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Tires, tires, tires

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Comments

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    Yeah, the TrueContact is number one there for my van (well, tied with a Michelin Premier, but they sell more of the cheaper Continentals). And some of the reviewers actually put more than 100 miles on their set before writing a review. ;)

    The Michelins are $50 more per tire for a 640 A A rating vs the cheaper tires with the 800 A B rating. The reviewers say the Continentals are quieter.
  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    edited August 2016
    I'm somewhat skeptical @ Michelin's 8.5/32 in vs Continental's 10/32nds tread depth!? 1.5/32nd in might not sound like a lot, but all things being equal, that can be a lot of miles. Further biases to me, calls a 10,000 miles OEM recommended rotation into serious ? ?

    Now I've already noticed (a tire gurus almost insistence on) a 5,000 miles rotation is much more gentle & way more even on tread wear. I asked myself the question because tire rotation is included in the price, why would my tire guru want to rotate the tires twice as much during the lifetime ?

    I do have Continentals on 2009 VW Jetta TDI, & 2012 VW Touareg TDI.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I'm bad to just not rotate them.
  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,250
    Regarding tirerack tire reviews, I try to read the ones for similar size of vehicle and my general geographic location only.
    2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,685
    And I focus more on their tire tests. Many reviewers (buyers) don't have much experience with tires.
  • Sandman6472Sandman6472 Member Posts: 6,952
    Have Continentals on my VW Golf and at 21K, look at least 50% worn, if even that. Rotate at 5K mile intervals religiously and hoping these will last for another 20K or so. Would love to get over 40K on a set especially down here in hot South Florida. Not sure what I'll go with next time as I want a touring tire and not a performance one in 225/45/17 size. Do like Goodyear Fuelmax I think it's called but want a set with a real meaty tread. Hopefully my friend at Tires Plus will be able to get me what I want as he says he can get most brands of tires. Also like Nexen tires as Michelins are a bit pricey.

    The Sandman :)B)

    2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)

  • slorenzenslorenzen Member Posts: 694
    Wife's Accord came with Michelin Primacy MXV4 as OEM. When they wore out(around 45K), I researched and ended up with Yokohama Avvid as a replacement. They were pretty highly rated.

    Wife immediately notices the car doesn't grip as well as before.

    When they got worn(and really NOISY) at around 35K, I went back to the Michelin, same model tire as OEM.

    After that, every time wife comes home from our daughter's place, she comments "I really like my tires"...

    Note that the road to/from daughter's is very much like "Tail of the dragon".

    :o
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    I had a set of Yokos (Avid A4s iirc) on the Subaru and I didn't like them much. Couldn't sleep so got up at 5 am and went to Walmart. The TrueContacts "look" nice enough.
  • berriberri Member Posts: 10,165
    While Michelin's generally have a price premium, I think the market is saying something because they sell well despite it.
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132
    Michelins are round, they roll round (road force measurement), and they stay round as they wear.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741
    stever said:

    I'm bad to just not rotate them.

    Which means you should take the tread wear warranty part of the consideration and scratch it off the board. Tread wear warranties often get voided by alignment issues, and especially lack of servicing.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Yeah, but those warranties are always so negatively pro-rated, you wind up paying a lot for the replacement tire(s) anyway. And if you decide to exercise the warranty, then you are stuck with that brand again.

    Not to mention it's a pain filing away your receipts and digging them out to use the warranty.

    Guess I should write an app for that....
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741
    edited August 2016
    Tire shop margins (gross profit) have dropped significantly in the last decade. In fact it dropped so much that pro-rated tire prices usually see them lose money for having tried. Then you have the idea of the free rotations and free tire repairs. The short sighted management who rely on the techs doing vehicle inspections to find any work which subsidizes the free stuff (remember nothing is really free) don't take into account what that does to the technicians career growth and is a big contributor to the stratification of talent in the trade.

    You see the complaints where something takes multiple visits, or even multiple shops before someone either gets lucky with a guess or they actually find someone that has walked a different career path and really knows how to figure the high tech stuff out. The only thing that has been missing is for someone to put the ying and yang together and when someone has that problem child car answer their plea for help by telling them, "But I got my tires rotated there for free!"
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    Guess that's why Walmart can beat Discount Tire's price for a similar tire (assuming the Discount Tire Continental is just a renamed TrueContact). While I'm waiting for my tires at Wally's, I can get a gallon of milk, an iPad and some cheap flipflops.

    Hm, have to think about that, if I worked it right, I could get rotations done and do my grocery shopping instead of waiting around some rubber smelling waiting room drinking dank coffee. Instead I can push a cart around and enjoy the people of Walmart. :)

    Back in my Anchorage days, for a few years I'd have the tire shop swap out the studs for summer tires, so 2 visits to the shop every year just for tires. Made it easy to rotate them at least.

    Once they broke a stud and once they didn't put a hubcap back on snugly and they wound up buying me a new one. And there was that whole bead issue before I got a set of winter rims.
  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    edited August 2016
    I have no idea what the margins have dropped to, so I have to consider myself lucky to be near four four and a half stars out of five tire shops (Yelp, all Indy) I use the 5 star rated one. It is close to the house, yet hidden away. It matches or beats tire rack prices. It insists on 5,000 miles rotations. It will top tire pressures on request.

    We have a Walmart in town, but a ways away. The procedures take way more time! They are rated 2 stars.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741
    ruking1 said:

    I have no idea what the margins have dropped to,

    It's under 18%. We have a tire supplier that can get us just about anything anybody wants, provided we pay more for them than the consumer can buy them from Tire Rack. (without shipping if applicable) That's why most shops that can handle the difficult stuff don't even waste their time dealing with tires.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    Might be better here since this is a "small" city. Had a battery swapped out a couple of months ago at Wallys and the techs were just standing around. Would have been fast except I got a trainee cashier and that was a struggle, with three redos just to pay and get my core credit.

    @PF_Flyer has a tire store like yours too. His is so good, Sneakers goes over there just to hang out and chitchat.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741
    edited August 2016
    stever said:

    Had a battery swapped out a couple of months ago at Wallys and the techs were just standing around.

    That's one of the biggest problems we face. The people working at Walmart are not techs. They might be doing some of the work that a tech might do, but it's not the same.

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    Actually one of the most knowledgeable tire techs that ever posted here (@tireguy) worked for Walmart. He left to become a Marine pilot.

    People wind up working for chains because of the benefits - even lowly Walmart offers a stock purchase plan and decent 401k benefits. Their health insurance has gotten a lot worse with high deductibles though. Still probably a better deal than 90% of the indys and lots of dealerships.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741
    edited August 2016
    stever said:

    Actually one of the most knowledgeable tire techs that ever posted here (@tireguy) worked for Walmart. He left to become a Marine pilot.

    Apples/Oranges. The key here is that he left and it wasn't a path for him to become a career, fully qualified technician.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    Exactly - both fruit, both are round, both grow on trees, both about the same size and weight. More similarities than differences.

    Painting with a wide brush is what leads people to assume that all car mechanics are crooks.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741
    stever said:

    Painting with a wide brush is what leads people to assume that all car mechanics are crooks.

    Something he no doubt had to contend with.

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    When I had my battery replaced there recently, no one tried to upsell me anything.
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729
    edited August 2016
    stever said:

    Yeah, but those warranties are always so negatively pro-rated, you wind up paying a lot for the replacement tire(s) anyway. And if you decide to exercise the warranty, then you are stuck with that brand again.

    Not to mention it's a pain filing away your receipts and digging them out to use the warranty.

    Guess I should write an app for that....

    The Road Hazard Warranties that used to be an up-sell and are often now "included" in the deal are pretty much useless on an AWD car. I'll use Costco as my researched example. The coverage will pay for one tire replacement, pro-rated. However, if you have an AWD car, you may need 2 or 4 tires replaced at the same time if you have more than 2/32nd's wear difference. So essentially the hazard coverage is a 25% limit with a maximum of 1 lifetime use. Have the same tire blow out (or a punctured tire in an irreparable way) in week 1 and then again a second time in week 2 of use, you'll be paying full price for the 2nd replacement in week 2.

    Pretty bogus for the consumer; but typical for insurance to be "low-value."

    Then again, when I've price-checked Costco the last couple years they seem to be whipping up on Tire Rack, and making Tire Rack look greedy.
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729

    ruking1 said:

    I have no idea what the margins have dropped to,

    It's under 18%. We have a tire supplier that can get us just about anything anybody wants, provided we pay more for them than the consumer can buy them from Tire Rack. (without shipping if applicable) That's why most shops that can handle the difficult stuff don't even waste their time dealing with tires.
    Tire Rack is the best thing to ever happen for the consumer with tires. Before them, the industry was a black hole of little information, maximum prices, and minimum quality. Tire Stores could peddle the lower quality tires for "high quality" prices. Now, you can get the high quality tires for the same prices they used to charge for the "cheap" stuff. Owes as much to the internet information age as the company though.

    The real estate industry is one of the last few market black holes that has resisted the internet bringing down prices via information and education made available to the consumer.
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • roadburnerroadburner Member Posts: 17,312
    I use a family-owned local tire chain. They offer the dreaded free rotations- but I have yet to be upsold on anything. I have purchased five sets of tires from that shop over the past few years and I have been completely satisfied with each purchase and/or service.

    Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    When they screw up, it's kind of nice to have an outfit with deep pockets to sue. Suing Walmart is another story though, kind of like trying to sue Disney. You have to be very wealthy to expect justice if you have to fight those two.

    Zillow has hurt Realtors, but hasn't affected their commission rates. Yet. Blockchain technology will pretty much ruin that industry (and title companies) when it catches on.
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132

    The local, regional, store chain I use for tires sells the road hazard guarantee and the lifetime balancing as a package. I believe the lifetime rotation is included in the original tire price.

    I've not had to use the road hazard beyond several nail punctures repaired free in the correct manner by using an interior patch. But those would have added up in $$$--I think I've had 4 of them in 6 years.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741

    I use a family-owned local tire chain. They offer the dreaded free rotations- but I have yet to be upsold on anything.

    Two things. First it does show that while there are good shops out there, many of them have to take and perform some services like that to their detriment because of consumer price pressure. The second one about the up-sales is very likely because you were going in the door with the list of the maintenance that you wanted performed up front.


  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741
    andres3 said:


    Tire Rack is the best thing to ever happen for the consumer with tires. Before them, the industry was a black hole of little information, maximum prices, and minimum quality.

    The pluses for Tire Rack and everything else internet based didn't come without some cost. I remember a time when if one of the regular customers who was getting ready to go to work went out to their car and found a flat tire they could call us and we would come up with some kind of a solution for them. When they became Tire Racks customer instead of ours, they forfeited that.



  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Interesting, I never had a shop do more than offer to tow me in. Back in the 70s I canoed with my mechanic and he never charged me for three Volvo tows. Then his wife ran off with her dentist and he lost the service station. :'(
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741
    stever said:

    Interesting, I never had a shop do more than offer to tow me in.

    The things we did (and still do to a degree) for the customers when there was loyalty to us is a list way to long to print out. The study, training and investment in the tooling that went way above and beyond the average shop was nothing more than an extension of that same commitment. This is where "you get what you pay for" rings right back at consumerism. By taking away the meager profits that we built our lives with, the perks were the first things to go with them.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    Got your robotic tire changing machine on order yet? I'm sure that Snap-On will be happy to finance a Quadriga ATC 1000 for you.

    Hm, since I'm probably not taking this van to Newfoundland, maybe I should cheap out on some "town" tires. A set of 4 Falken Sincera Touring 94T SN211 are on sale for $240.00. I'm hoping to dial the miles back on this one to ~5,000 a year "soon".
  • MichaellMichaell Moderator Posts: 240,058
    stever said:

    Got your robotic tire changing machine on order yet? I'm sure that Snap-On will be happy to finance a Quadriga ATC 1000 for you.

    Hm, since I'm probably not taking this van to Newfoundland, maybe I should cheap out on some "town" tires. A set of 4 Falken Sincera Touring 94T SN211 are on sale for $240.00.

    I've had two sets of Falkens. One set on my Saturn ION wore out pretty quickly; the other set are what's on my Elantra GT at the moment and seem to be wearing well.

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  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,741
    Six months same as cash. http://subaruretailersolutions.com/equipment/index.php?c=400&s=401

    You would have to change a lot of tires when you are only grossing ten to twenty dollars profit per tire. (if that)
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    The Falkens get lousy tread life reviews, so even at $60 a tire, it's probably cheaper to buy better.

    Besides, they are out of stock everywhere. :D
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729

    andres3 said:


    Tire Rack is the best thing to ever happen for the consumer with tires. Before them, the industry was a black hole of little information, maximum prices, and minimum quality.

    The pluses for Tire Rack and everything else internet based didn't come without some cost. I remember a time when if one of the regular customers who was getting ready to go to work went out to their car and found a flat tire they could call us and we would come up with some kind of a solution for them. When they became Tire Racks customer instead of ours, they forfeited that.



    andres3 said:


    Tire Rack is the best thing to ever happen for the consumer with tires. Before them, the industry was a black hole of little information, maximum prices, and minimum quality.

    The pluses for Tire Rack and everything else internet based didn't come without some cost. I remember a time when if one of the regular customers who was getting ready to go to work went out to their car and found a flat tire they could call us and we would come up with some kind of a solution for them. When they became Tire Racks customer instead of ours, they forfeited that.

    That is very true, the after-care with Tire Rack if there is a problem down the road with a tire (literally) is lacking. Can't help but have issues when your seller is 2/3 of a nation away from you. However, a great manufacturer (like Continental) will frown upon another local tire service center frowning at you for not having bought the tires from them.

    This happened to me at Discount/America's Tires, they frowned at me for buying them from Tire Rack and weren't helpful. I told Continental what happened and they took action. Since they sell Continental tires, they MUST SERVICE them at discount Tire for warranty issues, regardless of where they were bought, at least in Continental's view (and the consumer). Discount Tire did a quick turnaround as I'm sure they didn't want all their tire orders cancelled. I got my warranty pro-rated service. They stood behind the defected product. The tire shop makes money too, I had to pay the pro-ration and installation.
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • roadburnerroadburner Member Posts: 17,312
    My local tire store is an Authorized Installer for Tire Rack, but they can usually come close to matching Tire Rack's price once you adjust for shipping and the fact that they charge for mounting and balancing Tire Rack tires but not tires that you buy from them. I usually pay the relatively minor price differential since the shop provides excellent service.

    Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive

  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729
    I've bought a lot from Costco lately because they've beat Tire Rack on both price AND service. Also, shipping costs have skyrocketed far faster than inflation. It used to be that the sales taxes saved (I know; not according to the State, but let's be real), was enough to cover the shipping cost and more. Now it's the other way around; better off paying the 8% CA sales tax.
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    If Costco wasn't an hour away I'd likely go that route. My guess is that their tires are fresher, but maybe not if they all come from the same distribution warehouse.
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729
    edited August 2016
    stever said:

    If Costco wasn't an hour away I'd likely go that route. My guess is that their tires are fresher, but maybe not if they all come from the same distribution warehouse.

    Buy a sports car, then your tires will be even fresher. You have to special order any "max" performance tire and above from Costco. They only carry the everyday pedestrian tires in store stock.
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    hm, everydaypedestrian.com is available. That could be a perfect vanity domain for me. I could blog about minivans and chambray shirts and chinos. (No offense to the BestBuy crowd).
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729
    Speaking of freshness, how old is too old for new tires? Would you sacrifice a year for every 10% off? Therefore, would you buy 2011 tires if they were half off?
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Opinions vary; seems like six years is the most common rule of thumb. But if the tires were properly stored for 5 years, they still may be okay for another five installed on your car. Or so I've read.

    The last set I got were a year old, and I figured that was good enough.

    Good question....
  • capriracercapriracer Member Posts: 907
    andres3 said:

    Speaking of freshness, how old is too old for new tires? Would you sacrifice a year for every 10% off? Therefore, would you buy 2011 tires if they were half off?

    I think you will find that 3 year old tires are treated by everyone in the industry as the same as fresh from the factory. Beyond 3 years, you might find some discounts.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Got new tires and got a bit of a weird look when I asked how fresh they were. All four are 4815s, made in the US. Pretty fresh.

    That means my tires were made during Thanksgiving week last year. I hope the folks laying up the tires weren't half asleep on L-tryptophan. :)
  • slorenzenslorenzen Member Posts: 694
    stever said:

    Got new tires and got a bit of a weird look when I asked how fresh they were. All four are 4815s, made in the US. Pretty fresh.

    That means my tires were made during Thanksgiving week last year. I hope the folks laying up the tires weren't half asleep on L-tryptophan. :)

    produced on Black Friday?

    ZZZZzzzzzzz.....


    :D
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    I do have a leak in the left front - Michigan alloys. :)
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    You bought NEW tires?!!

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2016
    It was a bit far to drive to Juárez on the old ones for a nice used set. :)

    On the plus side, the value of the minivan just doubled.
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