Tire shopping for dummies?

[mrsklamc]

This is my first time shopping for tires for an SUV; it's a larger investment than putting them on a car was so I'm sad to say I never put this much thought into it before.

Do you think the tires that supposedly last longer are worth the extra $$?

So far I have quotes anywhere from $450 to $762.

[mward73]

DH always says to just go to Costco and get the tires they have on sale (they have a $70 off 4 tires coupon). We did this and they're fine. He's a car geek, so I figure he knows well enough for us. HTH!

[Cadiewampus]

I always buy mine and my wifes tires at Discount Tire. Good prices and Great service. Not sure where you are in Indiana but here are their store locations



Carmel
Elkhart
Fort Wayne
Highland
Indianapolis
Kokomo
Lafayette
Merrillville
Mishawaka
Muncie
Noblesville
Plainfield
South Bend

[UGAFan0829]

A good place to check out would be tire rack dot com. You can go in, and select the year, make and model of your vehicle. It will tell you what the original tires were that came factory on the vehicle. It will also give you a list of each tire that you can use, if you chose not to go with the factory ones. It will give you a price for each set of tires, along with tons of reviews on each one. I didn't actually buy my tires from the website, but I did use it to read the reviews when we replaced my tires back in the summer. Hope this helps.

[BridgetBordeaux]

We also use tire rack dot com for research. Then we go in to the local market and buy our tires.

[BARBARAAPPLE]

We just bought tires for my husbands truck and after I got several prices I called Merchant tires and they beat the lowest price and took off another 5% so if you have a Merchant tires near by you might want to see if they will match or beat the lowest price.All they can say is no.

[akenneson]

We went to Sam's Club last December and bought tires for my husband's small SUV (Escape). They cost close to $600 for 4 tires and we bought the more expensive tires to upgrade to a tire that has a higher mileage warranty. We are not very happy. My husband drives a lot and has put 30,000 miles on them already and they are wearing horribly. We've rotated them every 6,000 miles, we've had an alignment done, and my father (a certified mechanic) can vouch for us that there is nothing wrong with the car that would cause this uneven wearing. I talked to the Sam's Club tire department this past weekend and pretty told me that they only warranty the tires if you can prove there is something wrong with the tire. I was not happy. I told the girl "so you're telling me I paid more for nothing?" She had nothing to say to that.
I bought tires there for my larger SUV (Expedition) about 2 years ago and haven't had any problems. They were also around $600 but they are a much bigger tire. I don't drive my SUV nearly as much because it's a gas hog. But the tires still look brand new after 20,000 miles.

[JB2K]

Originally Posted by mward73

DH always says to just go to Costco and get the tires they have on sale (they have a $70 off 4 tires coupon). We did this and they're fine. He's a car geek, so I figure he knows well enough for us. HTH!

I second Costco -- especially when they are having a coupon sale (members get these coupon books in the mail).

I equipped my SUV (Ford Escape equivalent) with a complete set of new Michelins for about 600 clams, which includes mounting, balance, and free tire rotation.

[wmharley]

here in FL I usually go to Tires Plus or TireKingdom..

I ALWAYS research at TireRack first though.

Tires Plus and TK both will price match, sorta.. If you go in TireRack and put in the cart, the tires you want with RoadHazard and shipping, then call around to see what the same tires are at locally, you can take the printout and tell them, you'll pay that price to them but include lifetime balance/rotation/roadhazard.

i've always been price matched when I do that.

The reasoning is that the RH and Shipping cost, basically equals the price of the lifetime rotation/balance/roadhazard locally (in my experience) so they are basically matching the TR price.

If they say no, then find out (previously) what the cost is for the Lifetime R/B/RH on a customer provided tire. Add up the TR price with the mounting cost provided and if its cheaper, get em.

[mrsklamc]

Originally Posted by akenneson

We went to Sam's Club last December and bought tires for my husband's small SUV (Escape). They cost close to $600 for 4 tires and we bought the more expensive tires to upgrade to a tire that has a higher mileage warranty. We are not very happy. My husband drives a lot and has put 30,000 miles on them already and they are wearing horribly. We've rotated them every 6,000 miles, we've had an alignment done, and my father (a certified mechanic) can vouch for us that there is nothing wrong with the car that would cause this uneven wearing. I talked to the Sam's Club tire department this past weekend and pretty told me that they only warranty the tires if you can prove there is something wrong with the tire. I was not happy. I told the girl "so you're telling me I paid more for nothing?" She had nothing to say to that.

We have an Escape as well...can you tell me what kind of tires you have so I can avoid them?

We ARE Costco members so I may go that route, but I am shopping around as I believe several places around here offer to price match.

[leslie826]

Another vote for costco. We actually joined just to get the tires. The prices were the best and they have lifetime rotation. They only carry name brand, I think Michelin and one other. The sales person was knowledgable and did not try to sell me the most expensive ones.

[01spirit750]

I definitely second the suggestion to check out tirerackdotcom.

You can select the make, model and year of your car and they will tell you what the factory installed and what other makes of tires are available. You can also read customer reviews. I like to shop and find out what various tires there are and what prices there are. So I do a little (not a lot) of research.

I used to buy from Costco but I now buy from tirerack. They ship to you local installer (just check on their website for installers in your area) or they will ship to your house (I prefer taking delivery myself).

I used to run Yokohamas but they have gotten expensive. I then switched to Khumo's and I have been very happy. They seem to last a long time.

I used to got thru tires like crazy on my corvette, I have the same set of Khumos on it for the past 6-7 years and they are hardly wearing at all.