Buy Tires on Sale in Portland: But Not Until You’ve Read This Guide!

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Driving and buying tires in Portland, Maine

If you're visiting or moving to Portland, Maine, you'll need to know all about the highways, traffic laws, and weather conditions in this beautiful and compact city. With Portland’s changeable weather and chilly winters, it's vital to install the correct tires for your car and know where the best places are to buy tires.

United Tires has put together a motoring guide to Portland Maine that includes information on driving and parking in this city, weather conditions throughout the year, and suitable tires for each season. We've also included details of our favorite scenic drives around Portland.

When it’s time to get a new set of tires consider shopping online and benefitting from free FedEx to-the-door delivery to your home or office in Portland. At Utires.com, we have more than 60,000 tires to choose from, including new and used tires, all with a 1-year return policy. Every tire has been thoroughly checked by our expert team to ensure it has lots of tread left. Order today and save up to 50%.

The most popular cars and tires in Portland

The most popular car model

Ford F-150 Pickup*

*Source: Q106.5 FM

The most popular color of the car

Black

*Source: iSeeCars

The most popular tire model

Michelin Defender LTX M/S

*Source: utires.com sales department

The average budget to buy 2 used tires

$110.69

*Source: utires.com sales department

Portland tire shops and key auto facilities

walmart

Walmart Autocare Centre

23500 NE Sandy Blvd, Wood Village, OR 97060

45.5412594

-122.4193615

costco

Costco Tire Center

4849 NE 138th Ave, Portland, OR 97230

45.5594559

-122.5240478

Did you know that?..

Friday Art Walks aren’t to be missed!

On the first Friday of the month, Portland hosts First Friday Art Walks with people touring the downtown art galleries and stopping to browse the selection of street stalls, vendors, buskers, and food trucks. If you’re in the city be sure to stop by and enjoy the great food, arts, crafts, and atmosphere. If you drive into the downtown area at this time be prepared for lots of pedestrians and limited street parking as this can be a popular event, especially during summer vacation time.

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Automotive Portland at a glance

Portland is a vibrant and growing city with a lively arts and food scene and a beautiful historic downtown area, overlooking the ocean.

City layout

The city is divided into two main areas, the area on the peninsula is Portland’s downtown area, where you’ll find shops, restaurants, and cultural activities. The area of the city that is off-penninsula is more residential and is where you’ll find Portland International Jetport (airport).

The downtown area is the historic heart of Portland and so has lots of fairly narrow streets, many of which are one-way. So when driving downtown it pays to use a good GPS and plan where to park in advance.

Fortunately, the central part of Portland has a good selection of parking lots and on-street parking and is very walkable, once you have parked your car. It’s also a great city to cycle around so that can be a fun activity, once you have parked your car.

Portland is well served by the state’s only Interstate freeways, the Maine Turnpike (I-95), and its auxiliary freeway, the I-295. The coastal route, Highway 1 also passes through Portland and makes for a beautiful drive along the coast north of the city.

Driving on Portland roads

While Portland is warmer than much of the rest of the state of Maine, with its coastal location, it’s still subject to the cold winters and dramatic snowstorms that hit the northeast coast. So motorists in Portland should really change to winter tires or snow tires when the weather starts to get colder. You’ll get all the best new and used winter tires, snow tires and ice tires in Portland on our website where you’ll find a fantastic range of over 60,000 new and used tires for every possible weather conditions.

Choosing the right tires for driving in Portland

Where to buy new tires in Portland?

Despite being the largest city in Maine, Portland is still a very compact city, with a limited choice of stores to buy tires. There is a branch of Walmart Auto Care Centers in the city, which stock some of the more popular tires. But for a full selection of new tires online, shop online on our website, where you’ll find truck tires, SUV tires, RV tires, as well as car tires, all at discount prices, with free shipping using FedEx.

Walmart Auto Care Centers

23500 NE Sandy Blvd, Wood Village, OR 97060

Where to buy used tires in Portland?

Used tires are a great alternative to buying expensive new tires, especially when you live in a city like Portland, where you need to change your tires when the cold weather comes. With used tires from United Tires online tires sale, you can feel confident and safe that your tires have been fully checked for safety and tread depth, and benefit from a 1-year warranty.

Over 50,000 used tires in stock
Quality-assured tires using our rigorous 2-step inspection
Tires for all weather including all-season tires and winter tires
Expert advice on selecting the best tire for your needs
Best of both price and quality with once driven tires
Free shipping with FedEx for all tires
1-year warranty for peace of mind

For advice on choosing tires or any questions about our tires, call United Tires toll-free at 1-888-566-6214, or contact us.

What tires do you need for Portland weather?

Portland has a humid continental climate. This means that it is cold in the winter, with lots of snow, and the summers are warm. The average high temperature is about 30 °F in January and around 80°F in July. In Portland, there are only about 4 days a year when the temperature reaches over 90°F while it is cold enough for 0 °F lows to happen on 10 nights out of the year. It can also get very windy during the wintertime.

The winters are accompanied by lots of snow, sleet, and rain and regularly Portland sees snowstorms between November and April. This means that it is advisable for the drivers to have two sets of tires for the Portland climate.

Choosing tires

From spring to fall it’s recommended to have some quality all-season tires that are suitable for wet and dry roads and also light snowfall. However, when winter begins and the temperature drops a set of winter tires or even studded tires are strongly suggested to keep you safe while driving on snowy, icy roads. Winter tires have an additive in the rubber that gives them better traction while studded tires have metal studs in them which are fantastic for driving safely on icy roads.

If you're not sure which sort of winter tires are right for you, you can talk to the team at United Tires. They'll be able to help you figure out what kind of tires would work best for your vehicle.

Best-selling tire brands in Portland*

*Source: utires.com sales department, 2022

The most popular tire sizes in Portland*

*Source: utires.com sales department, 2022

Shop tires by season

DRIVERS’ PORTLAND GUIDE: PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Discover everything you need to know to drive safely in Portland. This guide includes traffic reports, information on the road network, and when to switch your tires to ensure you are secure on the winter roads.

Live traffic report

Portland is a pretty quiet city although the one-way system can cause confusion for tourists in summer and cause localized traffic problems. And in winter there can be driving and parking restrictions due to heavy snow, so staying up to date with the traffic reports can be advisable.

Seasonal tire changeover

Even though Portland has a slightly milder climate than the rest of Maine, due to its coastal location, the city still experiences a lot of extreme winter weather. This can range from snow and sleet to black ice and even major snowstorms. However, summer weather is generally quite pleasant, with no extreme heat and slightly drier weather than the rest of the year.

Spring to fall

From around April to November the temperatures are generally quite pleasant with very occasional frost towards the start or end of winter. This means that a set of all-season tires is the most suitable choice for drivers for this chunk of the year. These tires can cope with warm weather, rainy or dry roads, and even some snow.

Winter

From November to April the weather in Portland gets much colder with temperatures historically dropping down to as low as −39°F but dropping down to 0°F at least a few times a year. This means that some sort of specialist winter tires are essential if you want to stay safe on the roads over these months.

Winter tires are made from a special rubber that gives them great traction on the roads, preventing you from skidding and losing control of your car. This rubber remains flexible even when the temperature plummets. These tires also have a tread pattern designed to help the tires grip the road, keeping you safe.

Winter tires come in two main types, studded tires and studless tires. Studded tires have metal studs in them which makes them extremely safe on very icy roads, however, they are noisy. Studless tires are made from rubber that is designed to grip the snowy or icy roads.

In Portland, there is no regulation around studless tires but there are rules about studded tires, as they can be noisy and damaging to roads if they are used outside of the winter season. According to the Maine state legislation you can only have studded tires on your car between October 2nd and April 30th.

Driving Laws

In Portland, most of the complex driving laws are around parking and we’ll go into more detail about that below. However, there are a few driving laws you should be aware of:

Driving to endanger:, In Portland, this type of violation is taken very seriously, and while in many states similar charges will be wiped from your record after a few years, in Maine, driving to endanger will stay on your record indefinitely.
Phones downs: Distracted driving, which includes the use of a cell phone while driving, is taken very seriously here. While the initial fine for this type of violation is $50, fines for subsequent offenses can go up to $250. This doesn’t just cover phones though so be careful of doing anything distracting while driving.
Driving permits: Driver permits can be issued at the age of 15 although if the driver is under 18 they first have to take an approved driver education course.

Unspoken Road Rules

As Portland has a lot of narrow one-way streets with lots of street parking, this can make driving downtown a very slow process. Local drivers are used to tourists wandering around and having limited visibility when turning due to parked cars. They manage this by driving slowly and cautiously in the downtown area and being particularly cautious when turning in areas with poor visibility.

As a result of this many locals will park their car and either walk or cycle around the downtown area, and then use their car when they leave downtown Portland.

Parking rules

Parking in the downtown area of Portland can be quite difficult and there are lots of regulations in place, which are tightly enforced. This means you should always read all street signs very carefully before parking. However, there is a good selection of parking lots and garages in the downtown area, if you are unsure of the street regulations.

Here are a few rules you should be aware of:

Snow bans: The City may put in place parking bans in specific areas or for the whole peninsula in the winter months if a lot of snow needs to be cleared. These are usually between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. but can extend beyond those hours.
Towing: If a vehicle is parked in a tow zone it will be towed. Also, if there are three or more outstanding parking tickets on a vehicle it can also be towed.
Booting: A vehicle can be immobilized with a boot if it has three or more unpaid parking tickets. To get the boot removed all unpaid tickets must be paid, plus a fee of $50.
Distance matters: When parking, make sure the vehicle is less than 18 inches from the curb. Always park at least 10 feet from a fire hydrant, 25 feet from an intersection, 5 feet from a driveway, and 20 feet from the middle of a crosswalk.

All these parking regulations and more can be found on the City of Portland’s website..

Window tint laws

If you want to tint your vehicle windows in Portland it’s important to be aware of the regulations. All window tints must be Maine state certified and reflective tints are banned.

Only the top 5 inches of the windshield can be tinted. All the other windows can be fully tinted but the tint must let in at least 35% of light. However, for the rear and back-side windows, if the vehicle has exterior rearview mirrors on both sides of the vehicle there are no restrictions on the darkness of the tint, for these windows.

The complete window tinting laws can be found on the Maine State Legislature website. Want to be updated on everything that’s going on in the tinting industry today? Find out the latest trends, news, get valuable pro advice, and much more!

Helmet laws

Wearing a helmet when riding a bicycle or motorcycle is generally considered to be the best practice for safety but it’s often not legislated. Here are Portland’s helmet laws.

Motorcycles: Drivers and passengers under the age of 18, riders with a learner's permit, and drivers who passed their motorcycle driver’s test in the last year all have to wear a helmet. If the driver has to wear a helmet then so does the passenger.
Bicycles: Anyone under the age of 16, including passengers must wear a helmet.

Roads and highways

Portland is a small city with only a couple of major highways, one of which is a toll road. The downtown area has a lot of historic streets and as such they are quite small, meaning it has a complex one-way system.

Highways

Here are details of Portland’s highways:

I-95: The I-95 Maine Turnpike is managed by the Maine Turnpike Authority and is a toll road. While the rest of the I-95, which runs from Florida to the Canadian border, is free to drive on, the section around Portland is not. For 109 miles from the New Hampshire state line to Augusta, it’s a toll road, including the section that runs through the west of Portland.
I-295: This 53-mile-long highway, also known as the Richard A. Coleman Highway, is an auxiliary Interstate from the I-95. It starts at the I-95 just south of Portland and runs close to downtown Portland and goes north to Augusta. This is a toll-free route between Portland and Augusta, unlike the I-95.
US-1: This major highway starts in Florida and goes up to the Canadian border, about 230 miles north of Portland. In Portland, it joins the I-295 before splitting off just north of the peninsula, where it carries on up the coast.
US-302: This east to west highway starts in Vermont and ends in downtown Portland, after traveling through New Hampshire. In Portland, it ends at the I-295/US-1 just west of the main downtown area.

Notable streets

Here are a few notable streets in Portland:

Commercial Street runs along the waterfront in the downtown area. From here you can access the visitor’s center and ferry terminal.
Congress Street is the downtown area’s main commercial street, linking the peninsula’s two main residential neighborhoods. It passes through the Arts District, which is home to the Maine College of Art.
Exchange Street is a main commercial street in the Old Port area and has a lot of smaller local businesses and clothing stores located on it.

Scenic drives

Portland is a beautiful city in its own right and is surrounded by some beautiful spots. Here are a few ideas for places to visit a short drive from the City:

Portland Head Light and Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse: These beautiful historic lighthouses are just a short drive south of downtown Portland, with the furthest, Portland Head Light, just 5 miles away. Visiting both will take a few hours, to enjoy them properly.
Jewell Falls: This small area of nature just to the east of the Maine Turnpike is home to several hiking trails and a beautiful waterfall on the Fore River.
Crescent Beach State Park: An 8-mile drive south of downtown Portland is the beautiful, mile-long Crescent Beach where you can swim and picnic in the summertime.
Two Lights State Park: Just east of Crescent Beach State Park this small state park has twin lighthouses and beautiful rocky coastal walks.

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Best tires for Portland

Portland, Maine is located in northern New England, where winters can be severe with significant amounts of snow and ice. So during the winter months, you'll need a set of winter tires that are specially designed to handle those conditions. You might even want to invest in a set of studded tires making sure your car sticks tight to even the iciest road. All-season tires work well for the rest of the year but they can't handle the extreme cold and slippery conditions of a Portland winter.

However, in spring, summer, and fall, all-season tires are the best option for Portland. They provide good traction in wet and dry conditions, and they handle well on most roads. They can even cope with the small amounts of snow that fall in spring or fall.

When you shop for tires, if you’re not sure what the right tires are for your vehicle and driving preferences contact the team at United Tires who can give you tailored advice on exactly the right tires for you. Contact us online or call toll-free at 1-888-566-6214

Buy tires in Portland and save up to 50%!

Buying two sets of tires to cope with the Portland seasons may seem expensive but it doesn’t have to be. You can find affordable tires when you shop online on our website. Not having to pay the rent for the actual stores in the US cities (our headquarters and two shops are located in Chicago), we can offer our customers the lowest prices in the online world! And our super fast and free FedEx shipping makes us your “Tire shop near me in Portland”!

With a selection of cheap new and used tires, you can save up to 50% of your tire budget. For example, you can afford two quality sets of tires to keep you safe on the road, year-round. We have large selection for every vehicle, including truck and SUV tires.

All our tires have been safety checked with our extensive 2-step checking process. We make sure the tires are safe to drive and have plenty of tread left on them (at least 4/32”). This involves a manual check by our team of experts, plus an automatic check with our specialist equipment.

All our tires are shipped on the same business day if you submit the order before 11 a.m. And before they leave our warehouse we give every tire a final quality and safety check, so you know you are getting quality tires. You can also use our 1-year return policy if you change your mind!

Other tire websites

Set of 4 used tires

Tread Depth

0/32

11/32

Average Price

$546.65

Based on pricing for set of 4 new 245/55/18 on other tire websites

Other
tire
websites

Based on pricing for set of 4 new 245/55/18 on other tire websites

Set of 4 used tires

Tread Depth

0/32

9/32

11/32

Average Price

$246.65

Based on pricing for set of 4 used 245/55/18 on utires.com

Savings
$215.65

Based on pricing for set of 4 used 245/55/18 on utires.com

There are always great deals to be had in our online used tire shop. Whether you’re looking for tires for your new passenger car or decade-old pick-up truck we have sizes and prices to suit! Shop at Utires.com for used tires in Portland

Useful Links

FAQ

Where to buy tires in Portland?

When you want to buy tires Portland, Maine, you can visit the tire shops in your location, or, for the best selection of quality assured and expertly checked used tires and new tires, find them on our website. With more than 60,000 quality tires to choose from, including a great selection of safety-checked cheap tires online and free shipping you’ll find the right tire for every vehicle and situation. From all-terrain tires and off-road tires to high-performance tires and even racing tires, you’ll find what you need at the best place for cheap used tires in Portland, Maine.

What tires are best for Portland?

We recommend owning two sets: all-season and winter, or summer and winter. If you're living in the Portland area, then you'll want to consider investing in a set of all-season tires for spring through fall, and either winter tires or snow tires for winter. All-season tires provide good traction in most weather conditions, but they aren't as good at handling snow and ice as winter tires are. Snow tires have specially designed treads that help them grip the snow and ice better than all-season or summer tires.

Do I need winter tires in Portland?

Yes, you should definitely buy winter tires if you live in Portland. The winters can be harsh and unpredictable there, and winter tires can make a big difference in terms of your safety on the roads.

Winter tires are designed to provide better traction in snow, ice, and other winter conditions. They have a tread pattern that helps them grip the road surface more effectively, and they also have a higher rubber content than regular tires so that they can stay flexible in cold weather.

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Need help

In making the right choice?

Our team of professionals is here to help. Let us know your concern and we will quickly solve it. Just give us a call or go to our live chat.

Call us: 1-888-566-6214