Are you as confused as I am when it comes to searching for new tires for your car? There are so many different options and marketing buzzwords that really do not mean anything in the English language. It is tough to make sense out of any of the offers and to compare tires. Lately I have been doing some research online to see what tires fit my car and which ones are recommended for my own car. There is lots of marketing buzzwords to get to know. But it really comes down to price, how many miles they will go before needing replacement and whether they are good all year around or not.
Many / some retailers have their own special tires and this makes it even more difficult to compare. Should you just compare the tires or should you compare the services a retailer offers? These are all factors that consumers must take into account.
New Tires for Your Car – Price
Is price your main criteria, then you will care less about services such as warranty period, service from one store vs. many stores across the country.
Total Value vs. Price
I personally leaning towards the total price including basic services:
- Installation & balancing
- Valve stem
- Tire disposal
- Life time wheel balancing
- Tire rotation
I am less interested in extending the warranty. Tires are so good now that you seldom have problems unless you are a wild driver that drives at high speeds.
Type of Tire
I am also looking for a tire that is good in dry conditions, wet conditions and also in mud or snow conditions. I may install snow tires later on, however lately we have not needed snow tires on the car so all season tires are probably ok for my car.
Tires rated for my Car
The tires I am looking for of course must be rated for my car, the load and speed rating of the car and the recommended tire size and type for my car. When you go to the tire dealer they can quickly look up this information and confirm that several tires will meet these requirements.
Price vs. Total Miles Rating
Next it comes down to how many miles you should expect to get out of the tires that you purchase. You can go for low rated tires, say 40k miles for example and pay a lower price. However tires that are rated for 75k or 80 k can be as much as double in price but will last much longer and presumably be much safer on the road as well.
Our Choice
We are going to go for tires that are rated mud and snow, all season, with an 80k rating and a speed rating near the top of what is rated for our car. We are also going to go for tire balancing for as long as we own the car which will include tire rotation and we will not take the extended warranty or sidewall damage warranty. With my type of driving I am not too worried about needing this type of coverage.
Were you Buy
We can purchase tires in Canada or the US and it looks like that we will purchase the tires in the US this time. The reasons are:
- Sales tax of 8.75% vs 13%
- Tire disposal – $1.50 vs. $10.50
- Tire price – substantially less
- National provider – Looks like Walmart for the simple reason , they are almost everywhere.
We still have a few places to check prices, however the services and support are important for someone who travels a lot across the country. If you have other areas that we have not thought about please feel free to leave a comment. It will help me as well as our readers.
For more info about the right tires for your car, click here.
August 28th, 2012 on 7:03 am
my husband went to costco to buy his tires for our car. got a great deal including tire rotation for life. also nitrogen top up if needed for the tires each time he brings it in. sounds like a good deal to me