Tires of Silver Spring

I cannot say enough good things about this business. I had gotten a flat tire and was at a loss as to who to go see about it. I live in VA, but was up in Silver Spring for some business. I called Tires of Silver Spring on a recommendation. Told Ken what kind of car I had, etc. He said to get there by 4:20. Being at the mercy of the towing truck, who did not show up until 4:30, I figured I’d have to metro back, take a cab home and return the next day. But No! He and his guys fixed me up with my new tire within 10 or so minutes and I was back on the road home. I cannot begin to say how relieved I was as I’m a mil spouse who’d husband is gone right now. I’ll be forever grateful for the awesome service!

I had an excellent experience communicating and coordinating with Ken, the owner, over the last two days. He got the right tire I needed and at a superior price to his competitors. Quick, professional work and a convivial atmosphere.

I needed 4 new tires. I got prompt friendly service, arriving at 3:45 and out by 4:30. They don’t do appointments, but are faster than other tire stores and Sears. No extra selling or price surprises. Crusty owner Ken wasn’t there, but I look forward to making his acquaintance on my next visit.

I had flat tire for Toyota corolla from small screw. He charged me 35 $.it is simple repair and he ad in the store flat tire repair 20 $ and
is so expensive for the repair of simple flat tire, i always make work like this for 15 $.
It is EXPENSIVE repair

Great service in the sense that the folks are knowledgeable and aim to help. Not a rip-​off shop. They know tires and don’t try to take advantage of you. I came in and was helped immediately. The place is family run and community oriented. Once you get past the lack of glitz you will know you are taken care of and in good hands.
After being told the rims were old and corrosive causing air to escape, I agreed to pay sixty dollars to get the rims cleaned. Right when I was about to go, I was told I needed a new tire. Didn’t seem necessary based on what I had been previously told. I went ahead and bought it since it was 70 more than what I was going to pay anyhow. Not sure I needed it especially after reading other reviews.

Reasonable prices and friendly attentive service. 4 tires new and repaired spare all in 45 minutes! Skip Costco, the slow and slower service kills all benefit of slightly cheaper tire. 4 hours at Costco vs. 45 minutes here!

I had a tire that was losing 5 pounds of pressure a week. First took the car to the dealership and a local service station, which both told me that they couldn’t find a leak (but would be happy to sell me a new set of tires). I decided to try Tires of Silver Spring before giving up. Within 15 minutes, they had diagnosed and fixed the problem (the tire didn’t have a leak, but the wheel was damaged) for a very reasonable charge.

Got a flat while my car was parked in the BWI airport lot, which mean driving home on the donut to my place in downtown Silver Spring in the evening. By the next morning the donut was flat and my air pump’s battery was dead, which meant either calling out AAA to reinflate it, or driving around the corner on the dead donut to this place. I opted for the latter.
Got the lecture others have written about, re: my tires not having been properly maintained. I asked what service places he recommended, then, for proper overall service, and got hemming and hawing. Sorry, don’t tell me about problems with my car if you don’t have a solution, because I’m not making a special trip just to get my tires serviced.
The tire had been suffering from dry rot, which had weakened it so that it got a hole (this all was apparent when the AAA guy jacked it up to put on the donut). I asked the guy here if any of the other tires showed signs of dry rot, too, but he said they couldn’t tell without putting the car up. So I bought a single Nexen as a replacement for $ 180, which seemed way too much, but I was stuck at this point and just wanted a driveable car. They did check and reinflate the donut as part of this, otherwise this would probably be a two-​star review.
Got a $ 10 telescoping mirror from Amazon after this and was able to get it into my Mazda 3’s tight quarters to see that one of the others was indeed cracked and dry rotting. So I took it to Quality Discount Tire & Auto Kensington where they replaced the other 3 tires with the same Nexens for a total of $ 370. That’s just over $ 123 per tire.
I still bought local at Quality Discount Tires, but I didn’t get a lecture and I saved a lot of money. And a lecture from the place that let me drive off with a dry-​rotted tire that I could diagnose with a $ 10 tool from Amazon, to boot.

Super nice guys working here, old school and. Want to educate about tire car saftey. Will come back for sure!!!

So I’m taking my 3 kids and wife to the park when we notice one of the tires has a slow leak secondary to a nail. Tires of Silver Spring is the closest tire repair store nearby and my wife suggest stopping in to have it patched. I’ve had bad experience with this place in the past trying to upsell new tires for an old car I was bring to inspection. Against my better judgement we stop in, after all how hard can a plug and patch be?
The upsell starts from the moment I tell them I need a plug for a tire with a nail in it, the owner Ken (old white guy) says, «We don’t do plugs only internal patches, it’s safer. That will be $ 37,» Since my wife and kids r there and I want to get them to the park I agree. Then Bobby (old black guy), «Oh hey there’s a problem. You already had this patched before you can’t do it twice, you need a new tire.» I tell them, that’s ok I’ll pass, please just put the spare tire on. After putting the spare tire on they say, «That will be $ 40 bucks.» Even though they didn’t repair the tire they claim that is the cost for taking the tire off and inspecting it. WHAT!!! I get the hell out of there before I explode on these ripoff artist in front of my 3 girls.
The next day my wife takes the tire down the street to Radial Tire and they plug the tire for FREE!!!
Do not go to Tires of Silver Spring the place is disheveled and run down. Ken and Bobby are skilled ripoff artist and can’t be trusted. They have a prime location so I presume that is how they attract their business, but they have poor customer service and will always try to upsell you on buying a new set of tires in the name of safety. Of course everyone wants to be safe but if you go there and the price seems too high I would go else where for a second opinion. They prey on people’s ignorance and trust that is their business model. If you want service you can trust go to radial tire.
Radial Tire
9101 Brookville Rd
Silver Spring, MD 20 910‑1809
301−585−2740
And no I don’t have any financial or other relationship to Radial Tire. I am just an honest consumer, who doesn’t like being taken advantage of who lives around the corner from this place and feel bad for people who don’t know better. BUYER BEWARE!!!
Of course when you leave they’ll use the classic line «Are you sure? It’s not safe.»

Had a horrible experience here.
While the selection of tires is great, the prices are pretty steep. The older gentleman, who seems to be the owner, not only seems to be pissed and grumpy all the time, but he will not give you a dime off. Actually, he will charge for every single thing he can find to charge you for.
They had a problem getting one of my tires off and made me feel like it’s my fault?! I tried to take my tire off by myself as they gave up on me. Ridiculous.
I started talking to another customer who was waiting there with me and he mentioned that when he is due for a tire change, he tries to avoid the owner as he is always the same (unpleasant to talk to).
Ended up paying $ 225 for 2 good tires with 90% thread with all the work. $ 20 more and I could of gotten brand new tires somewhere else and a pleasant experience with at least a decent salesman. You can’t get any of those here.

BMW owners, beware. This guy «won’t touch run flat tires» and he won’t point you in the direction of someone who will, either.

I’ve been going to Ken for tires for about 8 years. Look he’s old and crusty and a little cantankerous, and don’t get him started on politics but he will sit down and explain what you need and what your options are. He likes tires, he knows the whole business. He’s very service oriented. He always sits down after a tire sale and
explains what i need to do to keep these tires living as long as possible.
He’s one of a dying breed.

As other reviewers have pointed out, the owner will be blunt in offering you unsolicited advice on how you could be taking better care of your car. He won’t be trying to sell you anything, but he seems to consider it part of the «service» you receive to let you know how often you should be waxing your car to maintain the finish, how often you should re-​inflate your spare, etc., even if you’re just there for a new tire. For example, when I told him that I wanted to buy a new tire to replace my flat rather than let him check the existing one to determine whether he could patch it, he said, «So you just want to arbitrarily put a new one on there without checking if I can save the one you’ve got?» That sort of bluntness can be off-​putting, especially his characterization of my purchasing decision as «arbitrary» — not warm and fuzzy by any means.
However, to put that blunt-​speak in context, he was trying to save me money. Although my buying the new tire would be more profitable for him, he was more or less trying to talk me out of the new tire because he thought he might’ve been able to save my existing tire. For my peace of mind, however, I wanted a new one, and he had one in stock that his employee put on quickly.
He also checked my spare and re-​inflated it (without my asking and without charging separately for a «checkup») and checked to make sure that I had the tools necessary with my spare to put it on if I ever needed to. In fact, when he didn’t see them at first, he suggested that I check my owner’s manual and purchase the necessary equipment and put it with my spare, in case I needed it in an emergency. But then he realized that the jack and wrench were designed to fit under the spare. Still, just to be sure, he unscrewed the piece holding the spare to check to make sure everything I needed was there. Now, I didn’t ask for any of this, and he wasn’t charging me for this check, but he obviously cared to make sure that I was in good shape.
Moreover, he obviously knows a lot about tires (and cars in general). So although he could be seen as talking down to a customer, after considering that he wasn’t trying to make any money from his advice, I attributed the tone of his comments to his plainspoken manner and attributed his non-​tire-​related advice to a genuine desire to inform his customers about how they can keep their cars in good shape longer. The owner also gave me a very helpful recommendation (after I asked for one) for a local auto shop that could take care of an electrical problem that I was having with my car. After I paid, he stapled a little tire-​maintenance tip sheet to my invoice with tips about how often to have my tires rotated, how often to «air up» my tires, etc.
The new-​tire price was a bit expensive compared to the prices I found online for the same tire after I got my replacement. But small businesses often can’t buy in bulk for the lower prices that the larger chains get (including the online sellers), and I was happy to pay a bit more to an honest, independent local businessman.
So while the owner’s attitude may seem a bit jarring at first, if you place it in context — he’s generally trying to save you money or give you advice on how to treat your car better — it’s a great place to go for honest service and new tires, albeit slightly expensive ones.

Not a lot of amenities here — just some guys changing your tires. When asked whether I wanted a new or used tired, I opted for the new one at $ 151. A few minutes later the guy rolled out a tire that looked as if it had never touched pavement, described it as «used» and asked if I was sure about buying that new tire. I got the used tired installed and rolled out having spent a little under $ 100. Unless the tire explodes in the next couple of weeks, I got a damned good deal and one that he didn’t have to offer.
They’re located right at the intersection of Georgia and East West Highway as you enter/​exit Silver Spring. Not fancy — they do one thing and do it well. Recommended.

I was referred to this place by a friend who said he has been going here ever since he got drive.
I admit that walking in was a little scary if you have never been there before as it isn’t super new and fancy. BUT that makes no difference. These guys were helpful in explaining the problem to me and in providing reasonable options.
My tire was checked, replaced, and balanced before I knew it. I will refer anybody to them.
Update: Hated to drop these guys down but I had to. A week after they installed my new tire, I found out that it was installed backwards and I had to pay someone to correct it since I didn’t have time to go back.

I hate spending money on car stuff but my experience here was great. You can tell the owner really cares about providing great service. He was really knowlegable and knows a TON about tires. I wouldnt say hes a super warm and fuzzy guy but he seemed really honest. He didnt try to sell me a bunch of extra crap. I felt like I a got a fair deal on good tires without all of the annoying upsell. I wish he sold more than tires because I would pretty much take my car to him for everything.

I was very impressed with the service I got at Silver Spring Tires. I had a flat tire the week before and was riding on a spare as well as three other tires that were in need of replacing. I called up and explained my situation and they said as long as I got my car in by 4, they could take a look at it and then we could talk about options.
As soon as I walked in the door, I was greeted and I explained my situation. The mechanic followed me out to my car, inspected all four tires and said that he could have them replaced in about an hour. We went back into the office to talk about pricing and possible extra charges and he gave me a quote.
I sat and read in the office for 45 minutes and my car was done. The quote was the exact price I paid, I was given maintenance instructions and sent on my way. Not only that, but I mentioned how I had been unhappy with some services I’d received in the past from another shop and he immediately referred me to two other places that specialize in Volkswagens and do good work. I’ll definitely recommend them again!

Super fast service – I came in with a piece of wire in my tire, which they pulled out. It didn’t look like I needed a patch, fortunately.
Like other reviewers have said, the owner was honest and explained things to me, which I did appreciate. Maybe it’s me, but I did feel a bit judged because of where I purchased my previous set of tires and my lack of expertise about my car (that’s why I pay someone else to help me!).
Overall, I’ll probably still frequent this place, as I do value the speed/​honesty/​expertise, and I suppose I’ll just suck up the feeling of being talked down to.

I’ve had a slow leak for the last two weeks. I finally rolled in, ZERO wait. A kind, elderly gentleman yanked the tire off, found the screw in it and patched it. Didn’t try to sell me a new tire, didn’t treat me like a «woman.». Great service.
Ken the Owner chit-​chatted with me while I waited, even whipping out a potato-​shaped rock for me to ponder. I swear to god the thing looked just like a real potato. color and everything. Now THAT is service. :)
5 minutes later, I was good to go and Ken volunteered that they do real patches, NOT plugs — and they’ve done it that way for 30 years. I guess that explains the high price ($ 30). If the repair had been in the $ 15 range, they’d get a perfect 5. Either way, I will be back when the need arises. Excellent service is worth the premium.