Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

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boglev
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Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by boglev »

Hello,

I recently had my tires inspected and have been told that I need to get new tires as they are not in the best shape. They are the factory tires that came with the car and have lasted almost 5 years. I am wanting to get all season tires. I live in the Northeast and definitely need something that can keep up with the harsh winters. Please also note that my car is a Honda Civic, so I will need something that will work well with that type of car. Any recommendations on good tires at a reasonable price? I look forward to reading your suggestions.

All the best,

boglev
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Kenkat
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by Kenkat »

I would start with reading the reviews and especially the surveys at tirerack.com. Lots of good information there to start.
Khanmots
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by Khanmots »

And not only is tirerack the best source of information on tires I've found they also are quite competitive on pricing. Even after you factor shipping and paying someone to mount and balance. At least in my area, I still come out ahead through them. I've bought 4 sets of tires through them so far and have been quite pleased with them.
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Consumer Reports says

Post by davebarnes »

Michelin Defender
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pennstater2005
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by pennstater2005 »

Check out http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/home.do

I've had great luck purchasing tires here. I've bought two sets of all seasons and two sets of winter tires so far. Four years ago I bought four tires for my Honda Accord for $236 (Yokohama Avid touring S) and then $10/per tire to have them mounted and balanced at my service garage, for a grand total of $276. Obviously, tires have increased in price since then but you can still find great deals here. Tire Rack has yet to beat them for the particular tires I have purchased, especially with the free shipping.
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tibbitts
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by tibbitts »

boglev wrote:Hello,

I recently had my tires inspected and have been told that I need to get new tires as they are not in the best shape. They are the factory tires that came with the car and have lasted almost 5 years. I am wanting to get all season tires. I live in the Northeast and definitely need something that can keep up with the harsh winters. Please also note that my car is a Honda Civic, so I will need something that will work well with that type of car. Any recommendations on good tires at a reasonable price? I look forward to reading your suggestions.

All the best,

boglev
I'm guessing that like many cars, Civics come with various tire and wheel sizes, so you might want to specify.

If you drive in serious weather areas, and plan to keep your car, you might consider separate snow tires and wheels for winter.

When I bought tires recently I couldn't come anywhere close to the prices people here are referencing - and I searched the same sources that are being referenced here. I paid about $520 with tax and installation for a soon-to-be-discontinued model (Michelin Primacy) for 225/60/16(H).
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SpringMan
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by SpringMan »

No affiliation with them but I recommend Belle Tire. They can recommend what is best for your situation. I started using them after they fixed a flat on a tire they did not sell me for free.
Best Wishes, SpringMan
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iceport
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by iceport »

boglev wrote:Hello,

I recently had my tires inspected and have been told that I need to get new tires as they are not in the best shape. They are the factory tires that came with the car and have lasted almost 5 years. I am wanting to get all season tires. I live in the Northeast and definitely need something that can keep up with the harsh winters. Please also note that my car is a Honda Civic, so I will need something that will work well with that type of car. Any recommendations on good tires at a reasonable price? I look forward to reading your suggestions.

All the best,

boglev
boglev,

Here's another recommendation for you to spend some time on the Tire Rack website. If memory serves, you can input your car and/or wheel size data to filter appropriate fit tires, and you can answer a brief questionnaire to sort out your priorities. The pages that show review matrices for various tire sizes and types are extremely helpful.

But I would also urge you to check out Consumer Reports for a source of unbiased data. They run the tires through their test track in CT. Sometimes, they will identify good tires that Tire Rack simply doesn't sell.

My last purchase of a set of tires (Cooper Zeon RS3-A 205/50 R17 93W) was based on a Consumer Reports recommendation, and I've been very happy with them -- so much so that I will buy them again if they are still available. But Tire Rack doesn't sell Cooper tires, so I found them priced extremely well at tires-easy.com. The point isn't that these tires would be appropriate for you. Rather, the point is to seek more than one source of information, and then shop around.

I've purchased tires at Tire Rack for almost 20 years now, with great results. I've had excellent experience with Discount Tire Direct. I was also extremely satisfied with my one-time use of tires-easy.com. Whatever phone or internet order company you use, you are almost certain to find a set of 4 tires for far less than you could possibly find them at a brick and mortar store -- even after paying for shipping, mounting and balancing. Another benefit is that you can use your favorite trustworthy mechanic to mount and balance the tires, without relying on careless high school kids that might work at the local discount tire store. (Unless they also sell tires, independent garages are more than happy to provide this service.) The tires have always been very fresh as well.

Trying to get reasonable winter traction out of a set of all seasons is tough. I do it now only because I drive an all wheel drive Subaru. Before all wheel drive, I always purchased a separate set of 4 dedicated snow tires mounted on steel rims. Tire Rack sells snows mounted and balanced on steel rims for about the same (or less) as you can buy only the tires at a local store. The steel rims take the punishment of pothole season better than expensive aluminum rims, and changeovers are a snap.

That said, you've obviously been doing alright on all seasons for the past five years, so just make sure the tires you buy have decent snow traction reviews.

Good luck,
--Peter
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livesoft
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by livesoft »

I had my daughter research which tires to buy for my car which was the car she was driving. This is one of those lessons about life that everyone needs to learn: How to research important purchases. What did folks do before Bogleheads existed? :)

I will say this: The best tires may be more than the price you are willing to pay. Or the tires you want may not be available when you want them. Or the next best tires may be on sale at a significant discount.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

All seasons are meant for Houston or Florida. They are not substitutes for winter tires. They are fine for the summer in winter regions but are not fine for winters or for seasons where the temperature gets below 40F. Tire compounds are built for temperature ranges and winter tires stay pliable and keep traction in cold temperatures. All seasons do not.

Every vehicle I buy has 2 sets of wheels. 1 set with tires for the non-snow months and one set for winter. I do not understand why anyone would not use winter tires in the winter. They are not just for getting unstuck. They keep traction on dry, cold roads. For those times where you are on the highway when a snowstorm is going on and all of a sudden, your lane becomes the unplowed lane, they can be the difference between sliding off the road and keeping traction long enough to adjust your speed accordingly.

If you simply don't drive in the winter at all, then all seasons would be fine.
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bottlecap
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by bottlecap »

Tirerack is a good site, as others have mentioned. Costco is a good place to buy. The factory tires are rarely the best for your vehicles. If you can swallow the price tag, Michelin makes some great all around tires.

JT
killjoy2012
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by killjoy2012 »

Just a couple quick comments to add on:

1) While I also use tirerack.com for research and to establish a pricing baseline, I've never purchased directly through them. Personally, I think you're better off walking into a local, major chain tire store knowing the exact tire you want based on your research, and then with the TR price quote in hand, ask the local store what they can do to match it. This avoids the local store murdering you with mounting & disposal fees since you didn't buy the tire from them, and also makes future warranty & rotation issues down the road much easier to deal with. Someone one mentioned Belle Tire, I don't think they are a national chain, but they are a very good company to deal with and often will price match Tire Rack's w/ a very reasonable charge for mounting, install & disposal. In fact, Belle Tire actually can source tires from TR.

2) If you're reasonably happy with the OEM tires that have lasted 5 years, I would suggest using that model as your price/performance baseline. OEMs aren't idiots - there are normally good reasons they picked the tires they did (performance, cost, ride, weight, MPG impact, etc.). While I agree that Michelin makes quality tires, you really need to watch their weight vs. OEM. e.g. for my truck, a set 4 Michelins were going to be ~ 25lbs heavier than what I already had installed. That a lots of extra unsprung weight that could adversely affect MPG. Plus they were almost 2x the price of the OEM Goodyears that lasted 7 years. YMMV.
Last edited by killjoy2012 on Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by FrugalInvestor »

killjoy2012 wrote:If you're reasonably happy with the OEM tires that have lasted 5 years, I would suggest using that model as your price/performance baseline. OEMs aren't idiots - there are normally good reasons they picked the tires they did (performance, cost, ride, weight, MPG impact, etc.).
I agree with this. If the OEM tires have performed well why not stick with them?
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iceport
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by iceport »

Jack FFR1846 wrote:All seasons are meant for Houston or Florida. They are not substitutes for winter tires. They are fine for the summer in winter regions but are not fine for winters or for seasons where the temperature gets below 40F. Tire compounds are built for temperature ranges and winter tires stay pliable and keep traction in cold temperatures. All seasons do not.

Every vehicle I buy has 2 sets of wheels. 1 set with tires for the non-snow months and one set for winter. I do not understand why anyone would not use winter tires in the winter. They are not just for getting unstuck. They keep traction on dry, cold roads. For those times where you are on the highway when a snowstorm is going on and all of a sudden, your lane becomes the unplowed lane, they can be the difference between sliding off the road and keeping traction long enough to adjust your speed accordingly.

If you simply don't drive in the winter at all, then all seasons would be fine.
I agree with you, Jack.

As I mentioned above, I get by with all seasons on an all wheel drive car. But I fully realize that the all wheel drive helps with one thing, and one thing only: getting moving. It will not help at all with stopping, or appreciably with cornering or straight-line stability on slippery surfaces. So you must drive accordingly.

This was my third winter on the last-purchased set of all seasons, and things got dicey at times here in CT. The real kicker was the mammoth pothole I drove into a few weeks after the car turned over 100k miles. The prospect of having to replace a bent wheel, at $300 - $500 each for stock, makes a set of snows on steel rims seem like a bargain. So I might go that route again...

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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by livesoft »

FrugalInvestor wrote:I agree with this. If the OEM tires have performed well why not stick with them?
Because they don't make them anymore?
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by sport »

Jack FFR1846 wrote:All seasons are meant for Houston or Florida. They are not substitutes for winter tires. They are fine for the summer in winter regions but are not fine for winters or for seasons where the temperature gets below 40F.
What you say is true for rear wheel drive vehicles. However, for front wheel drive vehicles, all season tires can work just fine. I live in an area commonly called the "snow belt". We get lots of snow, due to lake effect as well as the normal winter storms. I have been driving front wheel drive cars with all season tires since 1981. My experience has been that they have sufficient traction, and I have not gotten stuck.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by sport »

If you are a member, I would recommend Costco for tires. They only carry better tires, the prices are excellent, and the guarantee is very good. They will only sell you a tire that is suitable for your car.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by 12thman »

FrugalInvestor wrote:
killjoy2012 wrote:If you're reasonably happy with the OEM tires that have lasted 5 years, I would suggest using that model as your price/performance baseline. OEMs aren't idiots - there are normally good reasons they picked the tires they did (performance, cost, ride, weight, MPG impact, etc.).
I agree with this. If the OEM tires have performed well why not stick with them?
OEM tires are chosen because of they ride quieter which helps dealers sell cars. Typically, quieter riding tires use softer rubber and do not last as long. Tires have different mileage ratings based on the rubber they use for the tire.

Seeing as how your tires are the only piece of the car that actually contacts the ground its makes sense to buy the best quality tire you can. You can bargain hunt for other components of your car but not your tires. For example, your alternator goes out and you buy and install a cheap bargain alternator. A year later your driving down the road and your alternator fails, your engine will stop running but you can safely coast to the shoulder. However, if you replace your tires with cheap bargain ones and your driving down the road and a catastrophic tire failure occurs, its very possible to loose control of your vehicle and crash.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by stlutz »

While I also use tirerack.com for research and to establish a pricing baseline, I've never purchased directly through them. Personally, I think you're better off walking into a local, major chain tire store knowing the exact tire you want based on your research, and then with the TR price quote in hand, ask the local store what they can do to match it. This avoids the local store murdering you with mounting & disposal fees since you didn't buy the tire from them
I never thought I would buy tires online, but I got my last set through tirebuyer.com. The nice thing is the have negotiated install/balance etc. fees with their installers, so the price you're quoted actually is the price you pay.

That said, I didn't buy online because it was online but because the specific tires I wanted weren't available through Discount Tire (where I've always bought in the past).
All seasons are meant for Houston or Florida. They are not substitutes for winter tires. They are fine for the summer in winter regions but are not fine for winters or for seasons where the temperature gets below 40F. Tire compounds are built for temperature ranges and winter tires stay pliable and keep traction in cold temperatures. All seasons do not.
No. All-seasons are just that--a compromise when you live in a 4 season climate. They won't have the best stopping distance on dry, wet, or snowpacked roads, but they work well overall. Also, a lot of people drive less in the snow now than the used to. I know when it snows where I live, I just work from home.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by bottlecap »

killjoy2012 wrote:OEMs aren't idiots - there are normally good reasons they picked the tires they did (performance, cost, ride, weight, MPG impact, etc.).
No, manufacturers are not idiots. My guess is that they typically chose an fairly acceptable tire that they can get the cheapest deal on from the tire manufacturer, but not necessarily the tire you might choose if buying. Most car buyers don't consider tires, especially on cars that aren't performance vehicles, and the manufacturer is going to slap tires on there that are half the price rather than a better ride, mpg or what have you. I can't see them raising their sticker price $500 so they can put the best tires on the vehicle.

I'd still check tirerack. Often there are much better options available.

JT
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by FrugalInvestor »

12thman wrote:
FrugalInvestor wrote:
killjoy2012 wrote:If you're reasonably happy with the OEM tires that have lasted 5 years, I would suggest using that model as your price/performance baseline. OEMs aren't idiots - there are normally good reasons they picked the tires they did (performance, cost, ride, weight, MPG impact, etc.).
I agree with this. If the OEM tires have performed well why not stick with them?
OEM tires are chosen because of they ride quieter which helps dealers sell cars. Typically, quieter riding tires use softer rubber and do not last as long. Tires have different mileage ratings based on the rubber they use for the tire.

Seeing as how your tires are the only piece of the car that actually contacts the ground its makes sense to buy the best quality tire you can. You can bargain hunt for other components of your car but not your tires. For example, your alternator goes out and you buy and install a cheap bargain alternator. A year later your driving down the road and your alternator fails, your engine will stop running but you can safely coast to the shoulder. However, if you replace your tires with cheap bargain ones and your driving down the road and a catastrophic tire failure occurs, its very possible to loose control of your vehicle and crash.
Now think about it. How many catastrophic tire failures have you had? How many have your friends or even friends of your friends had? Most tires today are of very high quality and will perform beyond the needs of the typical driver. The only failure most people experience is due to a nail or screw and a 'catastrophic' failure is most likely to be due to the failure of the owner to keep their tires properly inflated.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by mainiac »

I finally bought snow tires about 5 years ago - I didn't think they were necessary. Now, I will always buy snow tires for the winter - they make a huge difference in traction and stopping!!
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by frequentT »

I recently bought Pirelli tires at Discount Tire after some diligent shopping. I am usually not a performance tire guy, however, Nissan specified this size and speed rating for my AWD vehicle. I do a good bit of highway driving, mountain driving and occasionally drive in snow on ski trips. 2500 mi. on them and I am very happy.

It was very difficult to compare brands and performance. The reviews seem very subjective, and the published tables do not avail themselves to a very useful quantitative comparison.

We have purchased Costco Michelins for my wife's car and were very pleased with the price and performance. Costco does not try to carry a tire for every make/model; Same as their shelf goods strategy. I would guess they would have tires for a Honda. They have great service after the sale for flats and fills.

Previously, I drove a very old Pathfinder. On this vehicle I purchased the Pep Boys private label brand. They were guaranteed for 30k. The tires never made more than 20k +. Pep Boys honored the warranty every time and gave me a steep discount on a new set. I think I got 3-4 sets this way a for very little cash. I never had any quality issues or roadside problems. Remarkably few flats.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by FrugalInvestor »

frequentT wrote:Costco does not try to carry a tire for every make/model; Same as their shelf goods strategy. I would guess they would have tires for a Honda. They have great service after the sale for flats and fills.
Costco will typically order sizes they don't stock. Just FYI, they often offer rebates so keep an eye out for those.

I've found their technicians to be well trained and careful in their work. They always check torque specs and use a torque wrench when re-installing wheels, which is important to insure rotors are not warped. I had them install tires on rather delicate and wide chrome wheels on a sports car and they did no damage to them.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by technovelist »

+1 on the recommendation for Costco. I've used them several times and they have good prices and good service.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by Lynxville »

I have had the best luck with Michelins, recently I purchased new Michelins that are energy savers, I calculated the mpg before and after, I get 1 to 2 mpg more. I took my online quote to a local tire company and they offered the same price and free lifetime rotations.

My local car dealer is offering nitrogen tire filling for $15 for all 4 tires. Not sure you save any gas money, just wondering if anyone has done this and is there any real mpg increase?
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by General Disarray »

+5 on purchasing tires through Costco.

Boglev, I, too, live in the Northeast, and my first winter here a few years back I bought four tires from Costco. It was around January that I bought them. At the time, the Costco rep said that all-season would not suffice, given the winter conditions, and that I needed to get performance tires. I ended up getting the Michelin Primacy MXV4 Michelin Performance H/V. I drive a Toyota Camry, so I suspect those tires will fit your Honda Civic.

Costco has a lifetime warranty on their tires (I think). 60,000 or life of tires, whichever comes first. Service has been outstanding, because a few nails punctured a couple of my tires more than once, and Costco repaired the tires for free. I was going to get new tires this winter, because the cold temperatures actually led to a flat, but the Costco guy said there is no need to do so, as my tires (even with the nail punctures) were fine. They would just patch up my tires, and the patches will outlast the tire lifespan.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by jupiter_man »

+ on Purchasing from Costco.

Recently got Michelins from Costco for my Car. They fill in Nitrogen , but I have not done any research on the value of Nitrogen over regular Air. The BF Goodrich were about $15 - $20 cheaper , so that will also work.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by gatorking »

I recommend Town Fair Tires. http://www.townfairtire.com/
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by keystone »

I also get all of my new tires at Costco. I go there willing to buy whatever set they have available for my car because I have confidence that Costco only deals with quality products and tires are no exception. Usually there is not much of a choice and sometimes they don't have any tires that fit your car, so you may need to try another location. I couldn't have been happier with the last set that I bought, the price/performance/longevity combination was the best that I have ever experienced on my Civic.

On the downside, Cosctos tend to be quite busy and in my area you can expect to wait 3 or more hours for your set of tires.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by FrugalInvestor »

jupiter_man wrote:+ on Purchasing from Costco.

Recently got Michelins from Costco for my Car. They fill in Nitrogen , but I have not done any research on the value of Nitrogen over regular Air.
Nitrogen is of no value to anyone who is not driving their car on a racetrack. If you research it you'll find many stated advantages such as less moisture, more consistent pressures, etc. but in everyday use these things make no difference. It doesn't hurt, but it's not worth going out of your way for or paying extra for.


Here is a statement on the subject from Tire Rack's site:
Is it worth it? If you go someplace that provides free nitrogen with new tires, why not? Additionally we’ve seen some service providers offering reasonable prices of about $5 per tire (including periodic adjustments for the life of the tire) to a less reasonable $10 per tire (with additional costs for subsequent pressure adjustments) or more as part of a service contract, which we believe exceeds the value of nitrogen’s benefit.

Rather than pay extra for nitrogen, most drivers would be better off buying an accurate tire pressure gauge and checking and adjusting their tire pressures regularly.
Link to page:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/ ... techid=191
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by autonomy »

General Disarray wrote: I drive a Toyota Camry, so I suspect those tires will fit your Honda Civic.
I don't meant to single your comment out, but boglev, please check in your manual or on tirerack what size tire you need/want. Tires can change year after year for the same car model, and they will almost certainly be different between different models and brands. My mother leases a Civic, and the Civic actually changed tire sizes between the 8th and the 9th generation, if I recall correctly, from 15 to 16 inches.

I've bought tires and wheel packages from tirerack and have been happy with the service. May not be cheaper than walking into a shop, but definitely less hassle.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by 12thman »

FrugalInvestor wrote:
12thman wrote:
FrugalInvestor wrote:
killjoy2012 wrote:If you're reasonably happy with the OEM tires that have lasted 5 years, I would suggest using that model as your price/performance baseline. OEMs aren't idiots - there are normally good reasons they picked the tires they did (performance, cost, ride, weight, MPG impact, etc.).
I agree with this. If the OEM tires have performed well why not stick with them?
OEM tires are chosen because of they ride quieter which helps dealers sell cars. Typically, quieter riding tires use softer rubber and do not last as long. Tires have different mileage ratings based on the rubber they use for the tire.

Seeing as how your tires are the only piece of the car that actually contacts the ground its makes sense to buy the best quality tire you can. You can bargain hunt for other components of your car but not your tires. For example, your alternator goes out and you buy and install a cheap bargain alternator. A year later your driving down the road and your alternator fails, your engine will stop running but you can safely coast to the shoulder. However, if you replace your tires with cheap bargain ones and your driving down the road and a catastrophic tire failure occurs, its very possible to loose control of your vehicle and crash.
Now think about it. How many catastrophic tire failures have you had? How many have your friends or even friends of your friends had? Most tires today are of very high quality and will perform beyond the needs of the typical driver. The only failure most people experience is due to a nail or screw and a 'catastrophic' failure is most likely to be due to the failure of the owner to keep their tires properly inflated.
That is incorrect, catastrophic tire failures are also frequently from rubber degradation as seen in: seasonal temperature fluctuations, sun damage, and age.

Firestone learned a hard lesson about what happens when tires fail while operating a vehicle. http://www.forbes.com/2001/06/20/tireindex.html

The fact is that catastrophic tire failures do occur. The fact that I know someone that has had it occur is irrelevant to the argument. If a tire fails while operating your vehicle you can easily loose control and crash, the same cannot be said of other components you must replace on a regular basis. So buy the best quality you can.
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by FrugalInvestor »

12thman wrote:
The fact is that catastrophic tire failures do occur. The fact that I know someone that has had it occur is irrelevant to the argument. If a tire fails while operating your vehicle you can easily loose control and crash, the same cannot be said of other components you must replace on a regular basis. So buy the best quality you can.
Okay, let's assume for the moment that you're correct. Now, how exactly beyond name brand does one determine the quality of a tire? By quality I'm referring to the likelihood that it may experience a catastrophic failure since that seems to be our major point of disagreement.
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sport
Posts: 12094
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Location: Cleveland, OH

Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by sport »

Lynxville wrote:My local car dealer is offering nitrogen tire filling for $15 for all 4 tires. Not sure you save any gas money, just wondering if anyone has done this and is there any real mpg increase?
Costco offers nitrogen at no extra cost.
TheGreyingDuke
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by TheGreyingDuke »

Agree with using Town Fair tire, if they are local to you. Will match any price, free rotations, decent selection.

Now as to the all season question... not sure where in New England you are, in the south I might risk all seasons but in the north (ME, NH, VT) snows are a great improvement in traction and braking. The only all season to get for the north is the Nokia WRG3 (they have the snowflake on sidewall http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=1951 ... okian+WRG3, but they are dear, never discounted but tires are not something you want to chintz on.
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WHL
Posts: 789
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:22 pm

Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by WHL »

If you're an Amazon Prime member, make sure you check tire prices there. Shockingly, they were cheaper than Tirerack and very competitive with Discount Tire Co., who I ended up buying through.

I purchased Yokohama Geolandar H/T-S tires for my truck. Good price (~$1200) and 60k mile expected life, which I'm happy with. So far, so good, it's been about three years.
Jack FFR1846
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Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

petrico wrote: Trying to get reasonable winter traction out of a set of all seasons is tough. I do it now only because I drive an all wheel drive Subaru. Before all wheel drive, I always purchased a separate set of 4 dedicated snow tires mounted on steel rims. Tire Rack sells snows mounted and balanced on steel rims for about the same (or less) as you can buy only the tires at a local store. The steel rims take the punishment of pothole season better than expensive aluminum rims, and changeovers are a snap.

That said, you've obviously been doing alright on all seasons for the past five years, so just make sure the tires you buy have decent snow traction reviews.

Good luck,
--Peter

We have a Subaru and a Wrangler. Both run winter tires in the winter. Not only do they offer better traction in deep snow, but the rubber stays more pliable in cold temperatures. As much as I like AWD cars in the winter, I have been caught by a January thaw followed by a couple inch snowstorm with the all seasons switched back on. Made me want to park the car and walk home.

A benefit is that my summer tires don't wear while the snows are on the car.
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Steady59
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Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 3:05 pm

Re: Purchasing New Tires for Car and Need Suggestions

Post by Steady59 »

Another vote for Tirerack. I've been buying from them for 30+ years. This is tire buying season so look for rebates. I think Dunlop has an $80 rebate on a set of 4 through 5/31.

I live in the NE also, frequently going to NH and Vermont. All season tires are really good at nothing. In the snow and slush, there is nothing like a good set of 4 snow tires to go through anything. I even put 4 snows on my AWD Audi Q5. Go through Craigslist and find a used set of wheels and get a set of snow tires for the winter. After that, you can get a good set of summer tires. Michelins are nice but pricey but you do get what you pay for. Read the reviews on tirerack.
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