Discount Tire Direct Consumer Review & Falken Ziex ZE-512 Product Pictures

Discount Tire Direct Consumer Review
A consumer's opinion of the Discount Tire Direct (DiscountTireDirect.com) service including product pictures and prices.

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UPS Tracking Info

Ordered Sunday - Arrived Thursday

New Falken Ziex ZE-512

The Falken Ziex ZE-512 tires on my 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP were finally looking worn out after almost four years and 21,000 miles of spirited driving.

Since the car is just over 10 years old with 101K miles on the odometer and I may not be keeping it much longer, I wanted to replace the tires with the least expensive "performance" orientated option possible.

I've ordered from Tire Rack in the past and it was an excellent experience. But the cheapest 225/60R16 size tires with the required "H" (130 MPH) speed rating on TireRack.com were the backordered Fuzion HRi tires for $73 each plus $61.58 in shipping for a total cost of $353.58.

I continued shopping around at other online tire sites such as TireSavings.com, OnlineTire.com, TreadDepot.com, DiscountTires.com, TireBuyer.com, Walmart.com and DiscountTireDirect.com.

Manufactured March 2011

Made In Japan

As I'm sure you can already tell from the title of this review, I finally chose to order another set of Falken Ziex ZE-512 tires from DiscountTireDirect.com for $79 each with free UPS Ground shipping for a total cost of just $316.

I'm familiar with the performance, handling characteristics and wear rate of the Falken Ziex ZE-512 tires so they seemed like the best choice versus ordering "generic" brand name tires at a higher cost from the other online retailers. I calculated that the per mile cost for my old ZE512's was $0.02/mile based on a 21,000 mile life and their replacement cost of $316 plus $54.46 for them to be mounted and balanced at a local Wal-Mart Tire & Lube location.

Inside of Tire

"Rotation" Arrow

The per tire, shipping and total cost for the absolute least expensive 225 60 R16 size H+ speed rated tires at the other online retailers were as follows: Tire Rack $73 / $61.58 / $353.58, Wal-Mart $108 / Free / $432, OnlineTire.com $85.31 / $77.40 / $418.64, TireBuyer.com $79.58 / Free / $318.32, DiscountTires.com $71 / $50 / $334. and TreadDepot.com $66 / $63.76 / $327.76.

Old Falken Ziex ZE512

21,000 Miles Later

Worn Down To Wear Bears

I placed the order for four new Falken Ziex ZE-512 Tire at Discount Tire Direct on Sunday 5/15/11, they were shipped from Ohio on Monday 5/16/11 and received promptly in Florida on Thursday 5/19/11. DTD sent an email late Monday afternoon with the two UPS Ground tracking numbers representing each pair of tires.

New Tire Mounted

Wal-Mart Tire & Lube

101,682 Miles

Overall, I was very impressed with the experience of ordering tires from Discount Tire Direct and will definitely recommend the company to my family or friends. They had the best total price for the minimum specification tires that my car required with the added bonus of the tires being from a respected brand name manufacturer with acceptable performance characteristics.

To save even more money, I decided to take a chance on having them mounted and balanced at a nearby Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Center. Despite the many warnings and negative reviews found online about patronizing Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Centers, I had an unexpectedly excellent experience. For more, please visit my Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Center Consumer Review.

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