Owning a car isn’t always cheap, especially when it comes to keeping it regularly maintained. But routine maintenance shouldn’t cost you a terrible amount of money. Yet one woman experienced just that after she received a bill for $1,000 for the replacement of tires on her Kia.
TikTok user Joh (@johannamariie) posted a video on her account that has 1.3 million views at the time of writing. She said that she was inviting viewers to check out her “haul” before promptly showing off what had been done with her Kia. And Joh panned to some new Firestone tires.
Incredibly, she said in the comments section that it was the right price she could find for the tires she wanted. But the price she ended up paying left her aghast, and she was shocked at what she had seen. The final price was not what she had expected.
As with many TikTok videos, there was plenty of discussion in the comments section. It led to a lively chat about people spending similar amounts of money on tires, and some of the stories made it seem like Joh had actually got quite a good bargain.
Joh Recounted the Shock at the Tire Prices
@johannamariieWoooooooooooo♬ original sound – Joh
Joh had gone to get new tires for her car, clearly not expecting to spend a huge amount of money. “I just spent $1,000. Let me haul you,” she said in her video. She then showed off the four new Firestone tires, and in the comments section, she noted it was the best price she could find for the tires she wanted. “I checked other places and the tires I wanted were the same price or more,” she said.
It was still a shock to her to see the final price. “When he said ‘tap your card,’ and I saw the total, my knees almost gave out,” she wrote in a comment on the video. Yet while it might seem like a lot, it would appear to be in line with the national average. Consumer Reports conducted a survey in 2024, and respondents said they paid an average of around $212 for a new tire, as well as a $31 installation fee.
That means the average price of a tire works out to roughly $243. If you buy four tires, then it is around $972. Installation also means more than simply putting the new tires on the car. Workers can check things like the wheels and the valve stems, and make sure each wheel is properly balanced. As the comments on her video also showed, Joh wasn’t alone in spending such a large amount of money on rubber.
TikTok Users Shared Tire-Buying Tales
The comments section was filled with people recounting similarly expensive tales. “You’re better than me because I ended up just getting a new car,” wrote one viewer of Jo’s video. “Me this week.. spent $1,500 for tires and alignment,” said one, paying $500 more than what Joh paid. Yet there was one TikTok user who, for some reason, paid a staggering amount of money more.
“I got winter tires and sensors 2,500+,” said this user. “It’s okay though—when I become homeless, I’ll stay warm with a very nice tire fire!” they amusingly added. “The first time I bought four tires at once, I was literally gasping for air,” said another. Clearly, buying tires is not for the faint-hearted. It sounds like some people have to be tough cookies to get over the shock of how much they now cost.