Dealerships Are Expensive

Was doing some research today on tire buying tips, since the gospel of Google and Greg Gifford both tell me that producing original content for my website helps us stay relevant and pumps up my SEO. What was very amusing to me – and granted, I am easily amused – is the number of websites out there cautioning readers that if you are buying tires, dealerships are the most expensive option. From what I can tell, the evidence for this claim is that dealerships have always been expensive. And if you want further clarification, the in-depth analysis is that dealerships are expensive because that is the way it is. No discussion is needed because if there are 3 constants in life, they are death, taxes, and that dealerships are always more expensive.

So the $64,000 question is: are dealerships always more expensive? And the real answer is: nope. Just as in anything in life, a little research and some clear-eyed analysis on an apples-to-apples level will shed illumination. Yes, sometimes dealerships cost more. Sometimes we actually cost less. And many, many times – and this happens a lot with tires and other maintenance items – we cost the same as everyone else. Fixing cars is really, really competitive. If we were always more expensive than everyone else, the market would find a way around us. Always does.

Most of our stores actually have price comparison charts on their websites to show some examples. Go ahead and shop around, and if you find a better deal go for it. But let’s move past retelling old chestnuts that don’t have any basis in reality, if they ever did.