Tire disposal runs $3-8 per tire when the charge rides a new-tire invoice, and $10-25 per tire at a drop-off gate when it does not. County collection events are free until the household cap. We pick tires up from the curb at $99 for the first tire, no purchase required, and the number is fixed when you book.
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| Route | Per-tire cost | Where the number hides |
|---|---|---|
| Tire shop, while buying new tires | $3-8 | A line near the bottom of the invoice |
| County collection event | Free | The per-household cap and the calendar |
| Drop-off, no purchase | $10-25 | Set at the gate, once they see the load |
| Dropcurb curbside pickup | $99 first tire, $20 each after | Nowhere. Fixed when you book |
Buying new tires soon? Leave the old set at the shop
The cheapest tire disposal in America is the one attached to tires you were buying anyway. When a shop swaps your set, the old ones join a stream that already exists: recyclers collect from tire shops by the hundreds, and your four ride along for $3-8 each on the invoice. If you are replacing tires in the next month or two, leave the old set at the counter. That route needs nothing from us.
The county route is real too. Many counties run collection events a few times a year, free at the gate up to a per-household cap, usually with proof of residency. If your stack fits the cap and the date, that is the second-best deal going. Check the county waste page or call 311.
Not buying tires? The same tire now costs $10-25
Take away the purchase and the invoice route disappears. What is left is the standalone drop-off, where the tire that would have been $3-8 now runs $10-25. The spread is wide because the number gets set at the gate: how many you brought, what size, whether they are on rims, whether you can prove you live in the county. You find out where you land after the tires are already in your car.
The county event has its own walls. The cap is per household, and everything over it rides home with you. The date is theirs, not yours, and tires that wait outside collect water. Standing water in a tire in summer is a mosquito nursery.
So if you are not buying tires, and the cap or the calendar does not fit your stack, every route left is $10-25 a tire, paid at a gate, hauled there in your own car.
$99 for the first tire, $20 for each one after, picked up from the curb, no purchase attached. Ours is per-tire too. The difference is the whole figure is on the screen before you pay, and it does not change at the curb. 5.0 on Google, 150+ reviews · 4.9 on Trustpilot, 125+ reviews.
Tires picked up, from $99Why the gate charges triple what the shop does
The invoice number is small because the shop is not doing you a favor, it is running a pipeline. Recyclers already stop there. Old tires leave in bulk on a schedule, and adding your four costs the shop close to nothing. The $3-8 covers a ride that was leaving anyway.
At a standalone gate, you are the pipeline. Someone has to take in a load of assorted tires, sort them by size, stage them, and pay a hauler to move a pile that accumulates one trunk at a time. That handling is the $10-25. It is not a markup on the rubber, it is the cost of you arriving alone.
So the honest answer is that tire disposal does not have one cost. It has a cost per route, and the route decides it.
When the math says drive, and when it says book
Straight per-tire math, four tires, a gate within reach of a trunk: $40-100 at the gate against $159 with us ($99 plus three at $20). If the low end of that spread is real where you live and the trip costs you nothing, drive. We are not the cheap route for a small stack and a free Saturday.
The math turns at three places. When the stack is big, the gate spread compounds and ours flattens: each tire past the first is $20, with no per-trip cap. When the tires are not traveling alone, they ride along at $20 each behind a higher-priced item on the same pickup, so a refrigerator plus four tires is $189 total. And when the real cost is the trip itself, the tires in your car, the gate hours, the unloading, the first tire at $99 buys the version where the stack leaves from the curb and nothing else happens to your day.
What happens after you book
Book first, then stage the tires. The price locks when you book, so rolling them out that evening changes nothing. Stack them anywhere a hauler can reach from outside: the curb, the end of the driveway, beside the garage door. Nobody comes inside, and you do not need to be home.
Haulers head out between 8 and 10 in the morning. Almost half of pickups are done by noon, about three quarters by 2 PM, and you get a text with the ETA before yours arrives. Photos come through once the stack is gone. Book by 2 PM local time and it goes today, seven days a week, in all 50 states.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to dispose of tires?
Folded into a new-tire purchase, $3-8 per tire on the invoice. Dropped off on its own, $10-25 per tire at the gate. County collection events are free up to a per-household cap. Curbside pickup through Dropcurb is $99 for the first tire and $20 for each additional one, fixed at booking.
Is tire disposal ever actually free?
Twice, with a condition each time. The invoice route is effectively free because you were buying tires anyway, though the line is still there at $3-8 per tire. County events are genuinely free at the gate, but they cap tires per household and run on the county calendar. Free with no purchase, no cap, and no date does not exist.
Can you put tires in the regular trash?
No. Household trash collection leaves tires at the curb almost everywhere, usually with a sticker. Tires move through a separate recycling stream, which is why every legitimate route prices per tire. And do not roll them into the woods: dumped tires are traceable, and the fines run far past anything on this page.
Why is there a per-tire charge when I buy new tires?
In many states a tire-recycling program collects a small per-tire amount at retail; the rest covers the shop moving your old set into a bulk stream a recycler already hauls. Amounts vary by state and by shop, which is why the range is $3-8 rather than one number. It is on the invoice either way.
How many tires will you take?
As many as you book. There is no per-trip cap: the first tire is $99 and every additional tire is $20, so ten tires is $279, priced in full before you pay. On a bigger pickup, the highest-priced item anchors the total and each tire adds $20. Tires on rims need a quick confirmation with our team before booking.