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Buying Tires Sucks

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I took my car into get an oil change and I asked them to look at my tires and see if I needed anything else since my wife and I are leaving Friday for vacation. Anyways I get the dreaded call telling me I need new tire and they have them for $129 each, plus I need them balanced and my alignment is off. Anyways, now since I know nothing about tires (nor do I really want to), I think that is a little high. There are other tires that are closer to $100 at another store, but since I know nothing about tires I'm not sure what the difference is. Both are rated at 60k, but with my wife's driving I doubt they will get 40k. What do you guys do? Spend a lot on tires or grab the cheapest one on the market?
 
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Really depends on the tire. High performance tires can be very expensive. If you're just replacing standard OEM tires, I'd get it done at a warehouse club like Sam's or Costco.

Take a look at tirerack.com and see what they recommend for your car. You may even find a good price there and can have them installed locally.
 
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Tire prices vary widely by brand, size, speed rating and wear warranty. Do some research online to see the price range of the main brands (Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear, Goodrich, Michelin).
 

dpricenator

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I have a Jeed Grand Cheeorkee and you can get city tires from about $99 each. Don't let them sell you off road or knoby tires unless you will be driving rough terain. You also do not need a speed rating higher than "H". That H rating is good at 120 mph for 4 hours. It is one of the lower ratings and will do yoou just fine. The guy I went to first was trying to sell me Z rated tires that are good at 180 mph for 8 hours. I figure The furthest I'm going to drive is Vegas and if I do 120 the whole way, it won't take me 4 hours to get there. I agree though that for regular needs, Sams or Costco are a great choice.
 
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We have some nice tire stores around here so not an issue with competition. I find it best to check prices and compare the tires before I need them. The local place I like the best will match any printed offer. So I search ahead of time and show them the ad if will save me money.

I never will buy the cheapest tires there are, nor buy the most expensive ones. Not worth the low price/low quality that goes with it generally. Tires are something one should not (pardon the pun) cut corners on. I would call a tire shop that can match the type of driving that is done for the Jeep and compare the tire you want to 2 other places. Then go to the lowest price or call them back if you found a lower price, see if they will match the price. Make sure the price includes balancing, stems, and disposal fees and any other fee. Some will quote with everything included, others are sneaky and do not.

Good luck.
 

PetersCreek

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$129 each? I bloody-fuggin-wish! :rolling:

It's dividend time here in Alaska, so The Wife® and I both replaced the tires on our trucks. We'd decided on the same model tire and as her luck would have it, they were in stock locally to the tune of $750-ish, installed. No such luck for me. They quoted me $250 per tire inclusive of shipping but not installation. Um...lemme get back to you on that, Sparky.

I never thought I'd do such a thing but I ordered my tires over the Internet from the outfit Clint mentioned, The Tire Rack. Even with the added cost of shipping all the way to Alaska (FedEx 2-day economy = $179) and mounting, I saved more than $200 total.

Oh...and the tire we chose is the Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor. We don't run studs in the winter and wanted a good all-season tire. This one's pretty highly rated.
 

Halon

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I prefer high performance tires. No point for me in owning a nice car if I don't have good tires on it. I switched over to Michelin Pilot Exalto All Season tires on my Forester last year and they absolutely kick ass in any type of weather.
For high performance tires, $120-ish is about average. If you're just looking for standard tires, tho, it's way high.


TYLER
 

blessednxs65

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Depends on how much out of state driving you do. For our family 4X4 we run on Sears Tires. For they come with lifetime flat repair, balance and rotation and trade-in value. Even though we have AAA we (or I should say, the wife) feels comfortable (and if she's happy...). This is not to say that other national retailers do not offer the same or better, it's just one man's opinion.
 

jmatkins

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I took my car into get an oil change and I asked them to look at my tires and see if I needed anything else since my wife and I are leaving Friday for vacation. Anyways I get the dreaded call telling me I need new tire and they have them for $129 each, plus I need them balanced and my alignment is off. Anyways, now since I know nothing about tires (nor do I really want to), I think that is a little high. There are other tires that are closer to $100 at another store, but since I know nothing about tires I'm not sure what the difference is. Both are rated at 60k, but with my wife's driving I doubt they will get 40k. What do you guys do? Spend a lot on tires or grab the cheapest one on the market?

I kinda hit the middle of the road.
 

caudio51

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Remember, they are your only contact between you and the road. Not something you want to go cheap on. That reduced braking distance will be important when the kid runs out in front of the truck
 

caudio51

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I believe you are missing my point.

Try you were not paying attention and the light changed to red. You are now right at the guys rear bumper. Glad you got those good tires because you were able to stop in time.
 

CWS

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Michilin 80,000 tires on the Caddy. Quiet, long, long peformance.
Goodyear Eagles on the Volvo. Peformance with a little off road ability
Kumho Racers on the Mercedes 560 - 8 to 9,000 miles max per set but the stick to the road like glue in the turns.

Check name brands at Costco and Americas "Discount" Tires.
 

Poni

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TireRack.com

And take it to Costco or BJs to get them installed.
 
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I believe you are missing my point.

Try you were not paying attention and the light changed to red. You are now right at the guys rear bumper. Glad you got those good tires because you were able to stop in time.
I knew what you were talking about, I was just joking around.
 
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