I went down to my parkade the other day (friday) to change out my summer tires because the weather forecast has finally predicted sucky weather. I had a giggle upon arriving however as there were 2 other people changing their tires already. All 3 of us with both front doors open and loud music playing :)

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It made me wonder however, is changing my own tires worthwhile? or am I wasting time? So, here we go once again into cost/benefit math.

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Cost of Paying Someone

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Quotes range from $10 - $20 per tire at a shop if you have your winter tires on a second set of rims and all they have to do is swap them out. Double to triple it if you don't."; echo "
So we are talking $40 to $80 twice a year.

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Cost of Putting on Your Own Tires

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Total: $128.98 = ~$130.00

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Well the results are in. If you change your tires twice a year (spring and fall), it's going to take you about 1.5 years to break even. As in; yup I'm saving quite a bundle.

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What about the money spent on rims?

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Fair enough, lets do it. As stated above, it'll be $20 - $40 per tire if you don't own rims. So we are talking $80 to $160 twice a year to avoid buying rims.

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Lets say rims are super outrageously priced at $200.00 per tire (they are normally about $75 to $125 including install). So we are talking about saving over $800 up front.

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not buying rims or tools = $80 x 2 x # of years

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buying rims, but not tools = $800 + $40 x 2 x # of years

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buying rims and tools = $800 + $110 + $20 x 2 x # of years

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Direct Comparison

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Alright, apples to apples time. Starting at year 1, how much money are we spending and which option is cheapest? (green = cheap, red = expensive)"; echo "
The equation is simple. Previous year/initial cost plus current year cost.

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YearCost with rimsCost without rims
ShopDIY
1$800 + $80 = $880$800 + $130 = $930$0 + $160 = $160
2$880 + $80 = $960$930 + $40 = $970$160 + $160 = $320
3$1040$1010$480
4$1120$1050$640
5$1200$1090$800
6$1280$1130$960
7$1360$1170$1040
8$1440$1210$1200
9$1520$1250$1360
10$1600$1290$1520
11$1680$1330$1680
12$1760$1370$1840
13$1840$1410$2000
14$1920$1450$2160
15$2000$1490$2320
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Patterns! I like patterns!"; echo "
So if you're only going to own your car for 8 years, it's cheaper to skip spare rims. If you own your car for more than 11 years, you'll end up loosing money."; echo "
If you own your car and buy rims, your losing the race until year 12 when you start enjoying your long term investment strategy."; echo "
If you own your car, buy rims and tools, you're losing the race in the first 2 years, not winning until year 8.5, and then you're laughing your way to the bank.

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Finally, this chart is a worst case scenario...No-one pays $200 per rim. So you can chop 3-4 years off the payback periods.

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But I don't Know How To Do It / Can't Do It Myself

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Understandable, trying to do anything in crutches was stupidly hard, I usually gave up and asked for help. I can't imagine the constant challenges of long term injuries and diseases."; echo "
Answer: Pay a teenager/neighbor/child something like $20/a 6 pack/dinner/cookies to do it for you. Besides, that gives you an hour to chat or do some other chore.

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I mean, seriously, do you really need to pay $40-$80 twice a year to do this:

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  1. Loosen bolts with tire iron
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  2. Jack tire off ground
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  3. Take off bolts and tire
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  4. Put on new tire and hand tighten bolts
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  5. Lower car until tire doesn't spin
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  6. Set tourque wrench
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  7. Tighten bolts 1/2 way
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  8. Lower car the rest of the way
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  9. Tighten bolts fully
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  10. Double check all bolts
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  11. Drive 20-50km (1 day to work and back)
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  12. Check bolts again.
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