Costco Tire Center

During weekends it’s always LONG (I mean really really long) waiting lines so try not to go on weekends (if you can). Otherwise we are pretty happy with this place so far.
Ah yes regarding some ppl complaining about they’ll replace your metal valve cap with the ugly plastic neon green one. It’s easy. Before you give them your car keys, just take out all the original metal valve caps and save them for future use. :)

I had a great experience here this morning.
I was a little apprehensive about getting service since the Costco membership was not in my name and the tire I needed to get repaired was purchased by a family member, but I presented the receipt for the tires and has no issues getting service. I just explained to the technician that I had the receipt but did not have the Costco card and he was able to help.
It turned out that the tire I was hoping to get patched could not be repaired and they no longer made the tire I needed. They ended up having to replace two tires, but the warranty on covered the majority of the cost.
I would recommend coming very early, they open at seven every day. I got in around 8:30 on a Sunday and was out before the store even opened for the day. I believe you can also make weekday appointments as well.
The only downside is, there is no real waiting area but there is a Starbucks and trader joes near by.

Yes the wait is long but honestly, how quickly do you think it takes for your car to have their tires changed/​repaired/​fixed? Honestly, the long wait time is mostly because you’re in a long queue so they don’t even get to your car until about 1 hour into your waiting time.
My suggestion is, COME EARLY OR RIGHT BEFORE IT OPENS. I came on a Saturday at 7:05AM and I was already the 8^th car to be serviced (which btw, there’s only 1 guy handling the line so it’s roughly a 15 min wait just to even get to the front of the line). They told me it’d take about 2 hours and that they’d call within 1.5 hours to let me know if my tire could be repaired. I walked by my car 1 hour later and saw that it was still in the queue. Right at 1.5 hours, they called and told me it couldn’t it fixed, asked if it was okay to replace with a new tire (which was still under warranty) and my car was done right at the 2 hour mark.
The four star rating is because their service is really nice. They’re friendly, they gave me a call and kept me informed, and aside from the long wait time, it was pretty straight forward and easy. Plus, since Costco wasn’t even open that early, there’s a nearby Starbucks/TraderJoe’s to go walk around at.
But yeah the wait time sucks here so I’d definitely advise coming before they open to line up.

WOW I never met such a disgruntled employee who hated his job that much. That smart ass skinny pale asian guy with a beannie pretty much seemed annoyed that he even had to work, let alone help me. I was the only person in line and he made me stand there for 10 mins while he clicked away on the computer probably brousing porn. I told him i wanted tires that were good for rain, his reply– «They’re all good for rain!!! Plus, we’re in a drought. Have u seen any rain lately?!» Fucking smart ass. I go to reno regularly where it rains & snows. I told him i needed to think about it before committing to $ 1200 tires. His reply (with a stupid smirk on his face) — «if they’re too expensive, your welcome to shop around, you dont have to buy them at costco!» So thats what i did, i bought them at sears

I’ve been standing in this line for 30 min with only 2 people in front of me. They might have good deals on tires and service, but their check-​in system is ridiculous. It seems to be a one-​man show on a weekend! I will never do this again. Awful!

I really do feel that getting tires replaced should be easier than what this place makes you go though. The line to the front counter was quite long at 11am. We waited about fifteen to twenty minutes to reach the front counter. I decided to come here to change tires for a 2002 Honda Odyssey. I had already purchased the tires online and I was told they had arrived at the store and were ready to be installed. The person at the counter gave me a number and I placed it on top of my vehicle. He said it would take an hour and thirty minutes for the tires to be installed.
An hour and forty five minutes pass, and still no call. We decided to go over to the auto body shop and see if the car is still being worked on. However, to my surprise, the installation was already done. They did not bother to call us. I also noticed that my door was unlocked. I had many work tools in the van. Anyone could have stolen them just by simply opening the car door.

Hassle to bring in new tires that already deflated

Seriously, how do they stay profitable? $ 15 for tire installation, balance, nitrogen fill, lifetime flat repair and road hazard warranty is an unbelievable good deal. But if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Turns out I really shouldn’t expect nothing will goes wrong for being cheap.
I purchased a set of Bridgestone tires before Christmas, and recently have a flat,
bring it in for repair but turns out the nail is too close to the side wall, they say they’ll need to replace it with a new one, which needs to be special order and there’s a $ 33 deductible, everything sounds good so far so they put my spare up and have me come back two days later.
Two days later, I came back, had the new tire put on, and drove away,
but once I get home and open the trunk, I found out a series of problem
1. In order to save space, a few modern Mercedes Benz models use compact spare,
which, needs to be fully deflate and vacuum before going back to the trunk,
and a part of the trunk liner needs to come out before doing so too,
apparently the mechanic at Costco didn’t know that, or, didn’t bother to spend time doing it,
they forced the spare into the trunk, which put a good amount of scratch on the trunk panel, liner and the spare rim,
and also damaged part of the styrofoam spare holder too (see my pic)
2. So I took out the spare and try to put it in correctly,
only to notice that they didn’t put the valve stem back after they deflated the spare,
luckily I found out that before another road trip,
otherwise I’ll be stuck on the road when I need the spare because that thing won’t inflate again !
3. If you have those nice looking metal valve cap with logo on your tires, keep them safe before handing Costco your key,
because they’ll replace them with those ugly plastic neon green color cap,
AND WILL NEVER GIVE YOU BACK YOUR ORIGINAL ONE
Seriously, guys, I want my metal valve cap back !
So, in short, I have so much regret from taking my car to Costco to save a few dollars on tire change,
apparently they never have proper training on how to work with complicated modern vehicle,
but if you got a beat up 90’s Corolla or something and you care your green back more than anything else, they’ll still get the job done for you.

Today 9÷10÷14, I visited the tire center because I had a flat and also needed to replace all 4 tires 6 months ago, but waited since we have no rain and my everyday commute was a short distance. I called 2 days before and spoke to Rue (sp) and he quoted me on the tires that were available at the warehouse but then I called him back to ask if they had a different set of tire which I found on Costco’s website. He informed me that they did not have them at the warehouse but they would come in 3 – 5 business days if I order it. In total, I called and spoke to him (Rue) 3 times in one day and not once did he make me feel like I was an annoying customer. At the end of it all, I ordered the tires online and was very surprised to see that they had arrived at the warehouse 2 days later. It was way earlier than I had anticipated so I was able to replace my tires sooner than expected. When I arrived at the tire center, Eric had assisted me and was absolutely fantastic. He was kind and friendly and offered to assist me with my groceries since I had done some shopping while they were working on my car. I of course refused his offer since I was more than capable of putting the groceries in my car on my own.
So THANK YOU Rue and Eric!

This review is for customer service.
Back in July I went in to get my tires changed because they were bald. I’ve only had them for 2 years! I was with my mom who is a Costco member. One of the guys who worked there, Omar, came to check the tires. His first words when he saw the tires were, «You drive this huh?» Pointing at me! I replied, «Yea it’s my car.» He said, «I knew it! I bet you’re always late for work and always in a hurry! This doesn’t happen in 2 years for a normal driver.»
I was shocked! What??? Did he really say that to me? RUDE!!! I’m never late for work, always 5 – 10 minutes early, and I’m a very careful driver.
I was so irritated.
When we got back inside, Omar couldn’t do our transaction for some reason so He gave our papers to Lawrence. Lawrence was really nice and took care of everything. He is very approachable and non judgmental! When I asked him questions he didn’t look at me like I was stupid for not knowing anything about tires. Because I don’t! Thanks Lawrence!
Last week I returned to Costco because my new tire was flat. Omar and Lawrence were there!!! Ugh! He refused to help me because I’m not a Costco member! I explained that the new tire they installed is flat 1 month later! Regardless of whether I am there with my mother, who is at work, or not they better fix my flat tire! Omar refused. Lawrence came over and said that it needed to be fixed, looked at my tire from a distance and said, «Yea it’s leaking. I can see it from here, we need to change it.» He went back inside, told Omar that it needed to be changed!!!
Again!!! Lawrence to the rescue!!! I’m so glad people like Lawrence work for Costco tires!!!
Omar has poor customer service!

A nail was stuck in one of our brand new tires (dammit people stop throwing nails on the road!) this past Saturday. Where to go to repair the tire? We took a chance with Costco tire to see if they will do it. Sure enough they did! They pulled that sucker off our tire and examined the tire. Looks like it didn’t go deep enough to merit a patch so they sent us off without charging us.
Great service!

The next day after the review, I gotten a call from the Kevin, the general manager of the San Francisco Costco and he apologized for the whole run around. He also offered to replace the tire. I am glad that Costco took the effort to remedied the problem. Thank you Kevin.

I been to this tire center several times with my cars in the past and had no issues. But today was absolutely the worst. I ordered some tires on the costco website and went to this tire center to finally get it done. The work was done on my vehicle after 1.5 hours and I was on my way but I did notice that the car was vibrating pretty hard. I figured that after I get my 4 wheel alignment that it would go away. Unfortunately after my alignment my vehicle was shaking violently.
I really didnt want to go back to that hell hole of a tire center but I needed my vehicle to be actually smooth like before. I went to one of the technicians and they stated they will look at the vehicle right away granted I go in and get some paperwork. I went in the shop and there was a darn line which I had to wait. I seriously had to stand in line to go through the same process again.
I got my paperwork and waited for 10 minutes in which they took in my car. The current supervisor stated that the weights were wrong in the front and it should do the trick. He said there was no reason to look at the back although I did insist to check it out. I already hated that place and didnt want to go back but hey if the supervisor said so then I got his word. I got my vehicle back and again the vehicle was giving me a good massage. I went back again and it looked like none of the technicians wanted to help me and one of them said I didnt do it and walked away. I got the attention of another supervisor that basically stated they did everything they can and they can put the old tires back. He was a complete ahole to say the least and wanted to be a tough guy.
I told him put my old tires back and I just wanted to leave. Since my tires were thrown away they got the the front end manager involved. At the same time one of the good technicians noticed that the rear driver side tire was put on wrong. It was folded in and not properly placed around the rim. The front end manager just ran away but I called him back for a partial refund and he had no choice to give me that money. To recap this tire shop really sucks and they need professional managers/​cashiers and proper tire technicians that actually check their work. At the end I spent 4+ hours trying to resolve this issue. If you go to this shop then I wish you the best of luck.

Slowest service in the world it took about 2 hours just to get one tire change never coming back

Don’t buy tires here, every time I go it’s 3.5 hours. Seems if I have a flat it can’t be repaired I must pro-​rate my tire and buy two because the tires have been discontinued and you must replace in pairs.

When one of my cars need of new tires and the South Airport location don’t always have the tire sizes I’m looking for, I’ll drive over here. Members only pricing on tires are available which is a big plus and a bargain. Certainly, it’s obvious the wait may be long but the pros get the work completed in a timely manner. Staff members here are actually nice and friendly so that’s always a good thing.
One of my go to tire shops when I need new tires!

Price was good, but that’s it.
Received a call my tires were delivered. Awesome. I go the next day at 2pm and am told it’s a 2+ hour wait. The employee suggests I come back tomorrow at 830am when they open. I verify the time, because NOWHERE (not online, not in store, nowhere) are the hours listed.
I show up the next day at 830 and face a half hour wait to get to the front of the line. I’m told they’ll call me in 2 hours when my car is done. I was explicitly told the previous day that it should take no more than ½ hour to install the tires. I’m the 5^th customer of the day, but apparently there’s a 90 minute backlog already.
I planned ahead and brought a book, but had time to read all 250 pages before I’m finally done. When I ordered the tires, my first visit, and my second visit, they check my cell phone number. Every employee has told me they’ll call me when it’s done.
I come back 2 hours later waiting for my phone call. I park myself on their bench and wait another half hour as the line continues. A full 3 hours after entering, I talk to the man working the counter and ask about my car. In retrospect I should have pestered him about it every fifteen minutes from the start, but he was surly when I first started my transaction. Apparently my car had been done some undisclosed time in the past. When I asked why he didn’t call, he said, «I don’t call. That’s why I tell you to come back,» and laughed.
I’ll likely never return to Costco for tires. The price was good, but my time has value. And, quite frankly, if I’m going to be treated rudely I’ll do it faster.
P. S. I forgot to mention that I received my car with a broken hubcap. Supposedly it was improperly installed, and came off already broken. I had, the previous week, brought my car for service at the Toyota dealership. They rotated the tires, and supposedly they broke it. I contacted the Toyota dealership, and they pointed out that their technicians are less likely to have broken it than the Costco ones. Honestly I’m not sure. All I know is that I have to buy a replacement.

Great deal $ 70 off Michelin tires, which saved me from paying the tax on my tires. For some reason they run a skeleton crew on the register but they are friendly and apologetic due to the wait. You are not allowed to leave your vehicle over night — I recommend bringing a friend with you, going to eat and hang for 2 – 3 hours then come back to pick up. Great for one of those errand days when you have other stuff to do in order to distract you from the wait time.

Pros: Staff were very helpful. They answered all my questions and had a great value on 4 new high performance Micheline ties compared to 3 other locations — Costco’s value was best.
Cons: I made 2 trips. The first time I went there was a long line of customers just waiting to speak to the desk service person. Then I was told there was about a 2.5 hr wait. My tires were in stock so I decided to come back the next day when they opened at 8:30 (before the store opens) to beat the crowds. This strategy worked for the check-​in. The service wait was still 2 hours which seemed long. The tire center waiting area is one park bench so you either have to hang out in the store or go to a coffee shop about 2 blocks away. My rims had excessive grease globs on them, but it came off fairly easy which is better than damaging the new tire or rim.

Eric was super helpful. I had a flat and arrived at Costco a hour before they close. He took me in as the last customer and made sure I left there safe and sound within 1 hour. Best experience ever!