Replacing OEM tires right away. Whats your opinion

[3for3]

For safety and comfort reasons I trade OEM tires for better performing after market models within two weeks of obtaining a new vehicle. Some friends and family think I am wasting money and hurting the environment by "throwing away" perfectly good factory tires. I do not see that way at all.

I tend to lease cars for three years. My experience with OEM tires has been very negative: loud, harsh riding, poor dry and wet performance. It seems that many factory tires are designed to simply roll the car off the assembly line, and onto the cargo truck.

I do not want poor performing tires to ruin my three year driving experience, or to fail me in an emergency braking or steering situation. Also, I want to enjoy the driving dynamics the vehicle was engineered to provide. I want three years of quiet, safe and comfy driving. I may end up loosing a couple of mpg's because my car sticks to the road better, but I am willing to give up a little economy for years of peace of mind and enjoyment.

The oem tires I trade-in are not thrown away, they are not taken to a landfill; but rather offered to another consumer at a huge discount. Their getting tires with only a couple hundred miles on them, for a fraction of the cost of a brand new tire. I get tires I want, and they get what they are in the market for. Seems win-win to me.

So, when I am told that i am wasting money, and hurting the environment, I don't agree. I feel like I would be wasting money driving on ill-performing tires that don't let me fully enjoy a car that cost tens of thousands of dollars. What do you think about this.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Are you the one paying for the tires?
Are you the one leasing the car?
Are you the primary driver?

If yes, the you can do as you please without pleasing Anyone else!

 

[eljefino]

Any tire that holds air and has more than about 4/32 tread is going back on the road, somewhere.

Obviously it works for you. Why not retain the tires, though, and slap them back on before the lease return?

 

[Nate1979]

Many people do this. Not a big deal either way.

 

[Rolla07]

Its not waste since you are selling them to someone else. You might be wasting money..but again..you are free to do as you wish. The more money you get for the OEM's the better. Personally I would just use up the OEM's unless they are terrible but I think worst case they are likely decent enough that they wont be dangerous. If you are swapping them for high end performance tires it makes more sense but again your money your choice.

 

[3for3]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Why not retain the tires, though, and slap them back on before the lease return?


I like that I get more than two hundred dollars credit for my trade-in's. It just makes it that much easier to get new tires right away.

At lease-end I go get cheap used tires that are usually half worn for super duper cheap. Like $100 or less for full set. Half worn tires always met the requirement when I turned the cars back. I have always had popular size tires (205/5516, 205/60/16, 265/70/16, 195/65/15 etc.), so never a problem finding cheapo used tires.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Take-offs can be a screaming deal for us ordinary people.

 

[JHZR2]

You're throwing money away with a lease - we've had those discussions on here before.

But assuming the tires are resold/reused, that's neither wasteful or bad.

But the issue Id have is that since its a lease, you may well be buying two sets of tires, depending upon how they come after you at the turn-in.

I keep cars for the long run, and I've never been dissatisfied with a tire set to the point of changing it out when new. I guess I'm just too cheap as well. But other than some hydroplaning issues,Mohicans were solved by driving slower and more careful in the rain, I've never had the inkling.

If you have a reason to change, so be it.

 

[geeman789]

Tires make a huge difference in ride and handling. And, like you, I find most oem tires to be barely adequate, or worse...

Two issues though... the first is that the going rate, here at least, for used tires, even barely used, seems to be about $ 50 - 75 max per tire...people don't seem to be willing to pay much more than this for any used tire. And maybe with good reason... as you are taking some risk buying a used tire.

The second is you sometimes lose that factory smooth ride... the car maker spends a great deal of time and effort and testing to get that factory smooth ride, much more than any aftermarket tire mounted at a tire store will ever see... it can be frustrating chasing a vibration with new tires on new wheels. Some cars NEED road force balancing to run smooth, and if a shop doesn't have the equipment or experience, it can be tedious for both parties. The tire shop says the tires / wheels / car are bad... the customer says the balance machine / technician are bad...

 

[sciphi]

Sometimes the OEM tires are junk. On rare occasions they're decent tires. The OEM Goodyears on my Cruze were decent enough that I bought a second set.

 

[datech]

I had some decent tires on a new car once, at least for 30k some miles.

This rental I have been driving has some Hankook Optimas, really noisy on rough asphalt. I'd change them if it were mine. Less than 20k miles.

 

[Nyati]

What if your OEM tires are Michelin PS2's?

 

[thr_wedge]

It's your money. I've been happy with a couple sets of OEM tires, though come replacement time I still changed brands and plus-0 to the widest tires that would fit on my rims. The rest got replaced when worn, and also plus plus-0 if feasible.

 

[wirelessF]

Tires will be EOL or barely enough tread for the next loser by the end of the lease anyways. Anyone leasing don't have to worry about replacing wear items anyways like tires. Considering the rubbish some OEM's put on with UTQG's
Although if it's a truck that I plan to keep for a long time, especially if it has the bottom of the barrel tires (UTQG <500) on them I'll put decent meats on them.

 

[Shannow]

If it makes you happy, then keep doing it.

I second the idea of keeping them, and swapping them back on when lease is up...but you need the space for that.

 

[CharBaby]

I like to remove my tires a bit early and sell them after I've use the best part! Sure, if the OE tires are JUNK, remove them ASAP and sell them for more money of course but, don't throw them away/turn'em in for free with the purchase of new tires.

My buddy just took off his OE(Michelin Latitude Touring) tires on his Equinox, for some Destination LE/2's! His OE tires still had 8-9/32nds and he was just going to leave them at the Firestone...I asked him prior, if I could have them and he obliged!

I sold them for $180 to a guy with a RAV4(same size) who only wanted to finish out his lease vehicle and didn't want to spend BIG money on new tires prior to turning in the lease!

Everybody's happy!

 

[Slick17601]

When I bought my Civic new in 2003, my first stop was at the Firestone store. Exchanged the [censored] FR690's for LH30's. Cost me $130 with lifetime rotations. The LH30's proved to be excellent tires.

 

[fdcg27]

We've taken delivery of five cars brand new over the past thirty years and all of them came on pretty decent tires.
In the case of our '97 Aerostar, the Michelins that it came on (XWX4s, IIRC) were the best tires I ever had on it.
Now, you can usually do a little research and come up with a replacement tire that will be more satisfactory that the OEM tires at a reasonable cost, but I've never felt the need to replace a set of OEM tires before they were worn out because they were really bad to drive on.
You obviously have. If the OEM tires are bad enough that they interfere with your enjoyment of the car, then by all means you should replace them.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Just pulled the factory Wrangler's off my new Ram. Upgraded to Michelin LTX MS2's in 275/60/20 sizing. Tire store beat my BEST online pricing.

Made another guy real happy by selling our take offs (7k miles) to him. Everybody left happy!

Wow what a difference. Feels like we upgraded suspensions or something, hard to believe that was just tires....

 

[3for3]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Wow what a difference. Feels like we upgraded suspensions or something, hard to believe that was just tires....


My exact feelings. It is why I do not have a problem trading-in oem tires right away. I once suffered through a year of oem Firestones on a new Sentra SE. Luckily I bumped into a curb while doing a three point turn which caused a cut on the sidewall. I was more than happy to ditch those tires and get some better tires. It was an eye opener. It was like I upgraded my steering system, suspension, brake system...the entire car felt like an upgrade actually. Just by putting on better tires.

I realized I lost a year of driving enjoyment by sticking it out with those junky Firestones. Though I was making full payments on my car, I felt I was only getting half of what the car was capable of. That's when I decided I would replace oem tires on future cars if the tires were not good performers. The trade-in credit on the oem's makes it easier to get really good new tires. Priceless.