Low cost decent tires?

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My 2008 Altima needs two tires. Since I plan to sell it in no more than two years or 20,000 miles, I am looking for low cost tires that still provide decent performance. I also don't want to deliver worn out tires to the buyer.

I live in the mountains and do mostly highway and paved county road driving with some in the local town, and do encounter lots of hills and curves plus some gravel roads. We get about 40" of rain and some occasional snow, but in snow and heavy rain we take the 4WD Tacoma truck, so this car is more of a fair weather vehicle.

Walmart sells the Goodyear VIVA 3 for just $67 or half of what I normally spend for tires. The reviews on Walmart sites are surprisingly good with 70+% being four or five stars, mostly praising the quiet smooth ride. On other sites the reviews tend to be rather negative, claiming high wear and defects.

Would these tires be suitable for my needs? I am willing to spend more for materially better tires, but again don't need the best for my short time requirements.
 
I never tried Goodyear VIVA. Maybe the reviews are accurate?

Goodyear Integrity = NEVER again

Falken, Kumho and Hankook have been very good tires for a reasonable price.
 
I have Sentury UHP tires on one of my cars...similar situation, its a fair weather vehicle. They have pretty good grip and they were cheap thru Discount Tire
 
What tires are on there now? It could potentially have enough value to the future buyer to have matching tires to make it worth buying.
 
See if you can find a Hercules dealer nearby. Best tires I ever bought and not that expensive. Made in Ohio
 
Viva 3s are fine; I have a new one from Wal-Mart as a full-size spare in my '10 Sonata. You have Discount Tire stores in VA; these look OK, and are a couple of bucks cheaper yet: Hankook 724 They even have a rebate that makes them $50 tires if you go whole hog and buy four.
 
The Viva 3, or even Walmart's Douglas tires are OK. The Douglas tires are even US-made as well
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You may also want to consider an all-season with the 3-peak symbol like the Toyo Celsius or Vredestein Quatrac 5 if you get a decent amount of snow
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I have Viva 3s on a 2001 VW Bug that have about 35K on them and I have no complaints. Also have a set of Kuhmo TA11s on a Saturn Relay that have about 10K on them and no complaints with those either. Got both sets from Wal-Mart.

I also agree on the comment about Goodyear Integrity Tires. Never Again.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
General Altimax RT43


+1. Excellent wet and dry road traction. The best all around tire for the money I've ever owned.

Sam
 
My secretary planned to trade in her Subaru in a few months so she put on a set of cheap tires. The dealer then insulted her with a low-ball offer for her car, so (with my encouragement) she kept the Subaru for 200,000 - 300,000 additional Km. So she was stuck wearing out those not very good tires.

I was thinking of trading off my BMW over the next year or so, but it needed tires. Remembering what happened to my secretary I put on a good set of Michelins. When I test drove the likely replacement cars, I realized none of them compared to my BMW. Now 5 or more years later, I'm still riding on those good Michelins.

My suggestion is to buy good tires. You may end up riding on them for a long time. And if you do sell the car, good tires are a selling feature.

Tire Rack has some good charts which you can use to compare a number of tires that fit your car. Using those charts, you can optimize the features that are important to you, one of which might be price.
 
Tom,

Top Ten Lowest Priced Tires Although I think DT pays for that site but the reviews seem honest esp when they point out potential negatives with the tires. My recommendations on the list would be the Starfire RS-C 2.0 made by Cooper. My friend installs most sizes for $70 with that tire and his top choice for inexpensive tires that are decent.

The other one would be the Sumitomo Touring LS since it has a 85k treadlife warranty.

What are the other two tires on the car now and what tire size? Thanks!
 
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