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Photo: iStockWhether your region requires you to install snow-rated tires during the cold months or you simply want to sport them for added safety, you should know how much a winter tire costs. Many car owners just don’t install winter tires because they believe they’re unaffordable.
While winter tires are typically known to be more expensive, affordable options from growing tire brands like Sailun Tire don’t compromise on the quality and performance drivers expect on the icy roads.
But even the pricer ones are more affordable than your rising insurance premium, likely medical bills, and automotive repairs (not covered in the insurance policy) that you must endure due to an accident in harsh winter conditions.
Here, we will explain the cost of different winter tires and the additional expenses associated with them. If you’re in the market for new winter tires — from value-based to premium — check out our full buying guide here.
Many factors affect the price of winter tires, including brand, type, quality, and size. Since every brand has its own criteria to evaluate the price for its rubber, we would avoid commenting on it. However, we will specifically discuss type, quality and size to give you a fair idea of winter or snow tires.
For a compact car with a famous 205/55R16 size, below are approximate prices.
The three main types of winters you find in the market include studless, studded, and winter performance.
Studdless Tires
For most people, studdless winter tires are a perfect companion in cold conditions. These incorporate biting edges and soft rubber compounds, making them flexible for winter. A standard studdless tire will cost you anywhere between $60 and $550, each.
On average, for a typical compact car, expect to pay around $100-$150 per tire or $400-$600 for all four. For an SUV or light-duty pickup, the price goes up to $200-$400 each or $800-$1,200 for a set of four.
Studded Tires
For extreme weather conditions like freezing rain, sleet and wet ice, studded tires are ideal for a safe driving experience. The metal studs fixed on these tires bite into ice, giving you improved grip and handling. A studded rubber would cost you around $75-$550 or more per tire. For two pairs, you can expect to pay between $300 and $2,200.
There are also studdable options, like the Sailun Iceblazer WST1 studdable performance winter tire trusted by over 1-million drivers in Canada alone, which won’t break the bank yet designed for drivers that demand maximum traction in severe weather conditions.
Sailun IceBlazer WST1 studdable winter tireSailun IceBlazer WST1 studdable winter tireWinter Performance Tires
For guys who do not want to leave their sports cars or performance sedans in their garage in winters, they should put on winter performance tires. They are designed to offer excellent traction at high speeds on wet and dry roads. However, they are not your perfect companion for ice or snow-packed roads. A regular high performer is available at around $100-$500 each or $400-$2,000 for all four.
For all the prices we mentioned above, the smaller the size, the lower the cost. However, the price variation also depends on the tire brand, with American tires selling higher than Chinese-made tires.
The prices we shared above are purely for snow tires; they do not include installation charges. For installation, you have two choices. You can either mount the winter rubber on the existing wheels or buy a new set of wheels for all tires.
Consumer Reports says that winters tires increase the snow traction by 34%, thus making it easy for you to stop and maneuver the vehicle. These tires actually cut the braking distance by around six feet. That six feet distance is often the gap between you rear-ending a car or drifting into a crossing against carefully coming to a halt without causing a mishap.
Buying the snow tires also enables you to enjoy insurance savings as well as better fuel mileage (if you maintain them well).
Of note, 76% of all Canadians change their all-season tires with snow tires to enjoy better traction and control. Most car owners say that these tires have saved them a possibly dangerous condition.
Do you know how much winter tire installation costs? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.
In many places in the United States, when winter rolls around, it is time to pull out the winter tires. Of course, this does mean a trip to the local garage.
So, how much is this going to set you back? Is it something that you are able to do yourself?
The answer to these questions, and a whole lot more, will be covered right here on this page.
Table of Contents
We are going to throw a lot of information at you. We are going to give you a rough guide to the pricing for swapping out your standard vehicle tires for winter tires. However, we do want to point out that this really is going to be nothing more than a guideline.
No matter what section you read here, you do have to remember that the price can vary quite drastically depending on the type of tire that you have, as well as your vehicle model. For example, balancing on certain vehicle models can take a lot longer, and thus you can expect the price to be higher.
If you want to know exactly how much you can expect to pay for your winter tires swap, then you have little choice but to talk to your local garage.
Let’s start with the heftiest price of the lot, though. This will be the cost of your tires. Thankfully, this is an expense that you do not have to pay for every single year.
Unless something happens to your tires during the winter months, then you can easily pack them away and use them the following year.
You can expect the price of a good-quality set of winter tires to be roughly around $300-$400. You may need to shop around for the best possible price.
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This is where things can start to vary quite drastically, and you will need to shop around for the best prices.
During the winter months, many garages start to offer promotions on mounting winter tires. This is because they are hoping that the low prices for mounting will draw customers in, and they will be able to score a few extra sales on winter tires.
Generally speaking, it is going to be much, much cheaper if you have winter tires already attached to wheel rims. For the garages, this is pretty much going to be a straight swap out.
You may find that the cost is going to be from $15 to $30 per tire, depending on your vehicle. So, you are looking at a minimum of $60 to $120.
If the winter tires need to be attached to your existing wheel rims, then the price is going to be a little bit more expensive.
You are looking at around $25 to $50 per tire. Again, this is going to be completely dependent on the vehicle that you own. You may need to shop around for the best prices here.
With most garages, the cost of balancing should be included with the mounting of the winter tires.
However, there are some that may charge a little bit extra if you have a vehicle that is a little bit more complicated to deal with e.g. Mercedes vehicles are known for being incredibly difficult to balance tires on. Therefore, most garages will charge a little bit extra for this.
The cost of getting your winter tires balanced will cost roughly $10-$15 extra per tire. This means That you are looking at $40 to $60. As we said, the price may be a little bit higher with some vehicle models.
Read also >> Does Walmart Balance Tires? (Cost + More)
At the same time, you are probably going to want to purchase some new valve stems for your vehicle’s tires. This certainly won’t be expensive. Even the highest quality valve stems probably wouldn’t cost you more than $10 to $20 for all four tires.
If your vehicle has a Tire Pressuring Monitoring System (TPMS) that has been switched off (as it is in some models of vehicle), then you may need to pay $25 to have it switched on.
In many cases, it is going to be a legal requirement to have a TPMS on your vehicle. Newer vehicle models cannot legally operate without one, at least if they have winter tires. You can pay around $400 to $600 for all of your tires to have a sensor installed.
However, you will want to check whether this is a necessary expense. Chances are that it isn’t.
While it is possible to install your own winter tires, you should probably avoid it. It can take a massive amount of time to do, particularly if you have no experience.
It isn’t really worth it for the sake of saving $120 (assuming that you would have to purchase brand new tires whether you are heading to a garage or installing yourself)
The main reason why we would suggest that you avoid installing your own winter tires, however, is due to the fact that you may damage sensors on your vehicle. As we said, most modern vehicles will have a TPMS installed.
If you damage one of these sensors, then you will need to pay somewhere between $100 and $150 to have it replaced. This is why it is so important that you always choose to work with a qualified vehicle technician.
Sadly, you don’t really have a whole lot of choice when it comes to selecting when your winter tires get swapped over.
Most states will have rules about when the switch needs to be made. This means that you really have to do it as close as possible to that switchover date.
Of course, if your state does not have any requirements about when you can use winter tires, you can get them switched over whenever you like. You should try and switch them over just before the snow hits. There is no sense in waiting.
Some people have found that they can save a little bit of money if they wait until the middle of the winter months for the swi5tchover.
However, we are talking a few dollars here and there. It isn’t worth it, particularly because your vehicle will be virtually undrivable if there is snow and ice on the road.
The cost of having winter tires installed can vary quite a bit. If you do not have tires, then you are looking to pay around $400 for them.
This is an expense that will only need to be covered every few years. The actual mounting and balancing part is likely to cost somewhere between $120 and $300, depending on the vehicle that you own. If you need to have a TPMS activated, then you can expect to pay another $25 or so.
If you need a TPMS installed, then it could be $400. However, assuming that you have the tires, expect to be paying around $150, on average. Speak to various garages to get the best price.
https://tractionlife.com/winter-tire-cost-expectations-and-options/
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Is it time to switch from winter to summer tires? Come to our car service to change tires by prior online appointment.
Shesteryonka car services are equipped with modern Italian balancing equipment RAVAGLIOLIM and a tire changer CORCHI , which allows tire fitting for wheels ranging in size from 12 "to 30", including low-profile tires and Run Flat tires.
In addition to tire fitting and wheel balancing, you will receive high-quality services for all types of repairs, including puncture and side cut repair, as well as washing and cleaning wheels. Service centers "Shesterenka" have the status of certified services that have the right to perform tire fitting and wheel balancing.
Name of work | Cost of works | |||||||
R12-14 | R15 | R16 | R17-18 | R19+ comm. transport | ||||
light | implemented | easy | implemented | easy | off-road | |||
Wheel - remove/attach | 90 | 100 | 120 | 110 | 150 | 140 | 170 | 170 |
Wheel - balancing | 90 | 100 | 120 | 110 | 150 | 140 | 170 | 170 |
Wheel assembly | 80 | 90 | 100 | 90 | 130 | 120 | 130 | 150 |
Wheel - removal | 80 | 90 | 100 | 90 | 130 | 120 | 130 | 150 |
Wash wheel | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 |
Wheel - inflation | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
Chamber - repair | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | - | - | - |
One wheel conversion (excl. freight cost) | 340 | 380 | 440 | 400 | 560 | 520 | 600 | 640 |
4 / 6 wheel conversion (without cost of freight) | 1360 | 1520 | 1760 | 1600 | 2240 | 2080 | 2400 | 2560/3840 |
Tire - repair (harness installation) | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 |
Tire - repair (mushroom installation) | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 |
Tire - repair (installation of cord patch) | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 |
Tire - repair (side cut up to 3 cm) | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 300 | 300 | 300 |
Seat - cleaning | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Seat - sealing | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 60 | 60 | 60 |
Disc check (balance) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Copper grease treatment of the hub (1 wheel) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Installing a non-return valve | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
Pressure sensor installation | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 |
Please note that the price is indicated in rubles and is valid at the time of publication. You can get more complete information by contacting the managers of the Shesteryonka service centers.
Certificates of Shesterenka service centers
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The procedure for servicing cars at tire change stations can take a different amount of time. The exact figure depends on the equipment present and the professionalism of the master. On average, changing the wheels of a car at a tire fitting stretches for 20-30 minutes, in the absence of a serious workload of personnel.
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. The exact figure will depend on the type of work performed.
If you put new skates on the discs, you need to count on at least an hour. The usual replacement of finished wheels is faster. A savvy master can change all discs in a few minutes.
The need for repairs also affects the efficiency of work. In some situations (vulcanization is required), the procedure may take a day.
Service stations and tire shops in Russia always try to work as quickly as possible. The salary of the master directly depends on the number of clients. Usually the procedure for changing a set of tires from summer to winter does not take more than one hour.
Waiting time can be increased by factors that do not affect the immediate speed of the specialist's work - this is the queue and customer requirements.
Installing summer tires is more difficult for the mechanic than winter tires. This is argued by the increased rigidity of the rubber. Dense sidewalls are difficult to put on discs, which requires great physical effort.
This difference will not be noticeable to the user. Experienced technicians know how to properly place a product on the machine for fast assembly.
To facilitate the process of changing tires and speed up service, you can foresee a few points in advance and not wait in a huge queue.