Incredibly, some people don't have their winter tires on a second set of wheels and pay to mount and balance tires twice a year. Since a set of steel wheels can be had for 2-3x the labor of mounting and balancing tires, you're making money after perhaps as much as two years.
Needless to say, you save more money if you change the wheels over yourself. That's a 45 minute job for me, including finding the tools and putting them away.
Depends on how you value the time, space, and effort... and at those tires end-of-life, you'll need to pay for mount and balance anyway. I used to swap my wheels, but I got tired of the waste of real estate, dirtying a set of clothes, and busting my knuckles as its getting cold outside.
I have found the cheapest and most convenient solution for me is to buy high-end studless snow rated tires with a mileage warranty and run them all year.
The tires take up the same amount of space whether they're mounted or not, and if they're mounted, they aren't a trap for water and breeding ground for mosquitoes.
As for the time, I consider it an opportunity to have a look at the brakes and suspension, make sure the lug nuts are torqued appropriately, and that the wheel comes free without undue force. And it's practice for having to change a wheel at a time not of your choosing. If you're used to doing it, it's an irritation, not an emergency.
I'll admit to only having one honest-to-god pull-over-to-the side-of-the-road-and-get-out-the-jack flat tire in my life. I guess I've changed a couple for other people too though.
The rubber and tread patterns are getting more feasible for year-round running. I can't fault your choice, especially if you've done the changeover yourself in the past.
Depending on where you drive, it's a good idea to rebalance your tires on a regular basis anyway.
Incidentally, my tire shop said they've had people lose the balancing weights due to the current adhesive not being able to handle the heat this summer. Hopefully they switch to something stronger next year, but it looks like you may have to rebalance twice per summer...
I used to do this, but because I bought the tires from Discount Tire they performed the labor free each time. I thought this was great, except after a couple years the wheels inevitably got warped enough that the tires constantly leaked air.
I eventually got a whole new set of tires+wheels and the shop still swaps them for free.
Where did you live that your wheels warped from normal use? I've had alloys develop bead leaks from corrosion, but I've never warped a rim despite living in Cleveland, Boston, and now rural Vermont (unpaved roads and all).
No idea what prices you're referring. In Europe, the most popular car repairs franchise offers tire swap at less than 2 euro (per wheel) more than wheel swap. What steel wheel can you buy for 6 euro?
Needless to say, you save more money if you change the wheels over yourself. That's a 45 minute job for me, including finding the tools and putting them away.