Winter tires
Winter tires, changed over on your driveway
The one job everybody in Ottawa needs in the same six weeks. We come to the car, so nobody sits in a waiting room in November.
How soon
The wait, not a deadline
Next opening: Monday
There is no cut-off, and we would rather do your tires in January than not do them. What happens is that the whole city asks in the same few weeks: the first cold morning is forecast, everybody remembers at once, and the wait goes from a few days to a few weeks.
Ask early and you pick the day and the time. Ask when the snow is already falling and you take what is left.
What it costs
On rims, or off
The difference is whether your winters already live on their own wheels. On rims is four wheels swapped over and torqued; off rims means each tire is broken off its wheel, the new one mounted, the wheel balanced and the sensor checked. It is a longer job, which is why it is priced apart.
Before tax. The full price list has everything else we do.
If you have not got a set
We can supply them too
We buy from a wholesaler, so you are not paying a tire shop's retail. Tell us the size and you get a written quote with the tire, the mounting and balancing, the disposal and the tax all in it. Nothing is ordered until you say yes.
The size is on the side of the tire you are on now. Three numbers, like 225/65R17: a width, a height and the wheel it goes on. Send those and we can price it exactly. We do not work it out from the year and model, because most cars came with more than one size and plenty are not on the one they left the factory with.
Every quote comes with a photo of the tread and what the tire actually is: speed rating, load index, tread depth and the warranty on it. Two tires at the same price are not the same tire.
Ask for one
Request a changeover
A few quick questions, one at a time: whether the tires are on rims, the vehicle, the day you want and how to reach you. We've scheduled you in. If there's any issue with that date, we'll contact you.
Worth knowing
Why the swap is worth doing
- It is the temperature, not the snow. Below about 7°C the rubber in an all-season stiffens and stops gripping properly, which is most of an Ottawa winter whether or not there is anything on the road.
- Stopping distance is the part you feel. The Traffic Injury Research Foundation, which is based here in Ottawa, found stopping distances just below freezing as much as 30% shorter on winter tires than on all-seasons.
- Your insurer owes you a discount. Since 2016 every Ontario insurer has had to offer one on private passenger policies for four winter tires carrying the mountain-snowflake mark. It is usually a few per cent, it differs by company, and it is not automatic. You have to call and ask for it. Keep the receipt.
- Winter tires are not the law in Ontario. They are in Quebec from December, so if you drive over the bridge in winter that is worth knowing. Studded tires are not legal here for anybody outside the northern districts, and we do not put them on.
Where we come to
Getting to you
Kanata, Stittsville, Barrhaven and the rest of the west end, on your driveway or in the parking lot at work. Every postal code we cover has a set figure for the trip, published in full.
Ask us
Get a price for the job
Tell us what the car is and what it's doing, and we'll come back to you with a price. Texting is the quickest way to get hold of us.
We rent trailers too, from the same driveway. An equipment trailer and an enclosed cargo one.
Or ask for a changeover: a few quick questions, one at a time, and the day you want from the days we have.