Costco Quality Question

SethX9 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:21 pm

I've read that the discount stores (Costco, WalMart, etc) who sell name-brand tires....that they license the the mold but the compound isn't the same as what's sold at a 'regular' tire store.

Anyone have any solid evidence one way or the other on this?

S~

SKIDOG · **Posted:** Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:00 pm

Don't know where you read that but it sounds like urban legend. How could they sell a brand name tire and change the process in making it. If there was a massive recall who would foot the bill? The original manufacturer or Costco. Just doesn't sound right.
MY $.02

tarkus · **Posted:** Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:41 pm

That has to be about the silliest idea I have heard of. Do you think that they would risk their reputation selling such products. That's why they have more than one name that they sell their products under

Gris · **Posted:** Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:08 pm

Just a comparison to play Devil's advocate...

Levi jeans was in trouble. Wal-Mart offered to buy xxx number of jeans and pretty much bailed out Levi from Bankrupcy. Go to Wal-Mart and let me know if you see and 501s or 505s that are more expensive. Levi made a pair of crap jeans for Wal-mart because Wal-mart set the price and told levi what it was going to pay. no more and no less. So Levi made crap jeans that don't do the name justice and are nowhere near as durable as the regular ones.

Normal walmart way of doing business. Get the name without the quality associated with it.

I'm not sure if the tire thing is true or not, just saying that it's exactly the type business practices that walmart follows.

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:15 pm

I have heard of that tire thing. Not identical tires, though, just very similar tires. They use a similar tread with less sidewall or a different compound, and call it a different name (and charge less). I'll try and look up some examples

BF Goodrich "Land Terrain" is a Walmart-only tire:

It is similar to the BFG AT/KO, but not quite the same:

SethX9 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:56 pm

tarkus - there's a whole industry built on selling products that aren't up to the muster of first-rate retail outlets. Ross, Marshall's, etc. ... all are selling products that for one reason or another are not good enough to be on the shelf at Sears or Filenes or wherever. Just because a product isn't good enough to be sold at a first-rate store doesn't mean the product is a piece of crap; it may just mean that there's some minor flaw so a discount store will need to sell it at a reduced price to people who have (or should have) an understanding of the fact that they are buying a less than optimal example of some company's product.

Se7enLC - maybe that's it...maybe I had read that some BFG tires sold at Wal-Mart and Costco were not the same 'model' of tire and so "buyer beware".

Thanks for the feedback so far. I was just wondering because the BFG All-Terrains are at my local Costco. Funny thing is the price really isn't reduced at all on them. In fact, Costco wants $162 and DiscountTire.com wants $155....hhmmmm

Brigrat · **Joined:** Sun May 21, 2006 6:17 pm **Posts:** 92

If you want BFG AT's, get the General Grabber AT2's. They are the same tread pattern, half the cost, and with a better warantee. You can't go wrong, I am pleased with them, and others are too!

Lesrace82 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 08, 2005 3:10 pm **Posts:** 37

I cant say enough good things about the General Grabbers so far. Very pleased with them.

Brigrat · **Joined:** Sun May 21, 2006 6:17 pm **Posts:** 92

same here. they make me wonder why I ever bought BFG's in the past?

Troysterr · **Posted:** Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:42 pm

I believe that Wally World sells low-quality tires, because, as mentioned above, they do the same thing with jeans, toilet paper, and everything else.

Costco, on the other hand, bends over backward to sell only the highest quality stuff. I'm pretty sure their tires are the real deal.

SethX9 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:10 pm

I really don't want to start comparing tires. There are plenty of threads and websites for that. I just wanted to know if there was any truth at all to the rumor I'd heard.

Costco Quality Question

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