Woohoo! "Reserved" myself a set of used Insight tires (Bridgestone Potenza RE92)

[brucepick]

Hah. Every self-service pick and pull I ever went to sold tires if you would pull them.

I think most likely, a yard that won't sell the tires prefers selling them to whatever wholesale buyer they have. Somehow they "estimated" they make more money and/or have less hassle that way. Or their brother owns the wholesale buying outfit.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Hah. Every self-service pick and pull I ever went to sold tires if you would pull them.

I think most likely, a yard that won't sell the tires prefers selling them to whatever wholesale buyer they have. Somehow they "estimated" they make more money and/or have less hassle that way. Or their brother owns the wholesale buying outfit.

This is a good point, in itself. One of the local yards won't sell certain engines because he has a core buyer that comes in and pulls them all when he has at least X of them.

[CapriRacer]

Buying used tires is a lot like buying used cars. It is easy to buy a disaster waiting to happen if you don't know what you are looking for.

Some folks will sell old tires, repaired tires, wornout tires, even tires with nails still through them - in other words, anything to make a buck!

Others do a good job of inspection and will only sell stuff they believe will provide good service.

You need to be very careful you know what you are getting. Let the buyer beware!

[MetroMPG]

Unfortunately, my deal fell through this week. The guy decided to sell the car.

And I don't want to buy the entire Insight just to get a set of second-hand tires

(Correction: I'd love to have an Insight. But I neither need one, nor want to take up garage space with one that I'll rarely use. So even though he gave me first crack at it, I said "thanks, but no".)

[Wonderboy]

Oh come on now Darin, you know you want to own another landmark in the history of automotive fuel efficiency. Why is this guy selling it, pray tell?

[MetroMPG]

Of course I do! But I'm not gonna.

He's selling to sort out personal financial issues.

[MetroMPG]

I posted a want ad on InsightCentral. Worth a shot...

[RobertSmalls]

Metro, you can have mine when I'm done with them if you haven't found something else by then. But don't hold your breath; I'm hoping it will be a few years.

[MetroMPG]

Thanks, Matt.

Surprisingly, I actually got 2 replies on Insight Central. One guy has a set in his basement with 100k on them that are still above the wear bar. Another guy says he'll be taking a set off his car next year (2011).

I've never bought tires online though, and I'm wondering: anybody know how tires are shipped? Do they come in boxes? Wrapped up somehow?

Knowing would help me to estimate shipping hassle/cost and make an offer.

[MetroMPG]

Crud. Looks like $42 per tire to ship to Canada via USPS. Kinda defeats the purpose.