Tire City

I recently had Tire City mount, balance and align a set of expensive Pirelli tires on my wife’s SUV. She brought it to my attention when I got home from work that she noticed some scratches on one of the rims. Sure enough, there was a perfectly machined scratch around one entire rim and a similar looking but not nearly as bad scratch on another rim. These scratches were without a doubt caused by the shop. I returned to Tire City and spoke to Michael, the owner, a seemingly helpful person. He agreed that it wasn’t caused by a curb or driving. He said that he would get back to me after reviewing the cameras in the shop. He called me back the next day and said that there wasn’t any signs of negligence or of one of his technicians trying to hide it. Okay, well isn’t it possible that it happened by accident and no one noticed the scratches if they were working quickly or if the lighting was poor? I understand accidents happen but I just spent $ 1050 and got a ruined rim back in return! Perhaps a quick wipe down of the equipment and the rims with all the sand and salt from the winter would have avoided this. He offered me a free future alignment on my car. Really? You should’ve fixed the problem, not offer more service. This is totally unacceptable and I’ll be looking elsewhere for my future tire needs!
—-No sign of negligence? Misunderstanding? I know what happened. The pictures show what happened. I couldn’t replicate a circular machined scratch like that if I tried. You just proved to everyone reading this that you don’t stand by your work, you can’t dismiss facts. It happened on your property. End of story. You should’ve never responded to my review.

Watch out for these guys they will try and take advantage of people that may not know any better like they tried with me saying I need all 4 new tires because of the car I have when really only one tire is the problem. They may tell you need to replace all four tires when you really may only need to replace just one. Do your research make sure you check the tread depth with them. 10 or ¹²⁄₃₂ is brand new, ⁶⁄₃₂ you are half way, and ²⁄₃₂ you need to replace. Tell them to show you the readings on the gauge and go look at them with them at the tires. It should be measured in the center.
Update: these guys will take advantage of you wherever they can with whatever excuse fits the situation at the time. There is truth that you IDEALLY need to have the same brand of tires and similar tread depths, but that is obviously not realistic or even absolutely necessary, otherwise you would have to buy new tires every 6 months. if 3 of them are basically brand new and one is a little more worn you don’t need to replace all 4, just the one is find. Use your own common sense, they are salesmen with their own interest in mind, making money, not yours.

Transaction was pleasant and 4 tires went on quickly unlike Town Fair Tire; no damage to TPMS sensors as has happened twice at BJs. What a great option — my Go To tire shop from now on. Did I happen to mention the great price?

I would definitely recommend Tire City in East Hartford, CT. Brought my tires in, had old dismounted, new balanced/​mounted and had a four wheel alignment. Was out of there in less than an hour. Bunch of great guys working there. Good job!
I’ll most definitely make the trip from Meriden to East Hartford any time I need new tires

Here’s the situation: driving from Boston to Philly for Christmas. A tractor trailer accident on the mass pike means it takes over 5 hours to reach CT. Then, the mother of all pot holes takes out 4 cars in a row on 84. Tires are shredded, and it feels like my alignment is done. We search up tire service in east Hartford and try to drive on the shoulder for ½ to reach the ramp. By the time we pull in, the lights are off, but someone is still inside. Michael comes out, take a look at the car, and says ‘let’s look at it.’ This was a Christmas miracle! Michael bends back a bent rim, switched wheel to the back, and didn’t charge us. Thank you, Michael, for making sure my family could get home for Christmas!

I dropped in on a Saturday with a flat tire. It’s definitely busy here, but I appreciated being squeezed in. The tire change was quoted at 1.5 hours, but they finished in 1 hour.
I learned a bit about tires while I was here. They were nice enough to explain a bit about tread and strategy for how to replace the tires. However, they changed their minds more than once about what was the best plan, which made me a little uneasy and still makes me wonder if they just want me to come in again soon.
Of course, getting a tire at a tire store like this, I now know I was up-​charged more than 50% of the rack price of the tire. But I also paid for the convenience of getting the tire replaced within an hour of my walking in the door.

I walked outside to my car on a Saturday afternoon to find that I had a flat tire. I did a quick Unilocal search and found this place was only like a 8 minute drive from downtown Hartford. I went in there and said I need a new tire, they had one in stock. I was expecting to pay over $ 200, since it’s a car tire, but the tire they offered me was only around $ 120 or so. The gentleman that helped me was very friendly. The waiting room has a water/​coffee station, a bathroom, and a TV. The service itself was as fast as I expected since there were like 5 people ahead of me. But, they were efficient, friendly, and fast. So I would definitely come to this place for a proper tire fitting.

Friend referred me to Tire City. Small place but very efficient. Dropped by on a whim to dismount some tires and they were able to take care of me. Nice folks. Will definitely consider them in the future.

Tuesday: I spoke to Michael on the phone about replacing 2 tires on my car. He told me he would order the tires and have then in by the next morning. When I told him I wouldn’t be in for about two weeks because my schedule is that tight right now, he asked if I would stop in and make a small deposit because he doesn’t normally hold tires for 2 weeks, I thought that was reasonable.
Its important to note that the deposit was not requested until I said I would bring my car by in 2 weeks. Up until that point it was no problem, we’ll get those ordered right away, etc.
Friday: I called and spoke to Michael again, to let him know someone had agreed to take the car in for me on Monday. He hadn’t even ordered the tires yet, because he was waiting for my deposit. NOT the understanding I got from our previous conversation. Long story short, I was ultimately told he would order the tires when I left a deposit or dropped my car off as deposit.
I don’t often find myself in a situation where I’m buying tires, so I have no idea if this is the industry standard or not. All I know is I am a busy person and I don’t have time for this shit («this shit» meaning, making an extra trip out to East Hartford to drop off a deposit the day before I bring in my car, and being jerked around by this person who told me one thing and then another).
I found another tire shop who will be doing my tires on Monday for the same price and without the complications. Tire City won’t be getting my money or my business.

Good guys. Best to show up earlier though, the wait can be a bit long for even simple things.

I’ve been putting off tires for a long time now. Just over 61,000 miles on my car, and despite the fact that I have a staggered setup, I’ve never had to get a new set thanks to some brilliantly purchased tire insurance and some very accidentally strategic flat tires that couldn’t be salvaged.
I did my research, and found what I wanted — Continental ExtremeContact DWS, 18’s, 225 front and 245 rear. Great ratings… decent prices.
My original plan was to get them off TireRack ($ 774) and bring them somewhere for mounting, balance, and four wheel alignment. Shipping costs would be eliminated by just picking them up in Windsor. (For anyone in CT or the 413 of MA, TireRack has a big warehouse by BDL, so you can save on shipping and just pick them up, as long as you have the means to transport them.) That «somewhere» was closed for the weekend, so no go. I was riding on (more or less) baldies so this needed to be done ASAP.
Town Fair Tire — $ 900 plus an up charge for the 4-​wheel alignment, plus tax, plus shipping for the tires. Plus the obligatory rim scratches when they just throw them on the ground. I saw that last time with someone else’s rims and vowed never to go back.
Tire City — $ 895, inclusive of tires, shipping, 4-​wheel alignment, a laundry list of guarantees, and tax. I called on a Tuesday, the tires were there on Wednesday night. I drove to CT and just showed up on Saturday, and everything was done in just over an hour. No ridiculous waiting, no rim scratches, and very nice and professional employees. I talked to the most helpful person while I was setting this up over the phone — and the rest of them in the shop were just as nice.
I had no problem handing them my keys, and should I need new tires before I trade my car in, I know where i’m going to go, despite the fact that it is 135 miles and two states out of my way — i’ll make it a visiting people /​tire extravaganza.
Bottom line, these guys are professional, back up their work, and offer up the most competitive prices i’ve seen to date.

Really fast service! Brought my car in for a rotation with only a 10 minute call ahead. They had it up on the lift within 5 minutes and ready for me within 15. Great service and very friendly employees. I will be coming back here for sure.

Free flat repair, free rotation, and these guys do nothing but tires and they know their stuff. I have bought three sets of tires here and will continue to do so. It is one of the few car places you don’t feel like someone is trying to rip you off the second you walk in. Great service, friendly people, and fantastic prices.

These guys are fantastic. When I needed a tire that was leaking the took it off and patched it and didn’t charge me (I tipped the guy). Over the weekend I had a tire go flat and decided it was time to replace them all. Took me first thing this morning with no appointment and had it done very quickly for a responable price. Even drove me to my office so I could leave the car. Car was ready quickly and because they were having issues with the alignment machine, they think it is fine, but want to call me next week so they can double check the allignment. Check them out for tires and wheels.