Purchasing used car - tires mismatched - options??

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A 2001 Lincoln Continental I am buying. Comes with Cooper made Starfire RS-C 2.0 (225 R16) up front which are nearly new. The rear tires are factory original Michelins built in late 2000 - and dry cracked way too far - they almost look pitted. But still have decent tread at 40K miles...18 yrs old!

The rear tires are spent and will be junked. What to put on the rears? Another pair of Starfires ($75 each) to match the set?...and when those wear out as a group...replace with a quality set of 4. Starfires aren't exactly Grand Touring tires like Michelin Primacy MXV4. I've had 3 sets of Primacy and like them. The Altimax RT43 is another GT tire I wouldn't mind trying either. So what are the best options here? Is putting a different brand of tire on the back a bad idea? Note that with Front Wheel Drive the mfg recommends an X pattern when rotating tires. So any tire will spend time on both sides of the car.
 
If it were me, I'd just go with another pair of the Cooper tires in the back for now. When those tires wear out, you can rethink what tires you want all the way around.
 
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
A 2001 Lincoln Continental I am buying. Comes with Cooper made Starfire RS-C 2.0 (225 R16) up front which are nearly new. The rear tires are factory original Michelins built in late 2000 - and dry cracked way too far - they almost look pitted. But still have decent tread at 40K miles...18 yrs old!

The rear tires are spent and will be junked. What to put on the rears? Another pair of Starfires ($75 each) to match the set?...and when those wear out as a group...replace with a quality set of 4. Starfires aren't exactly Grand Touring tires like Michelin Primacy MXV4. I've had 3 sets of Primacy and like them. The Altimax RT43 is another GT tire I wouldn't mind trying either. So what are the best options here? Is putting a different brand of tire on the back a bad idea? Note that with Front Wheel Drive the mfg recommends an X pattern when rotating tires. So any tire will spend time on both sides of the car.



I just had the same situation. Call me cheap but I ran to the junkyard and got a similar back pair for just 75. I wanted to get a feel for the car and see if it was worthy of new tires. I got a year or 2 before I need tires now.
 
Shame you're not close to me-I still have the matched set of Michelins that came on my MGM, on the OEM steel wheels, with decent tread & no dry rot (I wanted alloys & GY Tripletreds for 4 season use).
 
If you think you'll be happy with Starfires all the way around, then match the two existing...but you'll be riding on them for a while! If you can't live with that, sell the 2 on CL and buy 4 you'll be happy with.

I've always been happy with private label Coopers.
 
No way to know if I'd be happy on Starfires all around. The worn out Michelins probably can't give a true feel what the 2 front tires are doing. I think the best 2 options so far are to get 2 more Starfires, or go with a nicer quality set of 4 and sell the 2 Starfires. Decisions...decisions.
 
I have those starfire tires on my camry... they are completely unremarkable and wear pretty good. Only notable thing is if it's raining and I'm on a painted line on the road they'll break traction.

You might be able to get four of these starfires on the upcoming DTD memorial day sale, and warehouse the last couple, or flip them on craigslist.
 
How do you plan to use this? CT doesn't get a lot of snow, but, right or wrong, if this is your winter beater, maybe just pony up and get decent A/S for all around, right up front.
 
Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
Trust me look for other place they tried to get by cheap. I hope you have the full service records on that car.


They could have just never rotated the tires and bought new ones when the old fronts wore out.
 
HTR A/S on my IS hind end. Like em, like the price for yours.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
Trust me look for other place they tried to get by cheap. I hope you have the full service records on that car.


They could have just never rotated the tires and bought new ones when the old fronts wore out.


Yup. The owner was 98 yrs old when the family or state took her keys away. No doubt they put inexpensive tires on at Walmart to make the car more saleable. They knew the car was going to be sold.

My usage is 6K miles all year round...primary daily driver. But we rarely ever drive in the snow. We just wait until the roads are clear. We're lucky if we get more than a dozen significant snow storms each year near the shore. So literally, almost zero snow exposure. I really don't like getting slush on the undercarriage...and avoided that for much of the past 7 years. Shouldn't be hard keeping that regimen up. And the odds are good the tires will dry rot/crack before we can wear them out.

Maybe I will sell the Starfires and get a 4 tire deal on the Altimax RT43, Michelins, or BFG GForce Comp A/S, Continental True Contact, etc...wherever the best coupon deal is. I checked Craig's List for Starfires in a 100 mile radius..and only 2 listings - for well worn ones. Not exactly a popular choice around here. Or maybe most owners take them to end of life. Ebay has nearly new examples of the right size/rating Starfires - $107 shipped to my door for a pair. Really doesn't matter if the owners never rotated their original tires - but I suspect they did since a major dealership inspected the car every year. The rear tires were evenly worn and with about 1/3 usable tread left...but of no benefit with all that dry rotting.

I got the full maint. history on this one, much of it via Carfax. I know the dealership and could probably get more data. It's a high end/affluent area dealership in my hometown of all coincidences. My dad bought 2 new Lincolns from them in 1997 and 2003...all services done by them too. I took that 1997 from 29K to 232K miles after my Dad passed. But, this Continental was major dealer serviced EVERY year which mean OCI's at 800-2500 miles. All the major mile servicings like 5K, 10K, 20K, 25K were all done in about half that mileage. So there's no doubt in my mind that fluids were kept fresh. And this was a short tripper type of car. Other than tires, it won't need anything but a brake fluid change. It passed state safety inspection in January and not due for emissions until summer 2019. Once at 20 yrs old...it will become emissions exempt...nice.
 
If I recall correctly, this car will need some work. It's perhaps not quite an absolute reliable ride yet.

I'd get the cheap tires, get the car fully running, be sure you want to keep it and it's worth keeping, then upgrade on a deal event (Black Friday, etc) and CL the others.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
FWIW - - - I have never had a problem mixing tires. Every vehicle I own currently has mixed tires.


Certainly good to know...thanks Linctex. Town Fair Tire is the best source I know since they beat anyone else's best price. And they do everything but the alignment/valve stems at no cost. Toss in a coupon/rebate and a great deal. Who knows they may have a pair of something or even a set they could deal on. Maybe they could even use the front tires and take those in trade towards a full set of 4?
 
If you decide to get 4 new tires check the spare if its a full size. If it is I would put one of the almost new ones on the spare rim.
 
Originally Posted By: CrAlt
If you decide to get 4 new tires check the spare if its a full size. If it is I would put one of the almost new ones on the spare rim.


These come with a huge trunk. And to do that you get the 60 psi "itty bitty" spare tire.
 
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