Did you know that Walmart Tire Center is used by thousands of people daily? Some stores have auto care departments where you can buy services like tire installation, flat repairs, tire rotation, and oil changes. Read on to learn more.
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What Is Walmart Tire Center?
Walmart not only offers low prices on things like groceries, sporting goods, and clothes. They also provide vehicle maintenance services. In this article, we’ll cover pricing, services offered, and whether we think it’s a good value.
Walmart Auto Care Centers offer an array of affordable services for tires, batteries, and oil and lube. Here are the services offered at these facilities:
Tire Services
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- Basic new tire installation package, $15 per tire on tires purchased at Walmart. This includes tire mounting, valve stems, lifetime balance and rotation every 7,500 miles as well as 50-mile lug re-torque.
- Value tire installation package, $25 per tire. Offers all of the basic services plus a road hazard protection warranty.
- Lifetime balance and rotation, $12 per tire
- Valve stems/TPMS service pack installation, $3 per tire. Walmart will install valve stems on cars that don’t have a Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
- Flat tire repair, $10 per tire
- Tire rotation, $2.50 per tire
- Lug nut replacement, $2 per lug nut
When you purchase the Value package, the Road Hazard warranty protects your tires after you leave the Auto Care Center. The warranty covers unforeseen road hazards and flat repairs.
With the warranty, repairable punctures are fixed free of charge. Depending on the extent of damage, the tire can be eligible for replacement.
Battery Services
- Free battery installation on any battery purchased at Walmart. ($10 if purchased elsewhere)
- Battery corrosion treatment, $3.50 per battery
- Battery terminal end replacement, $5 each
Oil & Lube Services
- Pit Crew Oil Change, $19.88. This includes 5qts of Quaker State Advanced Durability motor oil. Walmart will also install a new oil filter, lubricate chassis, and check the battery performance and tire pressure.
- Standard oil change, $29.88. All of the above services plus 5qts of featured conventional oil.
- Power & Perform oil change, $49.88. Includes all of the Pit Crew services plus 5 qts of a features Synthetic motor oil – the norm for new vehicles.
- Other lube express services include an interior vacuum, windshield wash, check transmission fluid, check and fill power steering fluid, and check signal, brake and tail lights.
Other Services
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- Fuel system cleaning, $20
- Wiper blade installation, $6 each includes the blade and installation
- Free engine air filter installations
- Cabin air filter installation, $10 each
- Headlight installation $7.50 per headlight plus cost of parts
- Headlight restoration, $29.88
- Chassis lubrication, $4.50. Get rid of that annoying squeaky sound!
Walmart Tire Center Pricing
Whether you have a Walmart Auto Care Center in your area or not, you can still buy affordable tires at Walmart and on walmart.com. The best way to save money on Walmart tires is to shop the Rollbacks.
The store frequently runs promotions on BFGoodrich, Michelin, and Goodyear Tires. They also work with company rebates. For example, at the time this article was written, Walmart was offering $30 off two Cooper Tires.
Of course, the cost of your tires will vary by brand, tire size and other needs (snow tires, off roading). To compare Walmart tire prices with competitors, we compared the Michelin Primacy MXV4 Tire. This tire is appropriate for a 2019 Toyota Corolla LE.
While Walmart may sometimes have a cheaper version of a certain tire, sometimes Costco has a better price. But, Costco has a membership fee to join and use the tire center.
Also, other online retailers like Tire Rack may sometimes have cheaper prices. But, then you’d have to bring the tire to a center and pay for installation.
Michelin Primacy MXV4 Tire:
- Walmart: $186.12 per tire. Free two-day shipping to Walmart stores.
- Costco: $184.49 per tire. But, can save $70 for a set of four during a current promotion, which would bring the cost down to $166.99 per tire.
- Sam’s Club: $206.64 per tire. Also offering $70 off when you buy four, which would bring the cost to $189.14 per tire.
Tip: The best way to save money on Walmart is to shop Rollbacks. Walmart offers tires from trusted brands like Solar and Prometer for as low as $40 and under on Rollback and reduced price.
Walmart vs Costco Price Comparison
Walmart and Costco both offer $15 tire installation per new tire bought at the store. So, we figured we’d put them head to head and see whose deal is better.
Costco $15 per tire installation includes:
- Lifetime maintenance including rotation, balancing, inflation, checks and flat repairs
- A mileage, defects and road-hazard warranty
- Nitrogen tire installation and new rubber tire stems
Walmart $15 per tire installation includes:
- New valve stems
- Lifetime balance and rotation every 7,500 miles
- 50-mil lug re-torque
Costco’s deal is slightly better. You can come in at anytime for balance and rotation, but Walmart limits to 7,500 miles. Costco also offers nitrogen inflation, which it says makes for better performance and gas mileage.
Also, to get the Road Hazard Protection Warranty at Walmart, you have to upgrade to the Value instillation package for $25 per tire. That said, Costco has a $60 yearly membership fee and the tire center is free to use at Walmart.
So depending on how much you’d use Costco’s other services, Walmart may still be the best deal.
Customer Reviews
While prices are good, the online reviews are not. Reddit forums are full of negative reviews on the services received. A common trend we saw were customers reporting rude or lazy employees at the stores.
Tires were not installed properly, the wrong tires were installed, or the customer had issues with their car after work was done. Bryan H. reports that after calling the Tire Department, they did not want to help him order tires. While this may be policy, other consumers online report similar experiences.
However, these are just opinions from around the web, and customers typically only leave feedback when they have a bad experience. We highly suggest doing your own research before visiting your local store.
Should You Buy Tires from Walmart Tire Center?
In short, Walmart Auto Care Centers offer affordable tire services and oil changes. As expected from Walmart, they offer competitive pricing on new tires and installation. Some wholesale clubs may offer slightly cheaper pricing, but unlike them, Walmart’s tire center requires no membership and is free to use.
I’ve used the service myself and found the techs to be knowledgeable and efficient. Product selection and pricing were competitive and I was in and out in under an hour. We think that this is a great option for the everyday consumer seeking convenient locations and low prices.
