A car being garaged makes a big difference. I’d have a hard time replacing those
I would tend to agree, but my parents had a set of Michelin LTX 2s on their Element, which was garage kept, and those dry rotted after about five years, to the point that they had poor wet traction and got a prorated replacement. The Maverick will need new tires before next winter, and I'm considering either the CrossClimate 2s or the Vredestein Quatrac Pro or HiTrac All Seasons. The other two are less expensive and seem very comparable in terms of performance, reputation, and owner reviews. The Michelins have superior treadwear ratings, but I don't really want or need the tires to last 90k miles, because their age would be very suspect by the time they accumulated that many miles.
Went to IKEA in Cincinnati (West Chester) today. Drove the Maverick--I know from other recent day trips that taking the Ariya in cold temperatures with its 200-ish mile range (in ideal conditions) would be an exercise in frustration. It appears they have two level 2 chargers, but they are also building an Electrify America station. I saw several traditional EA chargers, along with some smaller ones I haven't seen before, behind a fence. Given that I spent an hour there, had the EA chargers been working and available, I could have taken the Ariya.
Pro tip, if I haven't mentioned it here before: If you receive a Visa/MC gift card, an easy way to use the exact amount available on the card is to go to a gas station, and ask the clerk to put $x on the pump you're parked at. In the Maverick, if it's below half a tank, I can ask for $25 and won't have to deal with any amount being refunded to the prepaid card because it won't get topped off (when I had the Tundra, I could have asked for $50 once it was below half a tank).
I only got about 14k miles out of my front tires (Conti ExtremeContact Sport 02) on the C43. The rears might make it to 30k miles. It's a function of the added negative camber built into AMG (or BMW M) suspensions. It's worth the tradeoff.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
A car being garaged makes a big difference. I’d have a hard time replacing those
I would tend to agree, but my parents had a set of Michelin LTX 2s on their Element, which was garage kept, and those dry rotted after about five years, to the point that they had poor wet traction and got a prorated replacement. The Maverick will need new tires before next winter, and I'm considering either the CrossClimate 2s or the Vredestein Quatrac Pro or HiTrac All Seasons. The other two are less expensive and seem very comparable in terms of performance, reputation, and owner reviews. The Michelins have superior treadwear ratings, but I don't really want or need the tires to last 90k miles, because their age would be very suspect by the time they accumulated that many miles.
Thanks for doing the work for me. Those are the 2 I am primarily considering!
Goodyear has recently introduced its new WeatherReady2 tire, which is meant to equal Michelin's CC2. According to this test they are pretty much the same on wet and dry. They weren't compared in snow. But apparently the WR2 is maybe a little bit quieter, although I haven't noticed noise issues with the CC2.
Checking the price at the local Goodyear shop it's almost identical with installation for tire size 225/55R17: $900. But Costco throws in a puncture repair warranty + tire rotations for 5 years, which isn't included with the Goodyears.
I agree that many SUVs look similar. That's a small reason why we went with an all-wheel drive station wagon instead, although it was more that the station wagon design has better rear visibility and more cargo space than most SUVs that are in the same price range.
A car being garaged makes a big difference. I’d have a hard time replacing those
I would tend to agree, but my parents had a set of Michelin LTX 2s on their Element, which was garage kept, and those dry rotted after about five years, to the point that they had poor wet traction and got a prorated replacement. The Maverick will need new tires before next winter, and I'm considering either the CrossClimate 2s or the Vredestein Quatrac Pro or HiTrac All Seasons. The other two are less expensive and seem very comparable in terms of performance, reputation, and owner reviews. The Michelins have superior treadwear ratings, but I don't really want or need the tires to last 90k miles, because their age would be very suspect by the time they accumulated that many miles.
Goodyear has recently introduced its new WeatherReady2 tire, which is meant to equal Michelin's CC2. According to this test they are pretty much the same on wet and dry. They weren't compared in snow. But apparently the WR2 is maybe a little bit quieter, although I haven't noticed noise issues with the CC2.
Checking the price at the local Goodyear shop it's almost identical with installation for tire size 225/55R17: $900. But Costco throws in a puncture repair warranty + tire rotations for 5 years, which isn't included with the Goodyears.
Last set of Michelin's I had started having sidewall delamination between 5 1/2 and 6 years. They were pretty done by then anyway(60K), so it didn't bother me. By that time, they had gotten ridiculously expensive, so I replaced them with some General's, which remained a very quiet tire for the 50K+ miles I had them.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
When Michelins are on sale at Costco, which usually happens a few times I year, it seems like the prices for Michelins are similar to some other brands for tires of a similar level.
That being said, the tire sales at Costco have become less impressive. When I got my CC2s on my Acura they were giving $150 off their already low prices for a set of 4, which went into real bargain/getting the tires at cost territory. My Acura dealer at that time said it that price was at his cost and he couldn't touch it.
In contrast, the current Costco sale on Michelins is only $60 off for a set of 4. That's better than nothing, but...I miss those truly bargain prices. Since we have good tires on all of our vehicles at the moment, however, we probably aren't going to need new tires for a while, knock on wood.
I would tend to agree, but my parents had a set of Michelin LTX 2s on their Element, which was garage kept, and those dry rotted after about five years,
Was there a refrigerator or freezer in the garage. I've read that the ozone from the operating motors affects the rubber.
My Goodyear Eagles (sorry 'bout that sports reference) LS2 tires on my Malibu were made on 4713, meaning 47th week of 2013. They have NO checking, cracking, on tread, on sidewall. Nothing. It's been garaged at least 95% of its life, other than when being driven and for the 2-3 months it was sitting at the Peoria Chev dealer before my local store traded them to get it for me.
My quandry is do I replace them with Michelins now or wait. I'm not sure I want to drive them to Pigeon Forge for another vacation trip at 77 mph through beautiful Commonwealth of Kentucky. Two of them have had nail punctures plugged with patch inside to prevent air seepage into belts.
SUVs look very similar when they are black, which seems to be the norm. I can’t tell the RAV4 from a Hyundai Tucson or a Kia Sportage. The larger SUVs stand out a bit more. And then there’s Rivian. You can’t miss one of those when you see it on the road.
I was in London last week just for a couple nights for work, and passed several boutique style dealerships walking around the West End...Lotus, Ferrari, Porsche and BYD. I was with a group so didn't bother to stop in, but did notice the increased prevalence of EVs compared to here in the US. BYD is obviously not available here, but a peek into the Porsche showroom indicated more Macan EVs and Taycans than anything else.
Outside of watching the beat down in the Super Bowl, I spend a decent amount of time researching the MINI Countryman SE (EV). Could be a fun option when the Audi lease is up.
This man is apparently a lyft driver or something, and has in a short amount of time gotten up to 75k on his second or third set of CC2 tires. Tires still seem okay at 75,000, with around 5/32nds of tread. But he likes to change tires before they really wear out.
The CrossClimate2 has been a blockbuster success for Michelin for the last four years. Here's what it says in the test above about that:
"The CrossClimate2 is one of the titans of the Grand Touring All-Season category. 31 million miles reported in customer reviews at the time of writing, continually at the top of the survey results, it is an undeniable benchmark. Like any good title-holder, that means it will be challenged often, both by the competition and our testing team."
Anyway, it seems like the Goodyear execs told their engineers that they needed to equal or even beat the CC2 no matter what. Looks like Goodyear succeeded.
Since I was burned by my last set of Goodyears I'll probably stick with Michelins going forward, but...who knows? These test results are making me at least consider Goodyear WeatherReady2s for my next tires.
Front is 7 /32nds and rear is 6 /32nds. I believe I looked up on tirerack or somewhere and these started at 10.5 /32nds when new. 67000 miles.
I had the Chev garage balance them with their Roadforce balancer about 6 k ago, a year, and they didn't comment at all that they needed replacement. I asked them to carefully check them. Partly that was because many Malibu owners complained about them going wacky, which I took to mean out of round or not even road force when rolling. I'm picky about balancing and rolling round. That's why I've bought Michelins since 1968.
Also these tires have morning sickness when parked for a couple weeks.
Somehow I fell behind on this thread. I love my Ram. I’ve had zero issues with it and I’ve driven all the recent big 3 pickups and IMO it rides and handles the best. The interior seems a bit bigger to me also.
Seriously considering another one…. Although the 5.7 V8 is now a turbo six cylinder (making similar power)
Stopped by a dealer after my oncology visit to look at a truck, which looks promising. Some of the trucks, not all of them and not the one I was looking at, had this markup sticker in the window. I should have checked the date on the factory sticker.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
The prepaid maintenance isn't terrible if you drive enough to need two oil changes per year, and if they will negotiate it down, other than the fact that Ford gives you points to pay for some of the first maintenance visits. If the bed liner is removable, I don't want it--it should be sprayed in for that price. (The bed mat I got for the Maverick has held up very well, and was much more economical.)
The prepaid maintenance isn't terrible if you drive enough to need two oil changes per year, and if they will negotiate it down, other than the fact that Ford gives you points to pay for some of the first maintenance visits. If the bed liner is removable, I don't want it--it should be sprayed in for that price. (The bed mat I got for the Maverick has held up very well, and was much more economical.)
The talk over pre-paid maintenance made me realize I used the last pre-paid oil change for the BMW and no email to renew has been received. Maybe it's "one and done" but part of me wonders if I'm blacklisted since I excoriated the service department on the survey after the coolant change debacle.
1997 Honda Prelude Base - 2022 Acura MDX Type S Advance - 2021 Honda Passport Sport - 2006 BMW 330Ci ZHP
I saw the optional wording when I posted te picture. Definitely would get the rear fender liners($185 OEM parts cost) and just get some kind of mat for the bed.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
if that is an ecoboost should be rolling with 5K oil change intervals. So if you are driving 10-12K a year would use the 6 up. Not sure about your area but the local Ford dealer (I should shop around before getting my next oil change) is asking for $109 now. Just the oil change, not even a tire rotation.
The number of extremely high end cars parked on the streets in London is insane...
I suspect many of those people just buy a new one every year, not worrying about parking patina.
It used to be that people in various levels of white collar jobs received a leased car as part of their compensation package. I don’t know if that is still true. I understand that these days there are a lot of electric car leases in the UK since nobody wants to buy them because of the depreciation hit involved.
Outside of watching the beat down in the Super Bowl, I spend a decent amount of time researching the MINI Countryman SE (EV). Could be a fun option when the Audi lease is up.
Talking about the new M5, I said that I have a hard time calling a 5,400 pound car a "sports sedan." In a similar vein, I have a problem calling a 4,588 pound EV a "Mini."
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
My Mom has a current gen CX-50. It’s one of the middle trims with the base engine.
I don’t get the hate. The infotainment works fine. She does note occasionally the wireless CarPlay acts up…. But it does in both my Ram and Mercedes too.
Power is decent, it’s comfortable even for a porker like me and it hasn’t had any issues.
Having said all that … my Mom has said she preferred her RAV’s and the Murano over it. Quite frankly with as many Yotas as she has had over the years nothing measures up even if it’s familiarity over anything else. I’m really hoping for a decent lease on a RAV for her when it goes back… if not I may suggest she buy a RAV instead of lease so she is 100% happy.
RAVs are selling now for way moor than the competition. She’ll get more bang for her buck with a Hyundai or Kia.
I'm not sure what's going on with Toyota these days. The stock levels of new cars reminds me of Pandemic days.
Anyway, CR-V can be had around these parts for a pretty nice discount ($2,500 off MSRP, at least)!
Test drove one. Nice piece for a mid sized CUV. Certainly more refined than the RAV4.
So my best friend is also shockingly a Chronic Car Buyer. His current fleet consists of a '24 Genesis G70 with the 6cyl turbo, a 2017 Lexus LX 570 that he bought CPO in 2020ish, a 2017 JK Wrangler Rubicon Hard Rock (6MT), a 2005 LJ Wrangler (5MT), & his son's 2021ish Toyota Tacoma SR Access Cab - 4cyl. He spends a lot of time looking. The other day he found a Jeep dealer near him with hundreds of Wranglers & Gladiators literally piling up. So he decided to take a ride. The one thing that caught his eye was that this dealer has a few brand new 2023 Gladiator Sport S with an MSRP of $50K+ being advertised for $29,999 plus TTL. He drove the gladiator and liked it. Then he started asking the salesman questions. Their policy is to only sell vehicles at MSRP + $7,500 worth of mandatory add on accessories and fees (Spray On Bedliner, $1,500 doc fee...). Now the 2023s were punched as sold a while ago and only have a little less than a year & a half left on their warranty.
Now interestingly enough they have brand new, 2025 Gladiators with lower MSRPs. Low $40Kish. Selling at sticker with 0% financing.
The manager agreed to take off the $7,500 worth of extra BS. Obviously I don't think a Gladiator is worth it at MSRP. I don't even think the heavily discounted 2023 is worth it.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Comments
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Who copied who?
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
Pro tip, if I haven't mentioned it here before: If you receive a Visa/MC gift card, an easy way to use the exact amount available on the card is to go to a gas station, and ask the clerk to put $x on the pump you're parked at. In the Maverick, if it's below half a tank, I can ask for $25 and won't have to deal with any amount being refunded to the prepaid card because it won't get topped off (when I had the Tundra, I could have asked for $50 once it was below half a tank).
It's worth the tradeoff.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Checking the price at the local Goodyear shop it's almost identical with installation for tire size 225/55R17: $900. But Costco throws in a puncture repair warranty + tire rotations for 5 years, which isn't included with the Goodyears.
I agree that many SUVs look similar. That's a small reason why we went with an all-wheel drive station wagon instead, although it was more that the station wagon design has better rear visibility and more cargo space than most SUVs that are in the same price range.
I agree about looking alike, exspecially most of the small CUV's. I can't tell a Jeep from a Toyota from a Ford.
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They were pretty done by then anyway(60K), so it didn't bother me.
By that time, they had gotten ridiculously expensive, so I replaced them with some General's, which remained a very quiet tire for the 50K+ miles I had them.
That being said, the tire sales at Costco have become less impressive. When I got my CC2s on my Acura they were giving $150 off their already low prices for a set of 4, which went into real bargain/getting the tires at cost territory. My Acura dealer at that time said it that price was at his cost and he couldn't touch it.
In contrast, the current Costco sale on Michelins is only $60 off for a set of 4. That's better than nothing, but...I miss those truly bargain prices. Since we have good tires on all of our vehicles at the moment, however, we probably aren't going to need new tires for a while, knock on wood.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Just kidding, I think that seems like a logical answer.
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And then there’s Rivian. You can’t miss one of those when you see it on the road.
'24 Chevy Blazer EV 2LT
How much life left in the tires?
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2024 Audi Q8 e-tron - 2017 911 C4S - 2025 BRZ - 2023 A6 Allroad - 2024 Genesis GV60 - 2019 Cayman
2024 Audi Q8 e-tron - 2017 911 C4S - 2025 BRZ - 2023 A6 Allroad - 2024 Genesis GV60 - 2019 Cayman
If that’s the case you have a reading problem in addition to a seeing problem.
jmonroe
'18 Legacy Limited with 3.6R (Mrs. j's)
This test rated the GY #1. Sounds impressive.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=336
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
"The CrossClimate2 is one of the titans of the Grand Touring All-Season category. 31 million miles reported in customer reviews at the time of writing, continually at the top of the survey results, it is an undeniable benchmark. Like any good title-holder, that means it will be challenged often, both by the competition and our testing team."
Anyway, it seems like the Goodyear execs told their engineers that they needed to equal or even beat the CC2 no matter what. Looks like Goodyear succeeded.
Since I was burned by my last set of Goodyears I'll probably stick with Michelins going forward, but...who knows? These test results are making me at least consider Goodyear WeatherReady2s for my next tires.
and many other pages on the net. Search for ozone tire rubber
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
and these started at 10.5 /32nds when new.
67000 miles.
I had the Chev garage balance them with their Roadforce balancer
about 6 k ago, a year, and they didn't comment at all that they needed
replacement. I asked them to carefully check them. Partly that was
because many Malibu owners complained about them going wacky,
which I took to mean out of round or not even road force when rolling.
I'm picky about balancing and rolling round. That's why I've bought
Michelins since 1968.
Also these tires have morning sickness when parked for a couple weeks.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Also, I'll just note here that the maximum allowed speed in the Commonwealth is 70 mph.
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Somehow I fell behind on this thread. I love my Ram. I’ve had zero issues with it and I’ve driven all the recent big 3 pickups and IMO it rides and handles the best. The interior seems a bit bigger to me also.
Seriously considering another one…. Although the 5.7 V8 is now a turbo six cylinder (making similar power)
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
Some of the trucks, not all of them and not the one I was looking at, had this markup sticker in the window.
I should have checked the date on the factory sticker.
Fine print says those aren't required for purchase though.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Definitely would get the rear fender liners($185 OEM parts cost) and just get some kind of mat for the bed.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
In a similar vein, I have a problem calling a 4,588 pound EV a "Mini."
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Anyway, CR-V can be had around these parts for a pretty nice discount ($2,500 off MSRP, at least)!
Test drove one. Nice piece for a mid sized CUV. Certainly more refined than the RAV4.
Now interestingly enough they have brand new, 2025 Gladiators with lower MSRPs. Low $40Kish. Selling at sticker with 0% financing.
The manager agreed to take off the $7,500 worth of extra BS. Obviously I don't think a Gladiator is worth it at MSRP. I don't even think the heavily discounted 2023 is worth it.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD