New Tires

[SweetErika]

I'm in the market for some new (13" I think) tires for my car. I need them to perform well in wet conditions, but don't want to spend a ton. I'm still on the ones that came with the car, which is quickly approaching 50k miles, so apparently I'm not too hard on them.

Any advice on buying tires? For example, have you found certain brands or retailers to be better or worse? Is there a value sweet spot, i.e. does it come out cheaper to get less expensive tires with a lower mileage rating, or spend more those with a higher rating? Are there any pitfalls I should avoid?

 

[NippleMuncher]

Mileage ratings are based on the hardness of the rubber that comprises the tire. The softer the compound, the cheaper the tire and lower the mileage rating. On smaller cars that are not driven much or hard, softer tires are fine, but on vehicles that see higher miles daily, heavy loads, or are driven in a more fervent manner, soft tires are not good at all, you'll burn them off in no time.

As to a retailer, I would recommend larger chains over local shops, this is because when traveling you'll want a shop that will honor the warranty of the tire, even if only for a flat repair. I'm not a big fan of warehouse stores such as Costco or Sam's because unless the owner of the vehicle, purchaser of the tires, and membership holder takes the vehicle in for service you're screwed! This currently is the situation in my house, the girlfriend has the membership, yet I'm in charge of vehicle maintenance. Costco will not allow me to take the vehicle in for service unless she is present with her card. We cannot make an appointment or arrangements for service without her being present, what this means is that we now have to take time out of already busy weekends to have tires repaired, rotated, or serviced in any manner. It sucks, and come time to get new treads I'll push to go somewhere else. Before Costco I used Winston, which is no longer around. Before that it was Les Schwab. Both of the latter had excellent service regardless of where the tires were purchased.

 

[robertearl]

Goodyear GS-D3's. Excelent tire in dry or wet. I have them on my Corvette. Price them at www.TireRack.com. You can either order them there or many outlets like Discount Tire will match the price. Softer tires will usually have better traction at the price of milage. Harder tire will have better milage at the price of traction. It is real hard to have both. For a less expensive tire that has proven to be a good quality tire. Check on Kuhmo's.

 

[SweetErika]

Great advice, guys, thank you!

I checked out tirerack.com, and it looks like they do have the best prices, but I'll try to get local dealers to match. You make a good point about Costco, NM, although I'm the one with the card and most likely to take it in for service. Our Costcos are pretty good about letting my husband use my card to get prescriptions or shop when I'm sick, but I know you can't count on that.

You're right, Robert, the Kumhos look like the best value. Other tires with similar ratings are around $20 more each! They also got good reviews for the most part, so we're going to take a closer look at them and see what kind of deal we can get locally.

Does anyone know the downside of siping tires? Does it increase traction but reduce wear?

 

[Snowman5933]

I thought I would weigh in with my opinion about buying tires. I have always bought used tires from a local dealer, because thats all I could afford and not because I really wanted too. I always get a matched set (I've gotten Goodyear, Michelen....good brands), they usually come with a 30 day warranty, and I pay about $100. Now the downside, they wear out fast. I usually buy tires every 12-14 months.

My SO's dad will only buy new, and only shop at the Goodyear store. He gets those Aqua-Tread tires (about $500 or more per set), since there new they come with a great warranty (around 60,000-70,000 miles), and he always gets the protection plan, which paid off when a stick punctured the sidewall of a brand new tire, and they replaced it, no questions asked.

If you do the math, we both spend the same amount of money, I just choose to do it small amounts each year and he puts it all out in one lump sum.

I read a little about siping and I have mixed emotions. You wouldn't want to sipe new tires, because it would void the warranty. They claim it increases the traction of the tire, but I have always believed that traction was directly related to the hardness of the rubber (softer yeilding greater traction, but wearing faster, and harder yeilding less traction, but wearing slower).

If you want to read about something wild, lookup hyper-miling. The concept is to maximize your gas mileage by altering the oil in your engine (most hyper-milers use 0w30 oil) and over inflating your tires to 55 psi. I don't recommend this, because at that high pressure level you barely have contact with the road. They also modify their driving style, by pulsing and coasting. If you want more info just google it.

Good luck, whatever you choose to do.

Snowman

 

[SweetErika]

Thanks for the info, Snowman.

I didn't consider used, but I doubt they'd pay off for me anyway. If I get the Kumho at $42 each and they last another 50k miles or 4-5 years, I'll end up spending about $50/ year on tires. Plus, the retailers I'm looking at INCLUDE the wear and road hazard warranty, and that's not something I really want to give up.

I found it interesting that the $60+ tires weren't rated much better than the $42 kumhos. They all have the same AB rating, and there's only a difference of 100 in the wear rating. Using their standard of 7200 miles per 100 in the wear rating, it doesn't come out cheaper for me to buy the much more expensive tires. Of course it's more expensive to buy the tires with a 200-400 rating as well. It seems like around 600 for a $45-50 tire is the sweet spot.

That hyper-miling sounds like a set-up for car repairs and accidents, Snowman. I get around 38 mpg on the highway, so I'm not really in the market for an increase in mileage.

Thanks again, everyone - I started out knowing nothing, and I'm learning a lot from this thread!

 

[Weird Harold]

I'm still on the ones that came with the car, which is quickly approaching 50k miles, ...

Just a thought here: If you're happy with the way your car handles, the milage it gets, and the relibility of the tires, then replacing the original equipment tires with the same make and model will result in the fewest changes in those kinds of factors.

I pay more attention to the tread pattern than I do manufacturer or price and buy the least expensive tire with an acceptable tread pattern.

 

[helix27]

yea, tirerack is a great online retailer. I have ordered from them and had great luck. What is your car? If I have missed it sorry. I usually stay away from goodyear. Too pricey and have had almost every goodyear tire I have ever had have problems with the ply or the cords.

 

[Semler]

Not sure where in Seattle you are, but give Les Schwab Tire Centers a look. They have competitive prices and some of the best service I have had from ANY store.

Les Schwab Tire Center

 

[wally2450]

Unless this has recently changed, there are three govt. ratings on the side of a tire. One is a number, the higher it is than the longer it should last. Then there are temperature and traction ratings: a, b, and c. You want a and b on both of these.
http://www.safercar.gov/tires/pages/tireratings.cfm

 

[wally2450]

I'm in the market for some new (13" I think) tires for my car. I need them to perform well in wet conditions, but don't want to spend a ton. I'm still on the ones that came with the car, which is quickly approaching 50k miles, so apparently I'm not too hard on them.

Any advice on buying tires? For example, have you found certain brands or retailers to be better or worse? Is there a value sweet spot, i.e. does it come out cheaper to get less expensive tires with a lower mileage rating, or spend more those with a higher rating? Are there any pitfalls I should avoid?

One question you should ask yourself is how long are you planning on keeping the car?
If I am planning on keeping it, I prefer to buy a better grade of tire because most likely, I will get the use out of them. I also would prefer a better grade if I did a lot of highway driving vs around town. Two more variables to hopefully not confuse you.

(My father owned a full service Amoco station for twenty years and these were some of the questions he sought answers to from his dedicated customers.)

 

[SweetErika]

Just a thought here: If you're happy with the way your car handles, the milage it gets, and the relibility of the tires, then replacing the original equipment tires with the same make and model will result in the fewest changes in those kinds of factors.

I pay more attention to the tread pattern than I do manufacturer or price and buy the least expensive tire with an acceptable tread pattern.

True, but the Dunlop tires that came with the car aren't very good tread-wise. Even my husband remarked they weren't great tires when we bought the car, and he estimated they'd be good for about 30k miles. I had my pressure checked a few weeks ago, and the serviceman was surprised they'd made it so long, too. I did look at Dunlop (they're the exact same ones I have now), but they have a 320 wear rating, whereas the Kuhmo have a 640 for just $4 more. I think the potential for double the mileage is worth that extra $16 total.

I'm not sure if this link will work for you guys, but the 2nd result Dunlop is what I have now, and I'm looking at the third result Kumho Solus.

Helix, I have a Civic. It does very well even in snow, but my main concern is rain and standing water. My current tires are prone to hydroplaning, and I'm hoping new ones will do a bit better in that regard.

Semler, I agree, Les Schwab is very good. I'll give them a call tomorrow, but I don't think they carry Kumho, and we've found them to be more expensive in the past (Hubby just bought tires for his company truck). They do have excellent service, however, and I know that's worth a little more.

Tire Factory's warranty looks comparable to Les Schwab's, though, and they do carry Kumho, so I'll definitely check them out tomorrow as well. They also have more locations than Discount Tire, and that's important since we go to Eastern WA quite a bit.

Wally, the highest temperature rating is now AA, I think (it might be traction), but that's not really an issue, as all of the tires I'm looking at are A B. I understand the wear rating isn't that accurate since the company has to extrapolate from the data they get from the 7200 mile test, but I still think I'll be better off with a 640 rating than a 420 rating, and probably don't need a 700 rating for $30-60 dollars more than the 640 Kumho Solus tires.

And we'll likely keep the car another 4-6 years, so these could be the last tires we buy for it. I figure if 30,000 mile tires lasted 50,000, 50k will likely last for 60 or 70,000, and we'll probably get rid of the car before we have to replace them again anyway.

 

[NippleMuncher]

I would factor the general radius in which the vehicle is driven in relation to the tire shop you purchase from against the maximum radius the vehicle is driven and whether or not the shop you purchase from has dealers in those locations. Service warranties are worth their weight in gold, however, if there is no dealer when you need one, it gets expensive quick. I've had occasion where I've had tire damage beyond repair and had I gone with a discount shop, I'd have been screwed for replacements because nothing was available in the time of need. I've had the cords in the tire separate, bulges on the sidewalls, wheel weights flung off, and worst thing was running over a bicycle. Thankfully, the warranty covered 12 year olds on bicycles and I got a new tire!

Ok, before you all jump me here, the 12 year old was ok, and she was the one who darted out into traffic. Long story short, it was quite the scare for all involved, but all was well in the end.

 

[car nut]

Goodyear GS-D3's. Excelent tire in dry or wet. I have them on my Corvette. Price them at www.TireRack.com. You can either order them there or many outlets like Discount Tire will match the price. Softer tires will usually have better traction at the price of milage. Harder tire will have better milage at the price of traction. It is real hard to have both. For a less expensive tire that has proven to be a good quality tire. Check on Kuhmo's.

Considering she is looking for a 13" tire im guessing its an econo-box cookie cutter car. Hardly worth spending the $ a GS-D3 costs. They do excel in the rain, but a Max performance summer only tire is not what she is loooking for.

My suggestion is to review the tire rack ratings and look at what people had to say about the tires and see if they drive a car similar to yours. Im a car guy too and have run D3s and all kinds of fancy pants tires, but thats not what you need, you just need a good quality all around tire to last you close to another 50,000 miles.

I suggest goodyear or michelin. Ive been aorund all differen cars, with all different tires, and its hard to go wrong with either of those brands. BF Goodrich is another you may wnat to consider.

I would stay away from kumho as ive seen issues with broken belts and "bubbles" forming in the tire or a blowout from broken belts. There is a reason they are so cheap...

 

[Calvin]

I'm in the market for some new (13" I think) tires for my car. I need them to perform well in wet conditions, but don't want to spend a ton. I'm still on the ones that came with the car, which is quickly approaching 50k miles, so apparently I'm not too hard on them.

Any advice on buying tires? For example, have you found certain brands or retailers to be better or worse? Is there a value sweet spot, i.e. does it come out cheaper to get less expensive tires with a lower mileage rating, or spend more those with a higher rating? Are there any pitfalls I should avoid?

Lot's of good advice here SE.... and the Kumho's are a pretty good choice in as far as they are good tires...

You may want to consider a slightly softer tire though so when the rain hits you might have an added measure of safety.... I run very soft tires on my M635 and my M3 and even in a hard rain I am glued to the road (of course I replace them every 15K or so)....

 

[SweetErika]

Okay, so I got quotes from Les Schwab, one Tire Factory (there are several in my area, and I'll get quotes from another tomorrow), Big-O, Firestone and Costco today. I've also looked at tirerack.com, of course, but everyone's charging $15-20 per tire to mount tires bought elsewhere, so it actually comes out to be the same or more expensive than the local places. A road hazard warranty isn't included in that, either, and I'm not sure how well the one they offer for $6-8/tire works.

Anyway, here are some of the quotes I got (all are "out the door" prices for four tires):
1) Goodyear GPS3 - $229 - I can't find anything on the warranty
2) Michelin X-Radial DT - $279 (includes $60 rebate) - 80k warranty
3) Kelly Explorer - $295 - 55k warranty
4) Firestone 380 - $297 - 55k warranty
5) Kuhmo Solus - $341 - 70k warranty

So I linked #2, the Michelin from Costco because they seem like the best deal. They're also ranked second on the list by Consumer Reports, and Michelin takes up 4 of the top 10 spots on that list.

On the downside, Costco's road hazard warranty isn't as good, as it's all pro-rated, rather than replacing for the first 25-30% of the tread, and I'm not wild about being the only one who can get the tires serviced or fixed for free.

So, with that info, what do you guys think? Is my best bet the Michelin X-Radial DT if nothing better turns up tomorrow?

 

[helix27]

Kuhmos are pretty good tires for the price... although this is your tire here. Buy em, mount em, and drive. These are the best bet for you. Great tread wear ratings, great wet traction, and great handling for what you need.

 

[robertearl]

That is interesting. I have never seen Kumoh's being the most expensive tire while Michelin's are cheaper. Something is not right.

 

[SweetErika]

That is interesting. I have never seen Kumoh's being the most expensive tire while Michelin's are cheaper. Something is not right.

The Michelins are so cheap because there's a $60 rebate on them right now. The tires are:
$308
+ 9.2% tax
+ $4 tire tax
- 60 rebate
$280.

I have no idea why the Kuhmos are so expensive at Tire Factory and Discount tire (which are the only local stores that sell them), but if I buy them at Tire Rack, I'll pay:
$168
+ $38 shipping
+ $70 for mounting
+ tax = $301
+ another $24 if I want the road warranty (which isn't that good)
$325.

Since the Michelins are cheaper, but more expensive tires to begin with, do you think I should get them?

 

[helix27]

i have never run Michelins. usually because they are too expensive. they are usualy very good tires. you probably cant go wrong for the price they are at.

 

[midwestyankee]

T<snip>

Since the Michelins are cheaper, but more expensive tires to begin with, do you think I should get them?

Yes. I've never, ever been disappointed by Michelin tires and I've been putting them on my cars since the mid 70's.

 

[SweetErika]

i have never run Michelins. usually because they are too expensive. they are usualy very good tires. you probably cant go wrong for the price they are at.

I haven't either, Helix, but I'm guessing they're just as good, if not much better, than the Kuhmos and cheaper tires. I've read a couple of bad reviews, but I just talked to the guy at Costco, and he said he's pretty sure we could work something out if I was really unhappy with them (though the manager would have to confirm that). Based on my previous experiences with their customer service, I feel pretty confident I won't be stuck with tires I hate. I think I'll go ahead with them tonight or tomorrow, given 90% of the reviews have been glowing and it seems like they'll perform well in our rain and light snow.

 

[SweetErika]

Yes. I've never, ever been disappointed by Michelin tires and I've been putting them on my cars since the mid 70's.

That's wonderful to hear, Yank. My father-in-law is the same way, but with Cooper tires, but they're way out of our price range.

If you need new tires now, that $60 instant rebate at Costco is a heck of a deal!

Thanks for your input.

 

[midwestyankee]

That's wonderful to hear, Yank. My father-in-law is the same way, but with Cooper tires, but they're way out of our price range.

If you need new tires now, that $60 instant rebate at Costco is a heck of a deal!

Thanks for your input.

You're quite welcome.

 

[robertearl]

I would say jump on the Michelin's and start wearing them out. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Reb