watching buyers of expensive replacement tires go into shock

[CoconutTelegraph]

The last two sets of tires I've bought came from treaddepot dot com. I got the tires I wanted for the price of the tires I could afford locally. My local Sams club was two weeks from getting my size, then they were $250 more than my tires cost, bought, mounted, and shipped. The price was comparable to DTD but treaddepot was cheaper even with shipping.
I'm fortunate enough to have a local tire shop (who mostly deals in used tires) that appreciates the business enough to mount them even if he didn't sell them.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

When I bought YK580 for my friend DTD had discount for buying 4 tires, I printed the total price and local A/T price matched it (tax included) plus installation. Also, at that time Yokohama had a rebate of around $60-70 for 4 YK580.

I think my friend was lucky that he changed tires at the right time. If he buys those 4 tires now without price match his cost would be $660, so he saved more than $200.

I priced some tires at Costco and Sams Club, their total price were much higher than I can get online.

Did you include shipping? that HAS to be included.

Yes, shipping is included in DTD price. Since DTD doesn't have distributor in CA therefore we don't pay sale tax.

In general you get lowest total price from online then ask local DT/AT for price match, you will only add mounting/balancing to that total online price.

 

[chiefsfan1]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

When I bought YK580 for my friend DTD had discount for buying 4 tires, I printed the total price and local A/T price matched it (tax included) plus installation. Also, at that time Yokohama had a rebate of around $60-70 for 4 YK580.

I think my friend was lucky that he changed tires at the right time. If he buys those 4 tires now without price match his cost would be $660, so he saved more than $200.

I priced some tires at Costco and Sams Club, their total price were much higher than I can get online.

Did you include shipping? that HAS to be included.

Yes, shipping is included in DTD price. Since DTD doesn't have distributor in CA therefore we don't pay sale tax.

In general you get lowest total price from online then ask local DT/AT for price match, you will only add mounting/balancing to that total online price.


OK, cool. Not familiar with DTD. Thanks. It always good to comparison shop for the best deal!

 

[daves87rs]

Makes me glad I run 14s and 15s...

 

[Jarlaxle]

Sadly, my Caddy will be getting 17's this summer. There are no more performance tires in the 15" size I need.

 

[CBR.worm]

Most of the people I know with expensive cars either don't care about tire price, or buy tire and wheel warranties with their car so they don't have to buy tires at an unexpected time.

I don't like spending a lot of money for my tires, but I prefer it to not having the best tires for the situation. I have bought less expensive tires and have been disappointed. And I have done it again, and been disappointed again.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Yeah, when i went to get a price on a set for the truck. I was a bit worried because they are about double the most ive ever paid for a set. Then I got to thinking: this is my neighborhood shop, the tires are made stateside, and they are heavy-duty. Totally worth it!

 

[MinamiKotaro]

It doesn't even have to be an expensive item to get people to go into shock.

"$1.99 for a spark plug!!!! MY GOD!!!!!!"

^actual customer reaction I have to deal with at least once a day. I'd love to see that type of person's reaction to a $300-$400 tire.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: MinamiKotaro
It doesn't even have to be an expensive item to get people to go into shock.

"$1.99 for a spark plug!!!! MY GOD!!!!!!"

^actual customer reaction I have to deal with at least once a day. I'd love to see that type of person's reaction to a $300-$400 tire.


Tell me about it. People think car parts are supposed to be free for life.

An old man with an S-10 came in last week. He was in a rage about an Auto Zone store supposedly breaking the cap off his wiper arm a couple days prior. He spat out "I think [dealer where I work] should pay for this!". I said "where did you have the work done again?" He says "at that [censored] Auto Zone, [censored] crooks." So I say, "Well that Auto Zone is going to have to pay for it, we have to pay for the part, so we can't just give it away." He says "well, I guess I understand that, but somebody has to pay for this!" He seemed a little senile, but still, how do you rationalize that the dealer is responsible for a part that an Auto Zone supposedly broke on a 20 year old truck? In what universe?

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: MinamiKotaro
It doesn't even have to be an expensive item to get people to go into shock.

"$1.99 for a spark plug!!!! MY GOD!!!!!!"

^actual customer reaction I have to deal with at least once a day. I'd love to see that type of person's reaction to a $300-$400 tire.

Best thing is people who drive Japanese cars because they are reliable.
My mother in law drives Honda Pilot, 2009, and we visit them quite often in Vegas. So two years ago I am driving Pilot, and I said: hmmm, left brake rotor is vibrating. Your should take it to replace both front rotors, or I can change and put better since those are undersized in my opinion. And she said: that is impossible, this is Honda.

 

[CKN]

I guess you know more than the engineers who designed the vehicle. Kudos to you!

 

[javacontour]

More likely knows more than the accountants who over-rode the engineers who designed the car.

Originally Posted By: CKN
I guess you know more than the engineers who designed the vehicle. Kudos to you!

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
More likely knows more than the accountants who over-rode the engineers who designed the car.

Originally Posted By: CKN
I guess you know more than the engineers who designed the vehicle. Kudos to you!



Yea-that's the prevalent attitude on this board for the amateur engineers.

 

[javacontour]

This place is like any other. There are some who may actually know. Others just think they know.

Is it possible the car in question has undersized brakes? Sure.

All products are built to a price point. So it's not just the engineer who makes the final call. The accountants come in and say we need $X cost savings per unit production costs, where can you cut costs.

You get a move from double wishbone suspensions to macpherson struts. You go from 13" rotors to 12" rotors. You go from IRS to a beam axle in the rear.

The designers and engineers had one idea of what was best, but the accountants think "best" is $100 less/car.

Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: javacontour
More likely knows more than the accountants who over-rode the engineers who designed the car.

Originally Posted By: CKN
I guess you know more than the engineers who designed the vehicle. Kudos to you!



Yea-that's the prevalent attitude on this board for the amateur engineers.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
This place is like any other. There are some who may actually know. Others just think they know.

Is it possible the car in question has undersized brakes? Sure.

All products are built to a price point. So it's not just the engineer who makes the final call. The accountants come in and say we need $X cost savings per unit production costs, where can you cut costs.

You get a move from double wishbone suspensions to macpherson struts. You go from 13" rotors to 12" rotors. You go from IRS to a beam axle in the rear.

The designers and engineers had one idea of what was best, but the accountants think "best" is $100 less/car.

Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: javacontour
More likely knows more than the accountants who over-rode the engineers who designed the car.

Originally Posted By: CKN
I guess you know more than the engineers who designed the vehicle. Kudos to you!



Yea-that's the prevalent attitude on this board for the amateur engineers.


Everything you listed as cost cutting measures will make absolutely no difference to the average buyer. As far as the brakes are concerned-they seem to be stopping the vehicle because I haven't noticed that model year involved in anymore accidents than any other vehicle.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Yeah, they may stop the vehicle...if you don't mind chewing up the pads and rotors every 25,000 miles!

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Yeah, they may stop the vehicle...if you don't mind chewing up the pads and rotors every 25,000 miles!



LINK PLEASE! And please include how it can't be the way the driver uses the brakes.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Offhand...my Magnum ate brakes in about that long. They lasted longer on my Caddy...a heavier car, with smaller brakes, in which I DELIBERATELY use faster-wearing pads so the rotors last longer! Plenty of cars were built with undersized components due to cost-cutting.

 

[HangFire]

My 99 Taurus needed new pads and rotors every 20K miles, that was due to the transmission aggressively upshifting and the system giving the engine gas at the same time, so the car was self-accelerating. Dealer said "that's the way they are." Ford in its wisdom made the rotors part of the hubs so I got to pay extra for a brake job. Despite that the bearings would sometimes wear out before the rotors.

I wrote the software for a cruise control system. It didn't accelerate mindlessly.

You better believe I think I know more about "the engineers" (or whoever they were) who designed that engine control system and the hub/rotor assembly.

I've poured over the CANBUS communication spec sheets for truck and automotive components from most of the major parts suppliers you'd heard of. They were riddled with mistakes and typos and omissions. In the end I ended up reverse engineering the specs.

You better believe I think I know more than the "engineers" (or whoever they were) who wrote those spec sheets.

I've worked with engineers from Ford and Chrysler and GM, back around 2008 they were good and cheap recruits who would do anything to get out of the Detroit area. The stories they tell exactly match that of any other industry- they barely get stuff to work then shove it out the door, then find out someone down the line has pooched it over.

So yeah I don't have an image of engineers wearing white lab coats achieving near perfection in advancing the state of the art in automobile nirvana. If that was the case, you'd almost never see a TSB or recall. Instead we are swamped with both.

 

[ccap41]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Tires are one of those things that only a tiny fraction of car buyers even think about, until the spec on their car comes to bite them in the [censored]. All these big, fat wheels with oddball sizes on new cars is making it normal to spend thousands replacing tires.

One thing I notice a lot of down here is people putting small car tire sizes on old beater trucks and SUVs because they are too cheap. Please keep your Explorer or Blazer on 195/60R15s away from me!


You worded this perfectly. All these new vehicles coming with 17's and up to 22's for OEM f150s/Rams/GM twims. Even on smaller cheaper cars now they have 17s with 40-45series sidewall making them expensive, at least for the person who thought they bought a cheap car(also finding out that they need DEXOS approved oil when going to get their oil changed at a quick shop expecting 20 bucks). I definitely look at tires pre-purchase. They can make a relatively common car an expensive vehicle to properly maintain. For example, my own '13 Escape Titanium with 19's . 235/45r19. There are only a handful of options in that size. Before buying I looked into it though and can put 245/45s on and open my options up ten fold. I will never put a cheap tire on my vehicles but I also don't want to be forced to put the same OEM tire or a winter tire(that is about all that is available in 235/45r19).