guide quite pleasingly that Walmart is a pretty good all in one stop if you need to have your tires replaced. Plus, you can get groceries while the car’s tires are being looked after.
If you want to know more about wheel alignment costs Walmart read our guide.
