My dad is nuts

[Tosh]

Critic: I sense underlying issues between you and your dad that are about more than just cost and car maintenance. It's curious that you don't have more influence with him, given your interest and knowledge about cars. (Although I disagree about the $45 special.)
On the other hand, he may have been brow-beaten (given the hard sell) into getting those tires from Sam's. I don't suppose you went with him to Sam's, but you might have learned a lot about his personality from watching his interaction with the tire salesman. In other words, what is it about your dad and you that lets some random salesman have lots of credibility, while you have none?

 

[The Critic]

I think his influence is driven by numbers. He actually ordered the tires online and paid for them in-store, so there was no salesman involved.

Any mechanic has more credibility than me. He says that I am not a professional mechanic hence my statements have little credibility...unless they are reiterated from the owner's manual.

 

[Steve S]

Dads are never nuts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bretfraz]

What amazes me is the installed price for the Hydroedge's.

I paid $380 installed for a set of Michelin Pilot Exalto's in 215/65-15 from Costco. $500+ for a high mileage all season tire seems a tad spendy to me.

Regardless, I think it's a good choice in tires for those who value treadlife and quality. A friend of mine has the Sears version of the same tire on her Accord and she has about 70K on them so far. Tread still looks good. She certainly doesn't care about tire noise or ride quality; the car drives fine to me and good enough for her.

Enthusiasts will want a sportier tire but regular car-drivin' folks will be plenty happy with the Hydroedge.

 

[unDummy]

Michelin seems to get a premium for any of their tires. They might not be the best, but I've never seen a Michelin fail anyone that I know using them.

A high threadwear tire is great for someone doing a TON of driving. Around here after 5 years, most tires are dryrotted and cracked. So, I don't care for threadwear since my beater fleet do not get driven enough. But, if you're an above average distance driver, and don't care about the last tenth of dry, rain, or snow performance, then get those rolling granite wheels!

I don't see those Michelins as a bad choice, I just think they cost too much for what they offer. There are plenty of tires, in that size range, that'll perform just as well for a lot cheaper.

Just be glad that Sam's club doesn't charge an arm/leg like many indepedent shops do for tires.

 

[nobobody]

I have been buying most all my tires off of our local Craigs list have gotten so very good deal s o tires some with only a few hundred miles I just got (4) Kelly Srringfied A/S radials Size 195/65-15 from a young lady They came mounted on Saab alloy rims, Cost Ilb of excotic coffe and some used cook books I almost felt gilty loading theminto my car but i got outta there Quick!!!

 

[1sttruck]

I'm a dad, and did consider the hydroedge for a 100k mile 'beater' based upon reviews of all season tires, along with the Goodyear Tripletread. After looking at the tires I picked the Michelin Harmonys as I liked the more pronounced shoulder lugs for for mud and snow, the more siping for rain and snow, and the still decent apparent tread life. I also wondered about how the non-tradtional tread patterns would perform as they wore. So far the Harmonys have been good tires here in the Pacific NW, and if they last as expected they will have been worth it. After I picked the tires the tire guy said that he picked the same for pretty much the same reasons.

On the previous car, a Taurus, I bought some 'best' Les Schwab tires at about 60k miles, which were Toyo Spectrums. I thought that they'd be the last tires I'd need to buy based upon what people told me about Taurus longetivity. I did get 60k miles out of them although they did get kind of slick at over half life, and I had them siped. I then bought some Goodrich Traction somethings and only got about 40k miles but they had better traction. I finally bought another set of Les Schwab Spectrums, they had more siping from the factory this time, and they lasted until the car finally died at over 200k miles. The Harmonys seem to be a better all season tire, but they do cost more.

 

[mdocod]

I like michelin destiny's from discount tire for these types of applications. They are reasonably priced, but perform like something more expensive, especially in snow/ice/water. I started using em on my cars a few years ago. I beat the #@$%! out of tires (pizza delivery). 23,000 miles on current set, I'd say there's 60% tread remaining, that's darned good for my driving. (I get about 15,000 or less out of really budget tires, aint worth it)

 

[deepsquat]

Quote:

---

My dad always ran whatever the state trooper's were using. Since then I always lean over and take a look when a patrol car is parked.

---

Would that be when you are riding in the back seat ???

 

[ewetho]

Hydroedges were not very popular here in winter. Had too many come back complaining they suck in snow. That was when I worked at Sears while attending UTI. Nobody ever complained in summer but during snowy weather YUCKO!!! was a common sentiment. We even put on Michelin Energy tires that they had on instead on several cars. They like them a whole lot better. In the Spring Summer rain people loved them.

 

[The Critic]

Well, it doesn't snow here, so I guess I'm good to go!

 

[Sparkman]

I strongly believe that tires are the single most important thing on a vehicle, and one can never* go wrong spending good money on good tires, regardless of the vehicle.

* vehicles with suspension problems that cause extreme tire wear excepted, of course that should be fixed before buying the tires anyway. A vehicle that one is planning on selling or junking soon may be another exception.

 

[kgb007stb]

My family though that I was nuts as well when buying the hydroedges, but I must say that I like them, they handle well in rain, my friends think that I drive like a maniac when it rains, but that’s because of good tires that can take the beating. I hope they last longer than my car. My mom thought that I was nuts when I bought a set for her car, yet when she was involved in an emergency braking situation while some idiot cut her off on a rainy day, she told me the tires paid for themselves that day.

I personally do not like to use cheap tires as many in my family had experienced tire failures due to cheap tires being driven past their warranty. Everyone, even the not so car savvy notice how well these tires handle, I just like the extra safety margin as well as the excellent stopping and handling in both dry and wet situations.

 

[sprintman]

$108 a tire is bl00dy cheap!

 

[Max_Wander]

For that price he shoulda gone with TripleTreads!

 

[m2200b]

I'd be using $200 America or Schwab tires ( for 4 mounted and tax) on a lightly used 96 Saturn in Sacramento where it barely rains. There has to be some better use for the other $200 on this car.

 

[The Critic]

I have 4500 miles on these tires now and the threadwear is as follows:

Front: 10/32"
Rear: 11/32"

I'm running 40 psi (cold) in the Front and 36 psi (cold) in the Rear. I'll take to Sam's Club in the coming weeks to have the tires rotated/balanced.

Think I'll get 90k out of these?

 

[The Critic]

I have 12,600 miles now:

Front: 8/32
Rear: 8/32

Still running 40 psi in the front and 36 psi in the rear.

Doesn't look like I'll be getting anywhere near 90k out of these. More like 30k.

My last set of tires, Goodyear Allegra, got us 45k before they were at the wear indicators and they cost 1/3 less.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

Must have been all of those late night/early morning beer runs! I have noticed that when carrying multiple(ten or eleven) cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the passenger seat, tire wear is noticeable. Try inflating the passenger tires by 2 psi.

 

[rjundi]

I purchased cheap tires(Sumitomo ??) for my "beater" 200k Civic. The road noise at 210k and the lack of wet traction lead in part to simply giving up with the perfectly running 225k miles Civic. I regretted not buying medium - top tier tires for it. I am always disappointed with budget specials.

I have shed tires at full tread wear around 10k miles because I could not stand them like a set of Remington tires the shop convinced me were really good tires at 2/3 price of Michelin's.