cheap tires for Camry

[skaughtz]

Sometime in the not too distant future I need to put new shoes on my Camry. Since it is just my to-and-from the city car at this point I am going cheap. Walmart has Armstrong Blu-Trac PC all-season and Crossmax CT-1 all-season tires for around $64 each. I am not expecting quality out of either but has anyone run either of these before? Did they make it 30k miles? Etc.

Any other cheap suggestions are appreciated.

 

[BigCahuna]

You could try a junkyard, if being cheap is the main concern.,

 

[eljefino]

Put an Armstrong Blu Trac on my kids' camry earlier this summer, it seems to do fine. It has good specs for temp, traction, treadwear. Has a very boring tread pattern, FWIW, but on the flipside it has few perpindicular tread cuts so it should be quiet on the highway.

I'd definitely get these over the Crossmax.

 

[Rand]

I'd probably go ironman for 59 over either of those

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ironman-GR906-215-60R16-95H-A-S-All-Season-Tire/987821766?filters=[{"intent":"retailer","values":["Walmart"]}]&classType=REGULAR&from=/search


mastercraft stratus @ 67


gt radial champiro for 71

 

[johnmyster]

You can buy premium model used tires for that. It's my latest obsession of cheapness.

Ebay, united tires, champ tires, etc.

With united, you can reach out by chat to inquire regarding date code and repairs. From there, watch the specific tires you want on ebay and wait to get a price drop alert. They rotate discounts through their inventory.

Then I pull wheels and take them to the local used tire shop that mounts and balances for $15 per.

I recently did a full set of Michelin Defender 2 235/55r20 with new TPMS sensors, programmed to car myself, <$450 mounted, all within 1/32" of treadwear from new, and that's a premiumish size/tire.

Man I'm cheap. The amount of hassle I go through to save $2.


EDIT: hey look...

I'd add a bunch of these (at United Tires) to my ebay watch list and wait for some <$65 alerts. FWIW, the X-Tour is the same as the Defender, but private labeled for Costco. (I happen to have 3 X-Tours and 1 Defender on my commuter.)

 

[IndyIan]

You could try a junkyard, if being cheap is the main concern.,

Yes, or used tire place, just ask for something half decent, like brands you recognize, and a reasonably new date code. The only time I've had a bad tire, from a used shop, was a brand new tire, which must've been a reject from another tire shop? It needed a whole lot of weight to balance, and it wasn't really round... I came back the next week and they swapped it for something used, that was round and black...
$64 each installed and balanced? That's pretty hard to beat.
The other cheap option is to buy a set of tires on rims for your car, be patient and you can get some decent tires that way, and then sell your old rims and tires, to someone less picky. You might come out close to even.

 

[skaughtz]

I have honestly never been to a used tire shop because the concept confuses me. I just ditched a set of Bridgestones on my Pilot that had about 6ish/32nds left on the tread. Is that what is showing up for sale at a used tire joint? I think I'd rather have a set of the cheapo new tires over those. Or do people change tires way more frequently than I do when they still have plenty of usable tread left?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Is your tire size 215/60-16? If not, what is your tire size?

You should consider all-weather tires. The good news is that there are some all-weather tires in your price range

Lexani Quattro Tempo AW
Prinx HiSeason 4S HS1
Atturo AZ810

 

[CKN]

I have honestly never been to a used tire shop because the concept confuses me. I just ditched a set of Bridgestones on my Pilot that had about 6ish/32nds left on the tread. Is that what is showing up for sale at a used tire joint? I think I'd rather have a set of the cheapo new tires over those. Or do people change tires way more frequently than I do when they still have plenty of usable tread left?

You can always find the rare "needle in the haystack" and score a decent set of tires at a tire shop. However-to more directly answer you- NO. Now that tires are a major investment-the only owners switching out "new tires" are those with trucks who want a "lifted truck". Thats not the size you are looking for.

 

[skaughtz]

Is your tire size 215/60-16? If not, what is your tire size?

You should consider all-weather tires. The good news is that there are some all-weather tires in your price range

Lexani Quattro Tempo AW
Prinx HiSeason 4S HS1

That's the size. And yeah I am just looking for all-weather. Her trip is pretty much all highway so right now her 2 or 3/32 General's are fine, but come the winter the roads can get nasty here in Maryland so I am going to need something with tread.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

That's the size. And yeah I am just looking for all-weather. Her trip is pretty much all highway so right now her 2 or 3/32 General's are fine, but come the winter the roads can get nasty here in Maryland so I am going to need something with tread.

Yeah, all-weather is definitely worth it with the 3-peak, since they're not much more than regular all-season tires. You have at least 3 good options under $80 each

The wear bars will show at 2/32, when they are legally worn out, and in states that have safety inspection, they will fail.

Used tires are only good in an emergency, or perhaps for use as a full-size spare to replace a donut.

 

[paulri]

You can look at the cars in my sig to see how cheap I am. I hear ya.

My take on cheap tires is to buy them at AT or somewhere else where you are getting a comparable price. And I mean the 80K mile tires. I get them rotated regularly (every 5-8K miles is what AT wants); and then get a great prorate when I buy the next set from the same shop. The expensive tires when I include the prorate that I get, are about as cheap as the cheapo 40K mile tires, except that if I'm ever almost in an accident, I can count on the expensive tires to stop my car before a collision takes place, much sooner than I'd trust the cheapo tires to protect me.

Sometime in the not too distant future I need to put new shoes on my Camry. Since it is just my to-and-from the city car at this point I am going cheap. Walmart has Armstrong Blu-Trac PC all-season and Crossmax CT-1 all-season tires for around $64 each. I am not expecting quality out of either but has anyone run either of these before? Did they make it 30k miles? Etc.

Any other cheap suggestions are appreciated.

 

[johnmyster]

I have honestly never been to a used tire shop because the concept confuses me.

Sometimes part of a set is EOL and the others are good. If owner buys a full set, the good ones end up at the used tire shop (UTS).

Some brands have a satisfaction guarantee within 90 days. Those tires go to the UTS.

Sometimes one or more get injured and can't be repaired, or the owner doesn't want patched tires. The tires, if repairable, end up at UTS along with the others.

Sometimes the owner wants to swap from a summer tire to all season or such. They end up at a UTS.

I think some road hazard warranties and wheel/tire warranties cover replacement of nearly new tires with new, rather than repair. Boom, UTS.

I'm aware of about 200 top name tires that made it to a local shop. They were recalled/reimbursed by the manufacturer for a marking discrepancy. Some distributor in Canada, rather than destroying, put them in a container and sold them to a UTS in the states.

Some UTSs buy up wheels/tires from custom wheel shops. Lots of new car takeoffs.

There's some real junk in used tire piles, but if you're cheap and have a good source for cheap mounting and balancing ($15 to $50 in my AO) it can be an economical way to keep good rubber on cars, especially cars that aren't aggressively driven, high speed, high payload where a failure would be a real danger.

The internet outlets that I named have brought a level of selectivity to used tire shopping. You can get exactly the model/condition you want if you have a little time. Like I said, the set I put on our Toyota this summer were all less than one year old date code, all 90-95% tread.

Outlets like Discount Tire and Sams have more control over where their trash tires end up, but around here all the "new" tire shops give/sell anything good to the used shops to save on the disposal cost that they already charged the customer.

If you buy at a UTS and it won't hold air or is bad when they mount it, you have some recourse. It's hard to look at a used tire and know if its any good, so it's risky to buy from some schmo on craigslist and take their word for it. The legit online outfits are pretty good making you whole if there is an issue.

Used tires are only good in an emergency, or perhaps for use as a full-size spare to replace a donut.

I look at it this way. Even if I buy new tires, by the time I drive them home they're used tires.

 

[nealberke]

Sometimes part of a set is EOL and the others are good. If owner buys a full set, the good ones end up at the used tire shop (UTS).

Some brands have a satisfaction guarantee within 90 days. Those tires go to the UTS.

Sometimes one or more get injured and can't be repaired, or the owner doesn't want patched tires. The tires, if repairable, end up at UTS along with the others.

Sometimes the owner wants to swap from a summer tire to all season or such. They end up at a UTS.

I think some road hazard warranties and wheel/tire warranties cover replacement of nearly new tires with new, rather than repair. Boom, UTS.

I'm aware of about 200 top name tires that made it to a local shop. They were recalled/reimbursed by the manufacturer for a marking discrepancy. Some distributor in Canada, rather than destroying, put them in a container and sold them to a UTS in the states.

Some UTSs buy up wheels/tires from custom wheel shops. Lots of new car takeoffs.

There's some real junk in used tire piles, but if you're cheap and have a good source for cheap mounting and balancing ($15 to $50 in my AO) it can be an economical way to keep good rubber on cars, especially cars that aren't aggressively driven, high speed, high payload where a failure would be a real danger.

The internet outlets that I named have brought a level of selectivity to used tire shopping. You can get exactly the model/condition you want if you have a little time. Like I said, the set I put on our Toyota this summer were all less than one year old date code, all 90-95% tread.

Outlets like Discount Tire and Sams have more control over where their trash tires end up, but around here all the "new" tire shops give/sell anything good to the used shops to save on the disposal cost that they already charged the customer.

If you buy at a UTS and it won't hold air or is bad when they mount it, you have some recourse. It's hard to look at a used tire and know if its any good, so it's risky to buy from some schmo on craigslist and take their word for it.

I've done used spare tire for a light truck. I'm concerned about the number of patches or plugs in the tire. I thought 3 was the limit before junking the tire. Sidewall repairs or damage. Tire age and nvisable damage to the belt package. For a low speed farm trailer or truck that's rarely on the highway I don't see a problem with used tires. Other than that, choose wisely.

 

[johnmyster]

I've done used spare tire for a light truck. I'm concerned about the number of patches or plugs in the tire. I thought 3 was the limit before junking the tire. Sidewall repairs or damage. Tire age and nvisable damage to the belt package. For a low speed farm trailer or truck that's rarely on the highway I don't see a problem with used tires. Other than that, choose wisely.

100% agreed on repaired tires. Most of the "legit" used tire outfits pressure test their stock, won't sell a tire with >1 repair patch/plug, and won't sell anything close to the sidewall. Beyond this you're risking internal damage, but again, the legit outfits would refund/replace if something was apparent.

I inquire on tire age before buying used. I don't buy old tires, discontinued models, or <75% new tread unless trying to match into an existing set.

These days with TPMS, I'm less inclined to believe a high tread premium brand used tire has been potholed at 70 mph at 10 psi and then resold. I'm more inclined to believe it got a puncture and the owner wanted to replace. I mean, I've had tires plugged early in life that have continued to live until tread bars indicated replacement.

Used tires not for everyone. Three of four sets of tires I currently have on the road were secondary market. I think 5 of the 12 have a plug. One showed up with a leaky plug and had to be replugged. Seller refunded that tire.

I wouldn't do it on a high dollar fancy new car but this thread is about being cheap. But I've hijacked this thread enough.

 

[jjf729]

Some Walmart options to consider:

Kumho Ecsta PA51 is $78.41

Nexen N5000 Plus is $71.98

Nordman Solstice 4 is currently $106.90 if you’re willing to spend a little more and get a solid all-weather tire.

 

[silveravant]

Sometime in the not too distant future I need to put new shoes on my Camry. Since it is just my to-and-from the city car at this point I am going cheap. Walmart has Armstrong Blu-Trac PC all-season and Crossmax CT-1 all-season tires for around $64 each. I am not expecting quality out of either but has anyone run either of these before? Did they make it 30k miles? Etc.

Any other cheap suggestions are appreciated.

Size would be helpful.

 

[FZ1]

Sometime in the not too distant future I need to put new shoes on my Camry. Since it is just my to-and-from the city car at this point I am going cheap. Walmart has Armstrong Blu-Trac PC all-season and Crossmax CT-1 all-season tires for around $64 each. I am not expecting quality out of either but has anyone run either of these before? Did they make it 30k miles? Etc.

Any other cheap suggestions are appreciated.

Suggest you buy the tires new and have them installed by the seller (Walmart). One call does all. Less aggravation.

 

[barkingspider]

You can get cheap tire at Walmart

 

[MParr]

Mastercraft Stratus AS