When to Buy Tires?

[zmelli]

Wife's Car 1991 Accord 108K miles. Wife has Michelin MXV4 DOT 2014 tires on the car with 5/32nds tread, Car is garaged. Costco is running a rare free install on Michelins. Wife only puts about 3000 miles a year on the Car. I can get the Defenders or Primacys for arround $430 installed.

I can wait a year, however with all the FED printing and a possible supply chain breakdown or Shutdown, do you think Tires will skyrocket in price or go down.

Thoughts.

 

[Superflan]

What I'd do: since they're not under 4/32, I'd check the rubber condition. If mint, I'll run them down to 4/32 before changing, or right to 2/32 if rain isn't a concern. If those MXV4 dries, I'd bite the bullet and change them right now

 

[CharBaby]

With 5/32nds of tread and only ~3K mile/yr, Hmmmm!
Are the tires dry rotting or wearing funny(alignment issues)?

I'd save your money and keep the tires till they really need a true replacement. I mean, I just got rid of my Michelin Primacy MXV4 with 3-4 32nds of tread but, I live in a are that we experience different weather patterns.

They were still good enough for our upcoming summer and I could have waited but, I chose not to. Also, I'm doing 4x the miles/yr as your wife.

IDK, do what makes you sleep at night.

 

[CharBaby]

But, if you are definitely going to buy tires, here is a link to Discount Tire Direct for up to an extra $100(April 27 & 28) off of many(including Michelin) tires. I believe Michelin also has $70 rebate currently.

And there are even more monies from DTD such as opening their credit card and getting an additional $40 gift card with 6 months interest free payments as long as you pay off the tires by that 6 months.

$210 in savings off of the Michelin tires that you're considering.

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/...m_source=&utm_content=VIEW+PROMOTION

 

[Gebo]

My thought is to wait a year. Or at least until you need more.

I know I may be (and probably am) barking up the wrong tree but I have found that local tire dealers will match most any price
I show them and when I have had problems (and you will, even with Michelins) I got virtually no help at Sams or Costco but
the local dealer always got me the results I wanted. YMMV.

I love it when my Michelin's wear out before the warranty as I get fresh Michelins at a very fair discounted price. My local dealer
flat hooks me up.

 

[edwardh1]

costco here always includes the installation in the proce, and balancing

 

[zmelli]

After reading all your replies, y'all got me thinking. current Tires are wearing even, no cracks in the sidewalks. The car is garaged so UV damage is not a issue. I rotate the tires at every 3000mile oil change. Oil is cheap and maintaining my cars is a strange hobby that I have. I think that I may pass and give DTD a chance to beat the price in the future. Reason , Costco told me that I over rotate my tires! Costco recommends a 7500 mile rotation interval. Seems like a reason to deny a claim. I never heard of over rotation. I also mentioned that if a tire is property balanced at install that it is possible that the tires will not need any further re-balancing for the life of the tire. Costco was quick to argue with me even though I have on many occasions owned tires that had long happy lives one one balance.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

I'll buy that car from ya.

 

[Paul_Siu]

If you live in a climate with snow, you may want to get that replaced, some snow traction is lost after you dip below 6/32. Wet traction at 4/32. This is just general guidelines though from places like Tirerack. I am no tire expert. It's also hard to be subjective because your tire loses traction gradually. My wife did not realized how much traction was lost until she swapped out her tires.

If I were you, I would probably get the tire because it improves your safety and there is a sale. However, I err on the safety side of things. If you feel the tire hydroplaning in the rain, you may want to get it switch out.

Paul

 

[zmelli]

Originally Posted by Chris Meutsch
I'll buy that car from ya.

Yep it's a overbuilt car. I found it back in 2012 with 37K on it. 5-Speed trans, the owner was a little old lady from Santa Monica. She took it to the dealership for service every three months. I got the service records going back ten years, dealership was not able to print beyond that.

 

[lizpat]

I bought a set of Michelin Cross Climates for 80 bucks per tire (these tires are 135 at TireRack):

The seller is discounting all his tires.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-195-65R15XL-Michelin-Cross-Climate-Plus-95V-tire/233493687528?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

I figured this discount won't last so I went ahead with it even though my current terrible tires would probably go for another 10K miles.

 

[zmelli]

Originally Posted by lizpat
I bought a set of Michelin Cross Climates for 80 bucks per tire (these tires are 135 at TireRack):

The seller is discounting all his tires.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-195-65R15XL-Michelin-Cross-Climate-Plus-95V-tire/233493687528?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

I figured this discount won't last so I went ahead with it even though my current terrible tires would probably go for another 10K miles.


Interesting, I see that smaller shops may be forced to close shop and sell off inventory. What a terrible situation that this shutdown is causing.

 

[NO2]

In general:

5/32 if you are in or travel to a snowy area
4/32 for a rainy area
3/32 for the an always dry area.

Pricing will increase slowly because of lower demand offsetting money printing.

 

[zmelli]

Originally Posted by NO2
In general:

5/32 if you are in or travel to a snowy area
4/32 for a rainy area
3/32 for the an always dry area.

Pricing will increase slowly because of lower demand offsetting money printing.

ðŸ‘

 

[Dave9]

What I would do is let "most" (but not all, not till the rim is pinching it) of the air out of a front tire, and then look for cracks at the bulge. Often cracks on sidewall are not visible until they flex a lot.

However, I would go for a cheaper make of tire then replace them more often (if it needs to fit a budget) because at the yearly mileage they're seeing, they're going to rot faster than wear away. Fresh medium-quality tires beat 7 year old top notch tires with half the tread left. The exception to this is that deal for free installation, but paying over $400 for that small vehicle (okay not really small but wheels & tires were smaller back then too), is not necessarily all that great a deal. Okay but not great.