When to buy tires cheap — 2026 seasonal pricing calendar

We tracked 194,809 price snapshots across four retailers. Here's when tire prices actually drop, by month, by season, and by tire category. The honest pricing calendar — what the data shows, not what marketing says.

Tire pricing is more cyclical than most consumers realize. We track 194,809 daily price snapshots across TireAgent, PriorityTire, Discount Tire, and 1010tires (with TireRack, TireBuyer, and SimpleTire being rolled into the dataset). The patterns are clear once you have the data: tire prices drop on a predictable cadence, but the cadence depends on tire category, retailer, and where you are in the country. This guide is the honest seasonal calendar.

Three pricing cycles to know

Tire prices respond to three overlapping cycles:

1. Annual seasonal cycle. Winter tires drop in price in spring (April-May); all-seasons hold steady year-round with mild dips in October-November; summer tires drop in late fall.
2. Quarterly retailer promotional cycle. Major retailers (Discount Tire, Costco, Sam's Club) run quarterly mail-in rebates, typically $50-100 per set, with the most aggressive offers in Q1 (January-March) and Q4 (October-December).
3. Manufacturer model-year cycle. Tire models get refreshed every 5-7 years. The 18-24 months before a refresh, the outgoing model gets discounted to clear inventory. The new model is full-priced for 24-36 months after launch.

The single best month to buy tires

From our snapshot data, the lowest aggregate tire prices appear in April and October. April catches the post-winter inventory clearance (winter tires) and the early-summer pre-stocking lull (all-seasons). October catches the back-to-school spending slowdown and the lead-up to the major Black Friday/Cyber Monday push (where the deals are real but the inventory selection narrows).

The single worst month is January, when winter-tire demand spikes in the snow belt and retailers raise prices to match demand. February follows.

When to buy by tire category

Winter tires

Best months: April through June. Retailers are clearing winter inventory and have warehouse space pressure.

Worst months: November through January. Peak demand, full prices, and the cheapest sizes sell out first.

If you can, buy winter tires in April for the following winter. The cost difference between April and November pricing on the same tire is routinely 15-25%.

All-season touring

Best months: September-November. Manufacturer mail-in rebates concentrate here, and retailers run quarterly promos.

Worst months: July-August. Summer driving season, peak demand for replacements.

Summer / performance

Best months: October-December. End-of-driving-season clearance, especially on outgoing model years.

Worst months: April-June. Peak driving season for performance buyers.

Truck and SUV (highway-terrain and all-terrain)

Best months: September-November and February-March. Truck tires don't have a sharp seasonal cycle, but quarterly retailer promotions hit hardest in these windows.

Cross-retailer strategy — when which retailer wins

From our cross-retailer data (typical median listed prices in 2026):

• Discount Tire typically has the lowest physical-retailer pricing. Includes mounting, balancing, and rotation in their installed quote. Best for sets where you want to walk in and walk out.
• PriorityTire typically has the lowest online-only listed prices. Shipping is free over $100 in most cases. Best for shipping to a local installer.
• TireAgent aggregates listings from multiple wholesalers; spread is wide. Best for sizes where you need maximum availability.
• 1010tires primarily serves Canada with US shipping; pricing competitive on specific brands.

The cross-retailer spread on the same tire model is typically 30-90%. The single biggest savings opportunity for most buyers is not waiting for a sale — it's checking the TireIndex per-model page and buying from the cheapest retailer on the day of purchase.

Mail-in rebate strategy

Manufacturer mail-in rebates ($50-100 per set, sometimes $150) are the lowest-effort discount available, but they require:

1. Buying during the promotion period (the dates are strict — usually 30-day windows)
2. Submitting the rebate form within the deadline (typically 30 days from purchase)
3. Including the original purchase receipt (yes, the paper one) and DOT codes from all four tires
4. Waiting 6-8 weeks for the prepaid card

Most rebates expire unclaimed because buyers forget to submit. Set a calendar reminder for the 5th day after purchase to fill out the form. Real-time deal tracking sites like SlickDeals and DealNews surface the active rebates; we don't separately track them in our database.

Outgoing model-year strategy

When a manufacturer releases a new generation of a tire (e.g., Defender to Defender 2, Pilot Sport 4S to Pilot Sport 5), the outgoing model gets aggressively discounted for 12-18 months. The discount is often 25-40%, and the outgoing model is rarely meaningfully inferior — the new model usually offers 5-10% better wet grip or 5-10% lower noise, not a transformative improvement.

For touring all-seasons, the outgoing-model strategy can save $40-100 per tire. The trade-off is shorter warranty (the outgoing model's warranty calendar starts from purchase date, but the technology is one generation behind). For most commuters, the trade-off is favorable.

Putting it together — the cheapest-possible-purchase recipe

1. Wait for spring (April-June) for winter tires; wait for fall (September-November) for all-seasons
2. Check the TireIndex per-model page for cross-retailer spread on the day you're ready to buy
3. Choose the cheapest retailer for the model
4. Stack any active manufacturer rebate on top
5. If a new generation of the model is launching, consider the outgoing model for an additional 25-40% discount

By Mark Bishop · Updated 2026-05-20.