A woman is urging folks to purchase their tires from Discount Tire after the unexpected kindness shown by staff members at one location to her and her family. TikTok user Rachel Anderson (@rachelanderson471) posted a viral video detailing her experience with one of the store’s locations. At the top of the video, she tells viewers that after her car had a flat tire, her son approached several shops to ask if they could swap out just the one tire. However, they all told him the same thing: All of her tires were in pretty bad shape, and she’d need to purchase a set of four. Just One Tire? No Can Do At the start of the clip, she can be seen speaking directly into the camera, apprising folks of her situation. "I had a flat. I had my son take my car to Schwab, where they normally repair it for free or for low cost. They told my son for a myriad of reasons, they could not replace the tire, that all of them needed to be replaced. They quoted him about $700. He said no. He knows that I cannot afford it. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I called around, and most places will not replace the singular tire," Anderson said. Finally, she thought that she caught a lucky break after calling up a Discount Tire location. A rep from the company informed her that they indeed had inventory that would work for her vehicle and that they could change out the one tire. However, upon seeing the condition of her car’s rubber, they told her the same thing she had heard from other shops. And it’s that driving with the four tires currently on her vehicle would be hazardous, so she needed to replace all of them. "My son says, ‘I’m sorry, we only have money for the one tire,’" the TikToker told her viewers. Discount Tire’s Generosity Upon learning that the family wasn’t in a financial position to purchase a new set of tires, the shop decided to replace all of them at no cost to Anderson. "They replaced all my tires for free. My son did not go into the whole spiel of 'My mom was left last year with nothing, and she’s been supporting us on her own, and we just don’t have the money for unexpected expenses.’ He didn’t go into all of that. He just said, ‘We only have the money for the one tire.’ They replaced them all and said, ‘It’s on the house. We just want you guys to be safe on the road,’" Anderson says before her clip comes to a close. Discount Tire’s official TikTok account replied to Anderson’s video, which went viral on the platform, raking in over 156,000 views and thousands of comments. The business simply penned: "We’ve got you covered," followed by a heart emoji. Another TikTok user wrote that they had a similar experience to Anderson when they visited one of the chain’s locations. "My local Discount Tire did that for me too when my son was 12 and we were homeless. I was there last summer now that I have a really good job and donated a set of tires for the next person who needed a little help," they wrote. Furthermore, another person on the application who said they used to work for Discount Tire wrote that this was a common practice. "I used to be a manager at Discount Tire and we did this multiple times. Some more info about the company, salesman/managers do not make commission and all recommendations are made for safety or comfort. One of the few companies that actually care about their customers nowadays," they penned. Whereas others mentioned that their kindness was a smart business decision. "$700 worth of free tires and 28,000 views the first day of this video. So, for pennies a view, this is the best advertising value ever. Good job Discount. A little goodwill goes a long way," they wrote. Another remarked: "This is what advertising should look like in 2026." Should You Replace All Of Your Tires At The Same Time? Generally, whenever you’re swapping out your car’s shoes, you should do so in sets. As Consumer Reports points out, this is to ensure your vehicle is driving on tires with equal tread depths. However, the agency’s tire program head, Ryan Pszczolkowski, highlighted instances where folks can drive safely by changing just one or two tires at a time. "If your tires are less than 30 percent worn, you can get away with replacing just one tire and placing it on the rear axle. If the tires are all approaching 40 to 50 percent worn, I would recommend you buy two of the same tires you already have and put the two new tires on the rear axle," he told drivers. The reason he suggests placing them on the rear axle is that it helps ensure more reliable car handling dynamics. Additionally, Consumer Reports tells car owners that all of the tires should be the same exact type. And once their tires reach the 70 percent worn threshold, they all need to be replaced in one go. And this auto service business, The Wheel Shop, echoes the aforementioned points raised by Pszczolkowski. Moreover, the company states that all-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles must always have all four tires replaced at the same time to maintain the effectiveness of their driving dynamics. This isn’t the first time Motor1 has reported on a customer walking away with free tires from Discount Tire. Another woman shared her appreciation for the brand online after informing them she couldn’t afford a new set of rubber for her Jeep Wrangler, and employees at the location changed them out for her for free. Motor1 has reached out to Discount Tire via email and Anderson via TikTok direct message for further comment. We will update this story if either party responds. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team
