New pair of Antares Comfort A5 A/S

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JTK

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Aug 14, 2003
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Buffalo, NY
I just picked up a pair of these through Walmart online and had them shipped to my local store in 225/65-16 size for our 2016 Nissan Quest. They're made by Horizon Tire Co out of China and with installation and tax, I'm at $164.25 all-in.

This was the first time I mail-ordered tires thought Wally online and had them shipped to the store. The tires seem great so far, as was the actual install, but it wound up being a bizarre experience for me all around.

Firstly, I was charged twice for the transaction on my charge card, that neither Walmart .com or my local store could explain or resolve. I had to dispute it through my CC company, which was quick and easy, but hasn't happened yet. The second issue was, when I went to the store with my order number and "ready for pickup" notice, they couldn't find my tires. At one point they had 2 employees and a manager involved. After about 45min of me standing there and other customers getting ahead of me, they finally found ONE of my tires on a cart full of miscellaneous tires that were dropped off by FedEX. They were able to grab another exact tire from someone else's order to make me whole, but wow!

I'll post back after we put some miles on these tires. They're a huge difference compared to the well worn Goodyear Assurance that were on there, as one would expect. Super smooth and quiet.

I just wanted to share my experience here, but at the end of the day, I figure I only saved about $40 over buying no-names locally. Was it worth it? Meh.. maybe.
 
Just put Michelin's on the wifes Explorer. Was going to go with Costco as the price was lower but let Discount Tire beat them. I have a great track record with DT, so why change if I'm happy with the company?
 
It's always interesting to read of the differences with chain stores.

In the past month I've ordered 2 sets of tires from Walmart, ship to store and installed them there. Everything went very smooth and I got great tires at a great price. I'd use them again in a heartbeat.
 
^ Given the number of tires on the 'ship to store' cart, it looks like my local Wally does a LOT of it. I'm sure my experience was a fluke and they apologized up/down about it. It's just something that can happen given the extra steps in the transaction I guess.
 
Update on the the Antares.

Shot at 8 months and ~17K miles! That is an all time record for me. For what ever reason the front right was right down to the wear bars and the front left, just a hair away!

Disclaimer, I never rotated them and we did take a [censored] ride from Buffalo to S.Florida and back 2 months back and were loaded down with passengers and gear.

Alignment could be off, but the handling and driveablility doesn't reflect it. No evidence of a shot strut(s). Currently at just over 60K miles on the van.

I replaced them with a set of Mastercraft LSRs to the tune of $270 all-in. Ugh..

Put the new Mastercrafts on the back and shifted the Goodyear assurance comfort treads to the front that have been on the van since we bought it.
 
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17k in 8 months is probably mostly highway miles, which are easier on tires. Too bad you couldn't wait for the upcoming 4th of July sale at DTD
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
I replaced them with a set of Mastercraft LSRs to the tune of $270 all-in. Ugh..

Put the new Mastercrafts on the back and shifted the Goodyear assurance comfort treads to the front that have been on the van since we bought it.


Those should work out well. Made by Cooper which is headquartered here in Ohio. The van might get 60k out of those tires.

https://tirereviewsandmore.com/mastercraft-avenger-touring-lsr-reviews/

 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
17k in 8 months is probably mostly highway miles, which are easier on tires. Too bad you couldn't wait for the upcoming 4th of July sale at DTD
smile.gif



Oddly, the only long highway cruise was the Florida trip. We live in a rural-ish area and the van sees seemingly non-stop kid hauling duty with very few trips exceeding a 30 mile round trip. I am disturbed by the rate of wear on those Antares Comfort A/S and will be keeping a close eye on the older Goodyears that are currently up front.

The Antares exhibited no noise or harshness and the wear was pretty even and consistent across the profile. They were kept aired to door jamb specs. All I can figure is they're not made for the weight and duty of a minivan?

What really blows is I could have saved about $60 all in by ordering the Mastercraft LSRs through Walmart and having them install them. They had some Coopers for even less than the Mastercrafts.
 
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Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
17k in 8 months is probably mostly highway miles, which are easier on tires. Too bad you couldn't wait for the upcoming 4th of July sale at DTD
smile.gif



Oddly, the only long highway cruise was the Florida trip. We live in a rural-ish area and the van sees seemingly non-stop kid hauling duty with very few trips exceeding a 30 mile round trip. I am disturbed by the rate of wear on those Antares Comfort A/S and will be keeping a close eye on the older Goodyears that are currently up front.

The Antares exhibited no noise or harshness and the wear was pretty even and consistent across the profile. They were kept aired to door jamb specs. All I can figure is they're not made for the weight and duty of a minivan?

What really blows is I could have saved about $60 all in by ordering the Mastercraft LSRs through Walmart and having them install them. They had some Coopers for even less than the Mastercrafts.
CapriRacer says front tires wear at 2.5x the rate of rear tires they probably would have gone 30k if kept rotated. Which on a minivan isn't too bad.
 
I NEVER advise people to get tires or service at Walmart.
They sell cheap tires that wear out fast and have poorly trained people.
And Walmart tires aren't backed by the manufacturer.
If you have a problem, you MUST deal with Walmart.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
I just wanted to share my experience here, but at the end of the day, I figure I only saved about $40 over buying no-names locally. Was it worth it? Meh.. maybe.


So, was it worth it? I guess you need to wait until the new tires wear out, and then compare cost/mile.

I've been buying DTD for the last few sets, and I think I just got my first bad tire--so I think I'm ahead. [Tire went out of round after 27k.] Can't find my "certificates" but I'm pretty sure I didn't buy them for this set.
 
Originally Posted By: ENGINEER60
I NEVER advise people to get tires or service at Walmart.
They sell cheap tires that wear out fast and have poorly trained people.
And Walmart tires aren't backed by the manufacturer.
If you have a problem, you MUST deal with Walmart.


YOu can have poorly trained technicians at any shop, including dealership.

Yes, they do sell lower tier brands, but they also sell a BITOG favored brand, General. General is nice enough to Walmart to give them an exclusive tire for them to sell.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: JTK
I just wanted to share my experience here, but at the end of the day, I figure I only saved about $40 over buying no-names locally. Was it worth it? Meh.. maybe.


So, was it worth it? I guess you need to wait until the new tires wear out, and then compare cost/mile.

I've been buying DTD for the last few sets, and I think I just got my first bad tire--so I think I'm ahead. [Tire went out of round after 27k.] Can't find my "certificates" but I'm pretty sure I didn't buy them for this set.


Given I only got ~17K miles out of them, these Antares weren't worth it for me. I think in a smaller/lighter vehicle they would be a better fit. I have nothing against Walmart for tire purchases and service and have gotten great service out of Douglas tires from them, but I've never used them on our vans since Douglas wasn't offered in those sizes.

I'm still a bit miffed that it cost me about $30/tire more at my local mom/pop tire shop for the Mastercrafts than it would through WalMart, but the Mom and Pop shop had them in stock, where I would have had to order them from Walmart. I didn't have the time to wait unfortunately.

I've ordered wheels from DTD and had a decent experience, but for tires, I'd have to have them mount/balanced at $15-20/tire if you can find a shop to do it. I have no DTD stores locally.
 
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Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: ENGINEER60
I NEVER advise people to get tires or service at Walmart.
They sell cheap tires that wear out fast and have poorly trained people.
And Walmart tires aren't backed by the manufacturer.
If you have a problem, you MUST deal with Walmart.


YOu can have poorly trained technicians at any shop, including dealership.

Yes, they do sell lower tier brands, but they also sell a BITOG favored brand, General. General is nice enough to Walmart to give them an exclusive tire for them to sell.



They have a General tire that has exactly the same specs as the General HTS-but the tread is different.

The post by ENGINEER60 is right-if it's exclusive to Walmart you must deal with them. Of course there are Walmarts just about everywhere....don't see a downside to that.
 
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