Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

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fetch5482
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Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by fetch5482 »

I am super confused on which route to take, if someone with tire knowledge can help, it will be much appreciated! I live in Norcal (very little rain, mostly warm weather). I own a 2012 Nissan Altima, and drive about 7,000 miles per year.

I purchased Michelin® DEFENDER 215/60R16 (Item #645921) couple days ago from costco.com for $461.82 inclusive of all taxes. This was when they were running a promotion for $130 off Michelin last week. I have not yet gotten it installed, and can cancel for full refund.

Starting this week, Costco is running a similar promotion on Bridgestone. With this deal, I can purchase ECOPIA EP422+ 215/60R16 95T BW GRAND TOURING A/S (Item # 990462) for $392.24 including all taxes.

Given this, which tire would you recommend? Should I cancel my Michelin order and go with the Bridgestone Ecopia given the price difference?
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sunny_socal
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by sunny_socal »

If it's worth the inconvenience, then sure. You save a few bucks.

Both of those tires are about the same: "Meh." They'll both be fine for the type of driving you're going to do, they're not high performance. (BTW I like both brands and Costco has become my go-to place for tires, I don't think you can go wrong here.)
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by lazydavid »

Are you sure you can get $130 off Bridgestone? The $60 portion of that was a separate discount for Executive members that expired on Friday, unless they renewed it or put in a new promo.
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William4u
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by William4u »

The Michelins are better IMHO and worth it.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by pochax »

i am not familiar with those specific tires but Michelins have a better brand reputation than Bridgestone IMO.
DSInvestor
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by DSInvestor »

Once you get your quotes from Costco, give Discount Tire/America's Tire a call. I did this when I bought my winter tires (set of 4) and Discount Tire beat Costco's price. Costco's price after $70 off was $440. Discount quoted me $400 plus $100 cash card.

In California, Discount Tire is called America's Tire.
http://www.americastire.com
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by at ease »

...well, I drive a car many miles, and have found the Bridgestone tires to be my FAVORITE of any....I rotate them between 5 and 6,ooo miles and it's not unusual to get around 80,000 on a set.....my wife put Michelin on her car two years ago (from Sam's) and had to replace 2 before 20,000 miles. Sam's prorated both so that was good. Anyway, if you can get a good deal on Bridgestone, you may just become a long-term fan like me...good luck.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

William4u wrote:The Michelins are better IMHO and worth it.
+1 Yup, I have those installed on my car. They are rated to 90,000 miles, not really planning on getting 90,000 out of it, but stopping is excellent on dry pavement, excellent thus far on wet pavement, haven't driven on deep snow (nor have plans too). They are good tires.

On the other hand, I have the same model tire Bridgestone installed on our main driving car, Outback, so far one tire rotation down and we have not noticed any noticeable wear on tire, good handling, good performance on dry/wet pavement, did well in a recent highway drive with heavy sleet and untreated roadway.

Don't think you can go wrong with either tire. So long as you realize these are all-season, they are not snow tires nor are they performance tires.
Last edited by Grt2bOutdoors on Wed Mar 15, 2017 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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fetch5482
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by fetch5482 »

lazydavid wrote:Are you sure you can get $130 off Bridgestone? The $60 portion of that was a separate discount for Executive members that expired on Friday, unless they renewed it or put in a new promo.
Yes, 130 with code BRIDGE17MAR
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by lazydavid »

walletless wrote:
lazydavid wrote:Are you sure you can get $130 off Bridgestone? The $60 portion of that was a separate discount for Executive members that expired on Friday, unless they renewed it or put in a new promo.
Yes, 130 with code BRIDGE17MAR
Ok, new promo. The old one was TIRE17MAR. Good to know.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by John Z »

I had those Bridgestone tires on my new 2012 Altima 3.5 and I found them to be quiet, responsive and long lasting. I planned to buy another set at 45,000 but traded the Altima at 36,000 miles and could see them lasting another 10,000. No experience with Michlen.
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fetch5482
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by fetch5482 »

Thanks all, I decided to keep the Michelin tire.
DSInvestor wrote:Once you get your quotes from Costco, give Discount Tire/America's Tire a call. I did this when I bought my winter tires (set of 4) and Discount Tire beat Costco's price. Costco's price after $70 off was $440. Discount quoted me $400 plus $100 cash card.

In California, Discount Tire is called America's Tire.
http://www.americastire.com
Thats a great idea - will give them a call and see if they can match/beat. I go there any way for rotations, super nice folks.. don't mind giving them my business even if they match the price.
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LittleGreenSoldiers
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by LittleGreenSoldiers »

DSInvestor wrote:Once you get your quotes from Costco, give Discount Tire/America's Tire a call. I did this when I bought my winter tires (set of 4) and Discount Tire beat Costco's price. Costco's price after $70 off was $440. Discount quoted me $400 plus $100 cash card.

In California, Discount Tire is called America's Tire.
http://www.americastire.com
+1 Discount Tires all the way. If America's Tire operates the same on the west coast as Discount does on the east I can't say enough about them. Over the last 10 years I've established a nice relationship with the local store. Best place I've ever bought tires and that's why I keep going back.

I'm also a big Michelin fan. +1 for Michelin too.
Parthenon
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Parthenon »

Last year I traded in a 1996 Ford Windstar with 82,000 miles with the original Michelin tires and a substantial amount of tread left on them. This may not be typical and the quality of todays tires may not be the same but if I had to purchase another set of tires today I would go with the Michelins.

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Bacchus01
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Bacchus01 »

Put new tires on two vehicles recently. Neither Costco nor Discount could beat my local Firestone for Bridgestone tires. One set was run flat, which Costco doesn't do.
Saving$
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Saving$ »

Thanks for the Costco discount for the Bridgestones. Was planning on buying them anyway this week, so you just saved me $60!!

It's worth it for me to buy from Costco as I'm spending about 1 hour /month there anyway, so I can have that coincide with an appointment to get the tires rotated. Otherwise, they never get rotated...
lazydavid
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by lazydavid »

Bacchus01 wrote:One set was run flat, which Costco doesn't do.
This alone is not a good reason to avoid a vendor. Run flats are rubbish. I binned mine within 3 months of buying my current car, and will never go back. I'll do the same if I ever get another car that comes with them, though I'll do my damndest to avoid getting them in the first place.

Pricing is another matter, and IS a good reason to choose one place over another.
Bacchus01
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Bacchus01 »

lazydavid wrote:
Bacchus01 wrote:One set was run flat, which Costco doesn't do.
This alone is not a good reason to avoid a vendor. Run flats are rubbish. I binned mine within 3 months of buying my current car, and will never go back. I'll do the same if I ever get another car that comes with them, though I'll do my damndest to avoid getting them in the first place.

Pricing is another matter, and IS a good reason to choose one place over another.
No, it's a perfect reason to avoid a vendor. They didn't have them, period. I love my run flats. I commute 110 miles a day and have had to use them twice.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by KlangFool »

Bacchus01 wrote:
lazydavid wrote:
Bacchus01 wrote:One set was run flat, which Costco doesn't do.
This alone is not a good reason to avoid a vendor. Run flats are rubbish. I binned mine within 3 months of buying my current car, and will never go back. I'll do the same if I ever get another car that comes with them, though I'll do my damndest to avoid getting them in the first place.

Pricing is another matter, and IS a good reason to choose one place over another.
No, it's a perfect reason to avoid a vendor. They didn't have them, period. I love my run flats. I commute 110 miles a day and have had to use them twice.
Bacchus01,

Costco does carry run flat tire. They may not stock them. I was buying my tires from Costco a few months ago. Costco's folk was ordering some run flat tire for the customer in front of me.

More recently, I brought in my car to get my tires checked. I overheard the Costco's folk ordering some run flat tires for the customer over the phone.

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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Boglegrappler »

I've had both brands of tires from time to time.

I prefer Michelin. My sense of things (not scientifically measured) is that michelins are more robust in construction, and use a bit "harder" rubber. The ride is a little rougher, and slightly more noisy. Bridgestones are made of softer compounds and the comfort level is higher. The trade-off is that the tread life is lower on Bridgestones, in my experience. Bridgestones are usually a bit cheaper for the equivalent tire.
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Alexa9
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Alexa9 »

Most people I know that are car nuts rave about Michelin. Small price to pay per mile for safety and longevity.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by kjvmartin »

I had been buying Michelin tires for years when I needed replacements. Costco sold them and they seem have the best reputation. That's usually all I'd need to know to buy something.

Our new vehicle came with Bridgestones and I must admit I can't imagine any better tire to replace them.

kjvm.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by bottlecap »

Stick with the Michelin’s.

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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by -buzz- »

Parthenon wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:47 pm Last year I traded in a 1996 Ford Windstar with 82,000 miles with the original Michelin tires and a substantial amount of tread left on them.
Yikes. I would not drive on 20 year old tires even if they did have tread left.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Sasquatch »

Michelin all the way
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by bloom2708 »

Cooper or Toyo.

Skip Costco too.

Michelin tires are too hard most of the time. You can do better for less.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by iamlucky13 »

The Michelin Defender is reputed to be a very good tire in terms of traction in different conditions and long tread life. Consumer Reports testing corroborates this. Hence, we bought a set several months ago. Ours are actually the Michelin X-Tour, which all the information I can find indicates are the exact same tire as the Defender, with a different name so dedicated tire shops with a price match guarantee don't have to price match Costco and Sam's Club.

They are also relatively loud, and decreased our fuel mileage 10% or so (they're on the wife's car, so I haven't tracked closely). This is likely to be about $500 or extra fuel cost over the life of the tire for us.

I think the Ecopia's are very similar to what is delivered on most new cars these days, but haven't tried them. Personally, I'd probably go with the quiet, comfortable ride of a low rolling resistance tire like this in the future, but my wife prefers the sense of safety the Consumer Reports testing of the Michellin gives her.

I'm never buying tires at Costco again. If I'd realized what a headache it would have been, I'd have taken notes along the way to share, but by the end of the 6 week ordeal, I'd already started to forget some of the pointless hoops they'd made us jump through, and just wanted to be done.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Messy_Orchid_51 »

In my opinion Michelin’s are better than Bridgestone in terms of quality and durability.

I am rocking Bridgestones on my Subaru because they are OEM but once I hit 60k ish and they wear thin I plan on switching to an equivalent Michelin.

Costco is a great place to buy. They alternate deals for both Michelin and Bridgestone at around $60 or more off a set of 4. There can be significant waiting for tire service depending on where you live so plan accordingly.
inbox788
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by inbox788 »

walletless wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:46 pmI purchased Michelin® DEFENDER 215/60R16 (Item #645921) couple days ago from costco.com for $461.82 inclusive of all taxes. This was when they were running a promotion for $130 off Michelin last week. I have not yet gotten it installed, and can cancel for full refund.

Starting this week, Costco is running a similar promotion on Bridgestone. With this deal, I can purchase ECOPIA EP422+ 215/60R16 95T BW GRAND TOURING A/S (Item # 990462) for $392.24 including all taxes.

Given this, which tire would you recommend? Should I cancel my Michelin order and go with the Bridgestone Ecopia given the price difference?
Between the two, I'd pick the Michelin Defender, but don't believe the mileage warranty. You're lucky if you get half what's rated. Still, the Defender is a good tire when new (rating & personal experience), but degrades, while the Ecopia is middling all around (ratings only). Still, for the low mileage you're driving, I'd look for a less expensive tire elsewhere as some folks have suggested.

My local Costco is way too busy and takes hours to install tires. Used to be done in less than an hour and I could so shopping, but last time, I left the car there. I can forget about the free rotations, since they take even longer, and just aren't worth the wait. YMMV.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyre ... sp?type=ST

I think the Kumho Solus TA11 is the one I'm going to try to get a deal on for my next set.

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=K ... 1&cat_id=0
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by J295 »

Personally I keep it simple and always buy Michelin.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by dm200 »

Consumer reports rates Michelin defenders very hghly.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by iamlucky13 »

inbox788 wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 2:04 am Between the two, I'd pick the Michelin Defender, but don't believe the mileage warranty. You're lucky if you get half what's rated.
I've never had a tire fail to reach its warranty with at least the legal amount of tread. The worst I had was Honda OEM-equipped Firestones that I replaced a little past the rated mileage. The best I had were a set of Pirellis I was really disappointed they discontinued, since I got roughly 1.5 times the rated tread life out of them.

How you drive and regular hot weather can affect your results.

Consumer Reports does partial life tread wear tests, and extrapolates the expected life based on that. Their testing suggests the Defenders should outlast their warranty, if I remember right.
goodlifer
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by goodlifer »

I have had both brands from Costco on several different cars and have never noticed a difference. I'm the type of driver that just wants to get from point A to point B safely. I just bought Michelin Defender set for my husband's car 3 weeks ago and a set of Pirelli Scorpions for my car as they were decent for the price and we plan on selling the car in a year or two. Again, can't tell the difference. I can say that there is less road noise with the Pirelli tires than the OEM tires from Subaru.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Rupert »

-buzz- wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 1:31 pm
Parthenon wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:47 pm Last year I traded in a 1996 Ford Windstar with 82,000 miles with the original Michelin tires and a substantial amount of tread left on them.
Yikes. I would not drive on 20 year old tires even if they did have tread left.
+1. Dry rot makes tires unsafe after about 6 years. You may indeed have plenty of tread left, but that tread won't help you much when it separates from the sidewall because of dry rot.
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dm200
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by dm200 »

+1. Dry rot makes tires unsafe after about 6 years. You may indeed have plenty of tread left, but that tread won't help you much when it separates from the sidewall because of dry rot.
Wouldn't higher quality tires last more years ??
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Housedoc »

I have been a Michelin snob for years. However my 17 Highlander came with Bridgestone tires. Smooth and great traction in rain. Flip a coin!
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Rupert »

dm200 wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 11:15 am
+1. Dry rot makes tires unsafe after about 6 years. You may indeed have plenty of tread left, but that tread won't help you much when it separates from the sidewall because of dry rot.
Wouldn't higher quality tires last more years ??
Nope. See http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/tires-ex ... six-years/
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by -buzz- »

Rupert wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 11:08 am
-buzz- wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 1:31 pm
Parthenon wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:47 pm Last year I traded in a 1996 Ford Windstar with 82,000 miles with the original Michelin tires and a substantial amount of tread left on them.
Yikes. I would not drive on 20 year old tires even if they did have tread left.
+1. Dry rot makes tires unsafe after about 6 years. You may indeed have plenty of tread left, but that tread won't help you much when it separates from the sidewall because of dry rot.
Tire separation is definitely a problem and can result in catastrophic failure at speed.

Tires also harden with age, so they have less traction and not as effective during braking or steering.

Tire age is something easy to check when buying a used car, especially one where the mileage is lower than you might expect for the age.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by WhiteMaxima »

Costco rotate Michelin and BridgeStone sales every month. FGood warranty if you had flat tire. My personal like Michielin. Michelin is little pricey.
inbox788
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by inbox788 »

iamlucky13 wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 10:05 pm
inbox788 wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 2:04 am Between the two, I'd pick the Michelin Defender, but don't believe the mileage warranty. You're lucky if you get half what's rated.
I've never had a tire fail to reach its warranty with at least the legal amount of tread. The worst I had was Honda OEM-equipped Firestones that I replaced a little past the rated mileage. The best I had were a set of Pirellis I was really disappointed they discontinued, since I got roughly 1.5 times the rated tread life out of them.

How you drive and regular hot weather can affect your results.

Consumer Reports does partial life tread wear tests, and extrapolates the expected life based on that. Their testing suggests the Defenders should outlast their warranty, if I remember right.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/tir ... to-useless

You've been lucky or rotated your tires very frequently (which helps even out wear). I'll be lucky to reach 40k on my 90k warranty Defenders, but I'm not going to push it to 2/32 so I can claim the warranty, so it's more like 30-35k for this set. Also, I probably didn't rotate them as often as required and/or can't provide needed documentation. Anyway, they'll age out before wearing out. [BTW, my last couple of Honda OEM tires on new car were far worse (both Michelin). Less than 20k from recollection.]

They've lowered the warranty to 70/80k now for some newer tires ( https://www.michelinman.com/US/en/safe- ... tires.html ) and claim the competitors with similar long warranties do worse. YMMV, but lots of folks have reported less than rated mileage.

https://www.michelinman.com/tire/michelin/defender

https://www.consumerreports.org/product ... /overview/

http://www.tirebusiness.com/article/201 ... ender-line (if you believe this report [from Michelin study], the competitors are even worse about achieving the rated mileage)
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by iamlucky13 »

inbox788 wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 10:34 pm You've been lucky or rotated your tires very frequently (which helps even out wear). I'll be lucky to reach 40k on my 90k warranty Defenders
I'm not proud to admit I often miss noticing for several thousand miles when I'm due for a rotation, so that's not it. We don't have many miles on our Defenders so far, though, so I can't offer personal data for that model.

My first guess about our differing experiences is that you and I drive very differently. Harder acceleration, braking, and cornering can very significantly affect the wear rate. Things beyond your control like road condition and temperature also do.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by bloom2708 »

I think some Michelin Primacy start with 8.5/32 of tread. They start telling you to replace at 4/32. Ouch.

In general, there are a lot of good tires that are not Michelin or Bridgestone. If you have "your tire" go with it. Whatever works.

A Cooper CS5 or Toyo Extensa are good tires. One of my favorite "hidden gem" tires is USA made Milestar M932. Low cost, quiet, smooth, treadwear has been good. I'll take quiet and smooth over an long lasting 90k tire. Many paths.
CurlyDave
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by CurlyDave »

There was a time when I like Michelins a lot.

Then some funny things happened. I got a set that just could not be balanced right. I put up with a very poor ride for 40k miles, and got another set. These were even worse than the first. I took them back to Costco and they agreed, replaced them. The replacements had the same issue. They wanted to re-mount the tires on the rims and rebalance, but every time I took the tires in it was 3 hours wait for them to work on them. They would not promise to put me at the head of the line if the "fix' didn't work.

Anyway, replaced the Michelins with Bridgestones, and have never had that problem again. Now I prefer the Bridgestones, but will buy other brands.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Hoosier CPA »

I think the Michelin primacy's are a better tire than the defender. I had the defender once and returned them. The advantage of the defender is the mileage rating, but with the miles you drive that's not an issue. I currently have the primacy's on an altima and an odyssey, both bought from Costco. If you can, hold off until they have the tires on sale and free installation. They rotate the tire sale between the two brands but then periodically and only for a few days, add the free install on top of that. Costco can be inconvenient for getting the rotations done (free but they can be slow or hard to get in) but I work next to a costco so that's not an issue for me.
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Re: Costco tire - Michelin vs Bridgestone

Post by Onion »

CurlyDave wrote: Tue Jun 26, 2018 11:06 pm There was a time when I like Michelins a lot.

Then some funny things happened. I got a set that just could not be balanced right. I put up with a very poor ride for 40k miles, and got another set. These were even worse than the first. I took them back to Costco and they agreed, replaced them. The replacements had the same issue. They wanted to re-mount the tires on the rims and rebalance, but every time I took the tires in it was 3 hours wait for them to work on them. They would not promise to put me at the head of the line if the "fix' didn't work.

Anyway, replaced the Michelins with Bridgestones, and have never had that problem again. Now I prefer the Bridgestones, but will buy other brands.
I had a similar experience with our last set of Michelins, which were very highly rated and very expensive. They didn't last half as long as they were supposed to and Costco agreed so we received a hefty discount on a set of Bridgestones. Time will tell on them, but I wasn't impressed with the Michelins.
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