I have 15K left on my lease, and need some new tires for my pretty car, though only 15K worth. Mine came with the Continentals. The dealer wanted to charge me $1,200 for the brand new Continentals, I said no thanks. Friend recommended to use Tirerack.com, noticed that Continentals were $750 not including labor stuff. Also noticed that a Summer tire called Avon Tech M500 I can get 4 for about $600. Disinclined to get those, because I need to get through Winter, and my X-Fire is a sled in the snow. Any thoughts on good and reasonably priced tires otherwise?

Also, I noticed that tirerack.com says that the front tires are 225s, while the dealer said that my front tires were 245s and so does the manual. Any thoughts on this discrepancy?

Thanks,

Mike

 

Conti ASP 225/40ZR18 front and 255/35ZR19 rear, this is what is stated on my dealer window sticker.

 

I have had very good experiences with the TireRack. They are very fast to ship - for me 1.5 days. The prices are exceptional. You can have the tires drop shipped to a participating shop for mounting.

I found that Discount Tires and others will match their prices. Since I found that out I have been dealing with Discount Tire. I highly recommend the replacement road hazard warranty.

I paid around $385 for a 19" Michelin Pilot Sport. The 18" was about $325. You can see the prices on their site.

 

I've been buying tires from them for years. Never had a problem. I highly recommend them.

 

I've used them for about 7 -8 sets of tires over the years. They are great to deal with, however I don't think they are the cheapest anymore, and they don't match price. Shop aroung before making a decision. Discount tire is pretty good as well.

 

Tirerack is decent, but most of the large tire retailer chains (Americas Tire, Discount Tire, etc) will match their prices.

 

I agree with Brandie. I have taken the print out from TireRack to Discount Tire and they matched the price. Plus they had the tires in stock and I was good to go the same day. Shop around, print out the price quotes and then go to your local chain. Good luck.

BTW - go with the Continentals if you are going to be driving in the snow. They provide the best compromise between performance and all-weather traction.

Kevin

 

Is there an NTB (National Tire & Battery) near you? I have purchased two new sets of tires for my 2004 X'fire & my 2004 PT Cruiser (w/Stage 1) at NTB. I went there & showed them a print-out of the cost of tires on Tirerack.com & they MATCHED the price. And ... they have an EXCELLENT warrantee for a very reasonable price! I will NEVER get tires anywhere else.
Good Luck !

 

I've still had the best prices from TireRack.com. Also, they carry tires and or sizes that my local shops don't. In any case, I like the research and testing they do...even if you buy elsewhere they provide a lot of data to help with decision making.

 

One thing to keep in mind is this, tireracks prices DO NOT include mounting/balancing as well as insurance, but I'm sure they offer it too but its alot easier to go into the local Discount Tire and get the tire repaired/replaced then to go to the place that might be across town and go through the hassle of sending it back to tirerack. I'm not saying that tirerack is bad, just something to think about.

 

That is a big factor It's another piece of the process one goes through when making decisions like this. My local Monroe Auto Service shop (formerly ProCare) installed my last few sets without issue. I'm sure they'd prefer the commission on the sale too. So far, the tires I've purchased through TireRack weren't available from my local shop. In one case, several years ago, mentioning TireRack got me a quick counter offer and free mounting and balancing from a local shop. With 7 cars in the family I have plenty of opportunities to buy local and/or through Tire Rack. Are they the best...maybe not...most likely not...I only mention that I've had positive experiences.

 

I had the same issue with less time on my lease.

I bought Hankook's from a different online retailer. The sales process wasn't as smooth, but I was able to get high performance tires for much less than any other brand. Much to my surprise, they handle well and a extremely quiet. I can check to see which Hankook's I bought if you're interested.

 

Yes. Please let me know which brand they were.

Mike

 

Hankook Ventus S1 EVO
225/40ZR18 front
255/35ZR19 rear

I like them so much that if I were to keep this car, I'd put them on again, which I'm not, so it doesn't matter much.

 

Just got my Goodyear F1's from Tirerack and would definitely buy from them again.

Took two days to arrive. Cheapest price I found online. Sure local stores might match the price, but you'll get charged sales tax.

Besides new tires are one of those things that you don't need to see in person before purchasing.


My $0.02 cents.

 

I hope that this isn't a terribly stupid question, but the tirerack.com guy I spoke with said it was a terrible idea to have different tire brands/tread styles on the car. Is that accurate? I was checking online for tires at tirerack, saw the Conti's rear for $200 each which is reasonable, but with $135 for fronts, but there is a brand called Kumho for the fronts at $85 each, and gets great reviews. Apparently, the Kumho's, however, do not make the rear version which is much rarer to be produced. I was thinking why not put them together, but the tirerack.com guru strongly recommended against it. I'm not remotely cheap on things, but I only need the tires for 14K miles left on lease, so I don't mind enquiring.

Thanks,

Mike

 

The tire guy you spoke with is 100% right. Besides looking stupid, it is a bad
idea to mix and match different brands and tread patterns. I've never leased
a car so I don't know what they would say when you turned the car in with
miss-matched tires. My suggestion, forget about saving a few $$$ and buy a
set of tires that match.

If your goal is to save a few $$$ you might want to look into a set of
Avon Tech M500. Using Tire Rack prices from a few months ago... they
are $666.00 + $80.00 (for road hazard insurance) = $746.00 a set.
The road hazard insurance is only an option.

 

Kumho does make the size for the rear ... it's on my car ... if i remember right it's the ast line from them ... i likle the tires and they were tons less than michelins or contis

 

That is correct. Kumho makes the Ecsta SPT for a matched set, front and rear. Mixing brands front to rear is not going to hurt anything. I have original Conti in front and Kumho Ecsta SPT on the rear. It came that way when I bought it used. It handles and rides just fine. It also runs the 1/4 mile pretty damn good. Just DO NOT mix tires on the front or rear, keep them in pairs.

MikeR

 

check discounttiredirect.com they usually are cheaper and have free shipping.

tire rack had my wheels on backorder for a month back in april, then as each month passed they would bump up the backorder another month and kept trying to re-charge my card each time untill I called them. Then they kept bumping up the back order another month. I dealt with that all the way through the end of august until I finally got fed up and bought a set of wheels from wheelfire and had them in 4 days. My sales person was rude and would not reply to 90% of my emails at tire rack. Personally I think their customer service has went to hell over the past few years. I will not buy from them again. I checked the other day and now tirerack has the wheels i originally ordered on back order through the end of september, lol. They suck in my opinion.

discounttiredirect.com however has always had great service and they have many retail shops all over the country as well.