Taxing Your Tires

Taxing Your Tires

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Story Published: Oct 26, 2009 at 4:51 PM PST

By Sade Malloy

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UNION GAP -- A new tax on tires is hitting the market. Just as the winter weather starts and when you're most likely shopping for a new set. This is no small tax we're talking 35%.

Getting your car ready for winter with a new set of studded tires is going to cost you a lot more than what you paid last year. A new tax on Chinese-made tires is bumping up the price by 35%.

"The reaction is not positive, nor is it positive to us because we're the front line to the consumer," says Bryan Frank, Frank's Tire Factory.

One reason customers aren't rolling with the new changes is because the imports make up half of the entire tire market. Which means the tires that used to cost you $60 are now going to be closer to $80.

"Everything is going up so I'm not surprised tires are coming too," says Gayle Carber, tire shopping.

The new tax has customers pulling more used tires off the shelf so they get the upgrade they need at a price they can afford.

"I'm not into buying fancy tires or wheels. I just get what we need and what gets us by and actually we save money because we don't go for the new stuff," says Kevin Quantrell, tire shopping.

While searching for used tires can save you over half the price of new ones Frank's Tire Factory recommends you stick with the tires your car came with.
Downgrades are a big don't, especially if you have new performance tires which work specifically with how the car handles.

"The reason they do that is for breaking issues they make the break system larger to have a larger wheel," says Bryan Frank, Frank's Tire Factory.

New tire, new tax, new inflated price tag.

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