One-Stop Tire Shop: Costco Tire Center Services Explained

What Services Does Costco Tire Center Offer?

Costco Tire Center offers a range of tire installation and maintenance services to active Costco members. These services come at competitive prices and represent one of the many perks of Costco membership.

When you buy a set of tires at Costco, you will get access to the following services and perks:

• Tire installation (with an installation fee)
• Free lifetime tire balancing
• Free lifetime rotation
• Free lifetime flat repair
• Free lifetime tire pressure checks
• Free rubber valve stem replacement with flat repair or whenever needed
• Costco’s 5-year Road Hazard Warranty
• Discounts and promotions on tire prices

For tires not purchased at a Costco Tire Center, you can still avail many of these services with an active Costco membership. However, Costco Tire Center will only install tires purchased at Costco.

Other services offered at Costco Tire Center include nitrogen inflation and nitrogen conversion.

Pricing

As mentioned above, most Costco Tire Center Services are available for free when you pay to have a new set of Costco tires installed on your vehicle. At $18.99 per tire, this amounts to $75.96 plus tax for tire installation on a standard vehicle.

Below you will find the full breakdown of Costco Tire Center’s pricing:

*Includes mounting, lifetime balancing, lifetime rotation, lifetime flat repair, lifetime air pressure checks, new rubber valve stem, and 5-Year Road Hazard Warranty.

Services Not Available At Costco Tire Center

For the most part, you can consider Costco Tire Center a one-stop-shop for all of your tire needs, especially if you purchase Costco tires. However, there are a handful of services that they do not cover.

Costco Tire Center does not offer:

• Installation of non-Costco tires
• Wheel alignment services
• Installation of tires larger or smaller than manufacturer requirements
• Installation of golf cart or ATV tires

How To Schedule An Appointment

To schedule an appointment at your local Costco Tire Center, follow these steps:

1. Make sure you are an active Costco member with a valid login for your Costco.com account
2. Visit CostcoTireAppointments.com and login to your account when prompted
3. Once you’re logged in, you can select the time and date of your appointment from the times available, as well as the tire services you wish to avail
4. Arrive at your Tire Center location of choice at your selected date and time and let an employee know you have an appointment

While Costco Tire Center does accept walk-ins, they have infamously long wait times for customers without appointments, especially if you arrive on a busy day. Costco recommends making an appointment online in advance.

Also keep in mind that not every Costco location has a Tire Center, so you might be limited when it comes to choosing where to make your appointment. You will also be limited by the Tire Center’s opening hours, which typically range from 10 AM to 8:30 PM.

Warranty And Exchange Policy

According to Costco.com, “all passenger, performance, and light truck tires sold through Costco Wholesale are covered by a 5-year Road Hazard Warranty protecting customers against tread wear damage and tire failure.” 

With this warranty, “Costco Wholesale will repair or replace tires damaged during standard legal vehicle operation.”

Keep in mind that Costco’s tread wear tire replacement policy comes in the form of credit towards the purchase of new tires based on the usage of tread on the existing tires. This means that you will most likely still have to cover part of the cost of your replacement tires.

Costco’s tire warranty requires that the original purchase receipt be presented by the original purchaser of the tires to make a warranty claim. Your tires must also have been cared for according to certain specifications during their time of use in order for the warranty to cover your repair or replacement in the case of tread wear damage.

To review Costco’s full tire warranty, including tire care expectations, click here.

Customer Benefits

The benefits of using Costco Tire Center are almost too many to count. In fact, Costco’s tire services have become one of the most popular reasons for customers to sign up for membership.

Here are just a few of the benefits you’ll enjoy when you use Costco Tire Center…

1. Great Prices – Costco’s tires and services are very reasonably priced and often out compete other suppliers
2. Easy Appointment Scheduling – With CostcoTireAppointments.com, you can easily schedule your tire service appointments without having to pick up the phone or visit a Tire Center in person.
3. Advice from Tire Experts – Costco Tire Center employs trained tire experts that are available during all opening hours to answer any questions or concerns you might have about your tires.
4. Unbeatable Tire Warranty – Costco’s 5-Year Road Hazard Warranty protects you from unexpected damage or failure of your tires before their expected life span ends.
5. Lifetime maintenance and repairs for Costco Tires – When you purchase tires at Costco and pay to have them installed by a Costco Tire Center technician, you enjoy a wide range of free maintenance and repair services for the full lifespan of your tires.
6. Competitive Prices on Name Brand Tires – Costco Tire Center not only maintains and repairs your tires. They also sell a wide range of name brand tires at great prices, offering intermittent sales and promotions throughout the year to get you the best prices possible on quality tires.

Is Costco Tire Center Worth It?

On first glance, it would seem like Costco Tire Center is a no-brainer service to take advantage of. But we decided to dig into some real customer feedback to take a closer look at how these services measure up in the real world.

This Reddit user’s only complain about Costco Tire Center is that the wait times can sometimes be a bit long:

While Costco tends to pride itself on amazing customer service, many customers online have shared that Costco Tire Center’s workmanship and customer service seem to be waning.

This Reddit user shares in detail about their experience as a Costco Tire Center customer for over two decades:

Yet another commenter on Reddit sees the customer service at Costco Tire Center as a major problem. As mentioned by a few other commenters, Costco seems to have a tendency to be overly strict with their Road Hazard Warranty, making it virtually impossible for customers to get credit towards new tires when their old tires fail prematurely.

Overall, it’s a mixed bag when it comes to deciding whether or not Costco Tire Center is worth it. If you already have a Costco membership and you don’t mind waiting for your services, then it’s probably not a bad idea to get your tires from Costco.

But as it turns out, Costco Tire Center might not be the best reason on its own to become a new Costco member, especially if you don’t plan on taking advantage of Costco’s other goods and services.

FAQs

Is alignment included with new tires at Costco?

No. Unfortunately, as of 2023, Costco does not offer wheel alignment services.

Does Costco rotate tires for free?

Yes. If you purchase your tires at Costco, you’ll have access to free rotation services for the full life of your tires.

How long does it take to change tires at Costco?

This depends on how busy your local Costco Tire Center is and whether or not you made an appointment. For a tire service like changing out a flat or installing a new set of tires, this service can take as little as thirty minutes or as long as several hours.

Can you buy tires at Costco Tire Center without a membership?

No. Costco Tire Center products and services are only available to active Costco members.

Does Costco fix flat tires not purchased there?

Yes. Costco Tire Center will repair a non-Costco tire for an active Costco member at a rate of between $10 and $15 per tire.