Snow Tires - Interstate vs. Wilson

I have to get snow tires for our car, which is bear for many reasons. They cost a lot. We have only one car, and it's not really designed for snow, though it is front wheel drive. Either way, we try to get the best snow tires we can get, and that ends up costing us in the area of $400-500 to outfit the car. Ouch!

We'd been going regularly to Interstate Tires because they have a great selection, but the downside is that they are not warm and fuzzy (the woman who answers the phone always seems to bust my balls for something), and they don't take appointments, so you have to wait. Not an easy thing to do when you have only one car with two young children.

I tried out Wilson Tires, the Upper Valley's favorite place, and there were some benefits. They take appointments, seem friendlier on the phone, and they are open early on Saturday so I can squeak in while everyone's asleep, freeing up the car.

There are couple of things I don't like about Wilson, and they kind of gnaw at me, enough to make me go back to Interstate. First off, I always feel like I'm being played these guys. They always quote me a price on tires and apply a subtle pressure to buy them now by stressing to me that the price they are giving me today might very well go up next week because of market fluctuations. What's up with that. I hate hearing their little sales pitch, "The price of the Nokias today is this, but I can't guarantee that price in the coming days." It all seems like a game that I don't want to play, and in my limited experience I've found the price never changes.

The second thing that bugs me about Wilson Tires is that they quote me one price for a service (not tires), and it either changes the next time I ask, or it literally changes by the time I pay them. I've had this happen twice, where I asked for a quote on an alignment job, and the price kept changing. Not by much, but $10 is still 10% if a $100, and it's the principle of the matter.

I know, it's my fault, get everything in writing before you commit, but sometimes you want to trust people. You can't be suspicious and cynical all the time, that's why people live in New York, not the Upper Valley.

I still haven't decided which one I'm going with, but I'm leaning towards Interstate. They aren't as congenial, but there's a lot less bullshit. I like to know who I'm dealing with, and spare me the theatrics when you've got something I need.