SimpleTire Review: What Its Terms, Coverage and Returns Say

SimpleTire sells tires online and hands the fitting to local shops: you pick the tires and an installer, pay for both at checkout, and the tires are delivered to the shop. This review reads the fine print. On 8 October 2026 we read SimpleTire’s Terms of Use (last updated September 1st, 2021) and Sales Terms (May 1, 2021), its returns, shipping, coverage and roadside pages, the sample coverage certificate and roadside benefit statement behind them, its financing, About and installer pages, and 20 help-center answers, plus USPTO trademark records, NHTSA’s recall lookup and federal rules on tire registration and warranties. We placed no order and use no customer ratings. This site has no commercial relationship with SimpleTire, Sonsio or any tire seller.

How buying from SimpleTire works, and who is behind it

SimpleTire’s About page calls it “a B2B technology enabled platform that connects all the participants in the tire industry,” selling to consumers through simpletire.com, to “national retailers and clubs,” and to fleets. For a buyer the path is: “Choose from one of our pre-certified service centers or ship to your home,” then “Pick a time and pay online. Tires will be delivered to the shop.” The help center says “The cost of installing your tires is paid at checkout”; at the appointment you bring the emailed receipt. Your own shop can receive the tires if you first “check with your installer to confirm whether or not they are able to accept tires at their facility on your behalf.”

The installer sign-up page shows the money flow. The installation payment “is paid by SIMPLETIRE to the INSTALLER on behalf of the customer within 48 hours of completed service,” with “pricing specifics (Range: $15-$24 per tire).” That is what SimpleTire says it pays the shop, not your price, which the help center says “can vary by location and number of tires” and shows in the cart. Shops must handle rims from 12 to 22 inches and take the customer “within 15 min of appointment time.” Network size depends on the sentence: the About page claims “20,000+ installation partners” and, further down, “10,000+ installers and 3,000+ independent supply points.” SimpleTire also sells through “Walmart, Amazon, eBay and more”; those buyers are told to contact the marketplace for support.

Who owns it. The About page says “Simple Tire partnered with Dealer Tire in 2018 and has grown more than 3x since then. SimpleTire currently operates as part of the Dealer Tire Family of Companies,” and that Bain Capital Private Equity made “a significant investment” in Dealer Tire in October 2018. We read no filing on the size of Dealer Tire’s interest.

The public record. The USPTO lists two live registrations for “Online retail store services featuring tires”: SIMPLETIRE.COM (registration 5189600, April 25, 2017, first use November 1, 2010) and the SIMPLETIRE logo (registration 5211049, May 23, 2017). Both name “Simple Tire LLC,” a Pennsylvania limited liability company in Trevose. The Terms name “SimpleTire LLC” in Philadelphia; the sample certificate lists the dealer in Feasterville-Trevose. Pennsylvania’s business registry and the Better Business Bureau both blocked our browser, so this page reports neither.

What the price includes, and what shipping costs

The local-shops page promises “All-inclusive pricing. No hidden costs!” The Sales Terms, which govern every order, say “prices shown in the Store exclude taxes or charges (‘Taxes’) that may apply to your purchase, as well as installation charges” and “may exclude delivery costs,” all “added to the amount of your purchase and shown on the check-out page.” Judge the checkout total, not the tire price. Your card “will be charged when the Product has shipped”; the confirmation email “is merely a confirmation that SimpleTire received your order,” and SimpleTire may still decline it and refund you.

Shipping is free in most cases. The exceptions, from the help center and shipping page:

• Installer or FedEx location: free in the contiguous United States, except oversized tires at “$94 per tire.”
• Your home or a business: “a nominal handling fee,” amount not printed. Small orders may also pay a fee for “not reaching a minimum tire quantity.”
• Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico: “a non-negotiable $600 per tire shipping fee.”

The footer on every page still says “Fast, free shipping on all tires (excluding oversized tires).” Orders placed before 3pm eastern “typically are processed and shipped same day,” and arrive “between 1 and 8 business days from time of purchase”; the contact page says “It takes 24 hours to process and ship.” The estimated date “is not a guaranteed delivery date,” so confirm the tires reached the shop before you drive there.

Price matching. SimpleTire will match a lower price sent through its chat on identical, new, in-stock tires, but not sale, member or clearance prices, and only from “pre-approved authorized resellers”: Tire Rack, Discount Tire Direct, Tire Buyer, BB Wheel, Tire Agent, Priority Tire, Tires Easy and SimpleTire’s own Walmart, Amazon and eBay listings. It adds: “We reserve the right to decline any price match.” We compare no prices; our reviews of Tire Rack and Priority Tire read two of those sellers’ terms.

New tires, DOT dates, registration and recalls

The help center says SimpleTire sells only “new, unused tires” and “We only ship tires that are within 4 years of their manufacturing date. If you somehow receive a tire that’s older than that, please contact our support team and we will exchange the tires right away.” You cannot pick a date: “Since we source our inventory from over 3,000 independent suppliers across the country we’re not able to check for specific DOTs.” Another answer says each tire “is shipped directly from the manufacturer,” which sits oddly with independent suppliers. Check the date before the tires are mounted, since mounted tires cannot be returned; our guide to reading a tire’s date code shows where it is.

Registration. Registration is how a tire maker finds you if your tires are recalled. 49 CFR 574.8 gives independent tire dealers three ways: hand the buyer a registration form already filled in with “The entire tire identification number of the tire(s) sold,” or send the registration to the maker, on paper or electronically, “at no charge to the tire purchaser and within 30 days of the date of sale.” Electronic registration must be noted “on the invoice.” SimpleTire’s footer links a CIMS Tire Registration page set up for the dealer “Simple Tire,” but no page we read says whether SimpleTire or the installer registers each tire. Ask; if the invoice is silent, note the tire identification numbers at the shop and register them yourself.

Recalls. NHTSA’s recall lookup has a Tire tab searched by “Brand and tire line,” and NHTSA advises: “Register your vehicle, tires, car seats & equipment and check recalls twice a year.” SimpleTire’s road hazard program does not pay for a replacement “due to manufacturer recall, defect or warranty”; that is the tire maker’s job. Our tire age guide covers recalls on tires already fitted.

Returns, cancellations and damaged deliveries

SimpleTire’s returns page allows “a 30 minute cancellation window that starts as soon as an order is placed,” used through your SimpleTire account, and “we can’t cancel any orders after 30 minutes have passed.” After that, “Returns are accepted within 30-days of delivery. Only unused tires that have not been mounted or driven on are eligible for return.” The refund is “minus $20/tire for return shipping plus any handling fees on the original order,” and the $20 “will be waived if you need to place another order or in the unlikely event that we shipped the wrong tire.” On a set of four, that is $80 by our arithmetic, before any handling fee. Returns go by FedEx; for tires sent to a shop, SimpleTire says it will “have FedEx pick up the tires directly from the shop.” Other SimpleTire documents describe the same rules differently:

Two answers add that “any fees to ship the tires out to you are non-refundable.” If you cancel inside 30 minutes, screenshot the cancellation in case a $20-a-tire charge appears. If tires arrive “incorrect or damaged,” call Support “as soon as possible”; SimpleTire says it will “report the damage to the carrier, the shipper, and create a replacement order for you.” Damage found after mounting is another matter: SimpleTire will “ask for pictures and what the cause was,” and road hazard damage “usually isn’t” covered by the maker. So have the shop check sizes and dates before it mounts anything, and check the size against your door-jamb placard first, as our page on finding your tire size explains.

Warranties: what SimpleTire promises, and what the tire maker does

SimpleTire’s contract gives no warranty of its own. The Sales Terms say “SimpleTire doesn’t provide warranties for the Store” and “ALL PRODUCTS PURCHASED THROUGH THE STORE ARE PROVIDED ON AN ‘AS-IS’ BASIS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED IN THE MANUFACTURER’S WARRANTY.” They cap SimpleTire’s liability at “THE AMOUNT ACTUALLY PAID FOR THE PRODUCT BY YOU,” except for “STATUTORILY MANDATED LIABILITY” and personal injury, death or property damage.

The returns page says “SimpleTire extends manufacturer’s warranty coverage to you, the customer, on anything that we sell,” for “defects from materials or workmanship,” and that it “is not transferable.” It lists what such warranties exclude, including wear from “a lack of maintenance,” accidents, driving on a flat, “improper inflation” and the wrong size. The warranty documents are “on the specific manufacturer’s website,” and claims go through SimpleTire or a local dealer for the brand.

The help center goes further: “all our tires are covered by a 30 day warranty.” Within 30 days of delivery, “please provide a note from your tire installer stating the problem, and we’ll take care of you right away”; after that, “we will determine your level of coverage through the manufacturer.” A 30-day warranty in a help answer sits awkwardly beside “AS-IS” in the contract, so keep the installer’s note and SimpleTire’s reply in writing. Mileage promises are the maker’s; our guide to tire makers’ mileage warranties and their conditions applies to tires bought online too, so keep each rotation receipt.

Federal law. The FTC’s 16 CFR 702.3, for products costing “more than $15.00,” treats sales that “do not require a personal visit to the seller’s establishment” as catalog or mail order sales, and requires the seller to show either “The full text of the written warranty” or the warrantor’s website address near the product description. We did not open product pages to see what each listing shows. Under 15 U.S.C. 2308, a supplier cannot disclaim implied warranties if it gives a written warranty or, “at the time of sale, or within 90 days thereafter,” enters into a service contract with the buyer. Whether SimpleTire’s 30-day promise or its road hazard program limits its “AS-IS” clause is a question for a lawyer or your state attorney general. SimpleTire’s own answer: “You maintain the same rights online as you would if you were to purchase items in-person.”

Tire Replacement Coverage: what the certificate promises

Makers’ warranties do not pay for nails and potholes; SimpleTire’s answer is Tire Replacement Coverage. Its coverage page links a sample certificate, a “36-MONTH TIRE ROAD HAZARD PROGRAM” that “is offered by SimpleTire and is administered by Sonsio Management, Inc.” and is marked “2022 © Sonsio, LLC.” It names no insurer and calls itself a “Program,” not insurance or a service contract. Sonsio’s About page says it “does not sell products directly to consumers” and runs road hazard programs that retailers either embed in tires or sell at the point of sale. The certificate says its terms “are the full and complete agreement between the parties” and “No oral representations should be relied upon,” so it, not the marketing, decides a claim. The certificate issued with an order may differ from this 2022 sample.

Free, or bought? The badge on every page is headed “Free Tire Replacement Coverage”: “Purchase select tires and receive free Tire Replacement Coverage!” The help center says you can “add Tire Replacement Coverage at the time of purchase” and talks of customers who “purchased” it. The certificate covers tires “for which you purchased a Road Hazard Program from SimpleTire for each tire you desired covered” and says “YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO PURCHASE THIS TIRE ROAD HAZARD PROGRAM.” No page prints a price. Look for a coverage line in the cart, and make sure you receive a Program Certificate with a Road Hazard Registration Number for each tire; without one there is nothing to claim on.

How long. Each tire is covered “for a term of 36 months from the Road Hazard Registration Number(s) purchase date printed on your Program Certificate,” or until any part of the tread touching the road is at 2/32 inch or less, “whichever occurs first.” A set bought on 8 October 2026 would be covered until 8 October 2029 at the latest, by our arithmetic; worn tread ends it sooner (see measuring tread depth), and so does replacement: “Once the Eligible Tire is replaced, for any reason, the Coverage Term for that tire ends.”

What a ruined tire gets. The certificate pays replacement “up to the retail tire price on your original tire purchase invoice or the replacement tire price, whichever is less, not to exceed a maximum of $400.00” (the “Benefit Limit”), then steps it down by year. The coverage page applies the same percentages to “the original purchase price” and lists higher caps of $500 for commercial tires and $350 for ATV/UTV tires; the sample certificate shows only the $400 cap.

Those are ceilings. A tire that cost less than $400 starts from its invoice price, or the replacement price if that is lower, and you pay “mounting, balancing, valve stem, taxes, disposal, and miscellaneous fees.” The coverage page’s headline, “Replacement up to 100% of the tire cost,” describes the first year only. The new tire is not covered unless you buy it a number of its own: “YOU MUST PURCHASE A NEW ROAD HAZARD REGISTRATION NUMBER FOR THE REPLACEMENT TIRE.” A repairable puncture is simpler: the patch and labor are “reimbursed up to $25.00 per tire, per occurrence” at any shop, and “It is not necessary to contact the Administrator before having a flat tire repaired”; cover continues on the repaired tire.

If no claim has been made, you can cancel “within 10 days of the purchase for a full refund.” The program “is extended only to you, the original purchaser,” so it does not pass to a buyer of the car, and its benefits “are secondary to any other coverage you may have purchased including motor club contracts and vehicle service contracts.” Our explainer on why a protection plan is not a warranty covers the general difference.

The table below copies other retailers’ printed road hazard terms from this site’s pages on Discount Tire, Costco and Walmart, with no prices and no ranking.

Making a road hazard claim, and what the certificate leaves out

Claims go to Sonsio. The badge says claims “would be submitted through SimpleTire.com,” but the help center says to “contact our coverage partner Sonsio directly,” and the certificate routes every step through the Administrator:

1. Return to the installing shop if you can; otherwise the Administrator helps find another “during normal business hours.”
2. The shop verifies the damage is a road hazard: a failure “during the course of driving in a legal manner on a road maintained by state or local authority.”
3. A repairable tire is repaired, up to $25, with no call needed.
4. For a tire that cannot be repaired, the shop “must contact the Administrator” for prior authorization and a claim number.
5. You sign the repair invoice and send it with the original SimpleTire invoice and the Program Certificate. The tire may be wanted for inspection.
6. Everything must arrive “WITHIN SIXTY (60) DAYS OF SERVICE, OR THE CLAIM MAY BE DENIED.”

The original invoice must show your name, address and signature, “The brand, type, size and part number of each tire,” “The purchase price for each tire” and “The purchase of the Road Hazard Program.” The coverage page lists four things “not covered”; the certificate has 26 numbered exclusions. Those most likely to bite:

• Worn tread at 2/32 inch (1.6 mm) or less anywhere the tire meets the road.
• Who and where: work by anyone other than “a licensed service provider”; earlier repairs outside “industry approved methods”; “Damage incurred outside the United States and Canada”; off-road use, meaning anything but “a paved or gravel road maintained by the state or local authority.”
• Cause: cosmetic damage; mechanical faults such as “failed shocks, struts, alignment”; “improper inflation”; dry rot; accidents, collision, theft, snow chains and vandalism.
• The maker’s job: anything “the manufacturer will repair or replace the tire at its expense or at a reduced cost.”
• Uses and vehicles: motorcycles, racing, police and emergency use, “carriage of passengers for hire,” commercial towing, farm vehicles, vehicles over 14,000 lbs gross weight rating, motor homes, and retreaded tires.
• Extras: TPMS sensor parts, the cost of being without the car, “storage or freight charges” and fines.

If you drive for a ride-hailing service, ask how the “carriage of passengers for hire” exclusion applies before you buy.

Roadside assistance: a 12-month reimbursement plan

The “24/7 roadside assistance” badge has conditions. The roadside page says “12 months roadside assistance is included with your purchase 4 or more tires and installation”; the local-shops and mobile pages say only “included with installation.” The benefit statement is titled “24-Hour Roadside Assistance Reimbursement Program for Flat Tires”: you must call the program’s number (help “secured through any other source is not eligible for reimbursement”), “The service provider requires use of a credit card to arrange for dispatch,” and you claim the money back “within sixty (60) days of the disablement” with an invoice showing four tires and installation.

The limit is “two (2) claims per 12-month period for covered roadside assistance service up to $100.00 per Covered Vehicle.” It does not say whether $100 is per claim or per vehicle for the period: $100 in all one way, up to $200 the other, by our arithmetic. Ask before relying on the higher figure. Only two services count: fitting a serviceable spare, and a tow if there is no spare or there are two or more flats. Jump-starts, fluid delivery, lock-outs, winching, tire repair and “Non-emergency service” are excluded; so are motor homes, vehicles over a one-ton load rating, “carriage of passengers for hire,” motorcycles and trailers. The cover stays with the invoiced vehicle and “is not transferable.”

Paying later: the five options SimpleTire lists

The financing page names “Klarna, Affirm, Katapult, PayPal Credit, and Synchrony Care Care” (later, the Continental Tire Synchrony Car Care credit card); the help center lists only “Affirm, Synchrony or Katapult” beside cards, PayPal, Google Pay and Venmo. We quote no rates: they depend on the lender’s credit check and change often. Compare the structures instead:

• Affirm: “no gimmicks like deferred interest or hidden fees,” and “Affirm won’t charge you late fees or penalties of any kind, ever.” Repayments “may be reported to credit bureaus.”
• Klarna: “direct payments, pay after delivery, and installment plans,” including a “Pay In 4 program.”
• Synchrony card: deferred interest. If the promotional balance is not paid in full within the promotional period, “interest will be charged on the promo balance from the purchase date.”
• PayPal Credit: chosen inside PayPal at checkout; read PayPal’s terms for what follows a promotional period.
• Katapult: lease-to-own, not a loan. “The path to ownership will cost more than the merchant’s cash price,” you do not own the tires until the full amount is paid, and it is “Not available in MN, NJ, WI, WY.” On 8 October the page still showed a Katapult promotion dated “from 9/15 until 10/6.”

Where SimpleTire’s own documents disagree

We counted 16 conflicts. Where money is at stake, the Sales Terms and the certificate are what SimpleTire and Sonsio would point to, so get any badge or help-answer promise in writing.

• Coverage: “Free” on the badge, “purchased” in the help center and certificate; “up to 100% of the tire cost” on the page, a $400 cap stepping to 50% and 25% in the certificate; percentages of “the original purchase price” on the page, of “the Benefit Limit” in the certificate; claims “through SimpleTire.com” or “Sonsio directly”; 4 exclusions or 26.
• Warranty: a “30 day warranty” in the help center, “AS-IS” in the Sales Terms.
• Returns: the $20 is a “return shipping fee” on the returns page and a “restocking fee” with “Return shipping is free” in the help center; the contact page promises “prepaid return labels.” One answer gives “a full refund” for cancelling in 30 minutes; another applies the $20 fee to “order cancellations.”
• Shipping: “free shipping on all tires (excluding oversized tires)” in the footer, handling and remote-area fees in the help center; “24 hours” to ship on one page, same day before 3pm on another.
• Sourcing and size: tires “shipped directly from the manufacturer” or from “over 3,000 independent suppliers”; “20,000+” or “10,000+” installers on one About page.
• Roadside: “included with installation” on two pages; four tires plus installation, by reimbursement, in the benefit statement.
• Price: “All-inclusive pricing” against Sales Terms prices that exclude tax and installation.
• Identity: “SimpleTire LLC” in Philadelphia (Terms), “Simple Tire LLC” in Trevose (USPTO), Feasterville-Trevose (sample certificate).
• Lenders: five on the financing page, three in the help center, and a promotion past its printed end date.

Both sets of terms date from 2021 and send disputes to binding arbitration with a class-action waiver unless you opt out in writing “within 30 days” of first accepting them; SimpleTire will reimburse arbitration fees “for claims totaling less than $1,000” unless frivolous, and small-claims court stays open.

Before you order from SimpleTire

Common questions

Is SimpleTire a real company, and who owns it?

Yes. SimpleTire LLC runs simpletire.com, and USPTO records list Simple Tire LLC, a Pennsylvania limited liability company, as owner of the SIMPLETIRE.COM and SIMPLETIRE marks, both registered in 2017, with first use of SIMPLETIRE.COM in 2010. SimpleTire says it “currently operates as part of the Dealer Tire Family of Companies.”

What is SimpleTire’s return policy?

Unused, unmounted tires can be returned within 30 days of delivery, refunded “minus $20/tire” plus any handling fee, unless you reorder or SimpleTire shipped the wrong tire. Orders can be cancelled only within 30 minutes.

Does SimpleTire’s price include installation?

Not the listed tire price. The Sales Terms say installation charges and taxes are added at checkout, where you pay for both. SimpleTire then pays the shop; its installer page gives a range of $15 to $24 per tire for that payment, which is not your price.

Is SimpleTire’s Tire Replacement Coverage free, and is it worth it?

The badge calls it free on select tires; the help center and certificate describe buying it, and no page prints a price. We make no recommendation. The sample certificate pays up to $400 per tire in the first 12 months, 50% of that limit in the next 12 and 25% in the last 12, plus repairs up to $25, for 36 months or until 2/32 inch of tread, with 26 exclusions and fitting costs left to you.

How do I file a SimpleTire road hazard claim?

Contact Sonsio, the administrator. A repair up to $25 needs no call; for a tire that cannot be repaired, the shop must get prior authorization and a claim number first, and the paperwork must reach Sonsio within 60 days of service.

Does SimpleTire ship old tires?

It says it ships only tires “within 4 years of their manufacturing date” and will exchange older ones, but cannot pick DOT codes because it sources from “over 3,000 independent suppliers.” Check each date code before mounting.