2010 gen3- When to replace struts/shocks?

I have the old/young tire issue, in spades. Yearly kms now around 12000, plus the OEMs are off the car for about 5000 kms each winter, plus, while the car was purchased November 2010, the date of manufacture was August 2009.

OTOH, the car is garage kept, out of the elements, and at time of purchase it was similarly stored at the dealership (per my icon). Hopefully that improves tire life somewhat. I've looked them over very closely, seeing none of the micro cracking.

 

Should find something on Google or perhaps Nokian has a dealer locator on their website. If there is no dealer close to you, then I'd rethink the idea about buying them, you don't want to drive too far if you had an issue with them right.

They seem to do well in the US in the North East, North West and upper middle states, but like I said before, maybe they sell just the Ntire model in Texas... let me take a peek.... The best winter tires for northern conditions / Nokian Tires

There is a dealer locator thing on that page Alan

Roland

 

Nokians are kinda under the radar up here. I think they're exclusive to Kal Tire.

 

"...Getting killed is worse than having to dispose of a tire that still looks good to your eyes and wasting some money. ..."

Reminds me of the old Jack Benny skit:

Robber with gun to Benny, "Your money or your life!"
(Long pause)
Robber, "Well?"
Benny, "I'm thinking, I'm thinking!"

 

Dating yourself is safer than dating someone else!

 

Again, like Tirerack, primarily an online tire retailer, there is another US based online retailer that handles Nokian tires.

I recall a conversation I had with one of our mods here, who had bought a set of Hakka R2's I think they were, and had them shipped to Canada to have installed locally.

You guys get better prices on a lot of stuff compared to we up here.

Like Mendel says, Nokians seem more or less exclusive with one of our tire chains up here called Kal Tire.

I did a deal with them and had mine installed for a great price and you get lifetime free air, free rotations and balance etc. Actually everyone gets the rotation and balance stuff, but I got the set installed with all taxes and fees for under $550... normally these go on up here for well over $700

So, you could ask Tideland Prius about his experience with the online company, and install locally at your regular guy, or as I said, pass if you feel that you could end up on the hook if something goes astray. The Nokian company seems to be the culprit here as they don't want to go into the OEM rat race for low price, but they also seem to not think too much about huge retailers... they like more exclusive sellers. Don't ask me why, they do have a good product, and maybe it is easier to source them if you live in Europe rather than here in North America.

Just to bug you Alan, I'll share another interesting fact about these tires that should appeal to the Prius guy in you..... they seem to get even better fuel mileage in the rain than dry. And even if they don't, but I notice the average consumption drops, they don't suffer the way the other 3 sets of different tires I've had on the car did when driving in poor weather.

They are designed to reduce slush and water aquaplaning, and must do it very well indeed for me to find that there is no added resistance to a layer of water on the road surface.

Roland

 

I had the prior version of the defender on a Buick Park Ave., and liked them very much. Those tires, can't remember the exact Michelin name right now, were not god's gift to winter temperatures and conditions, but they did last and were quiet and comfortable.

Since you said you tend to pile on the miles, I'm sure they are going to be a good choice.

Roland

 

Aww! You spoil all the fun.

 

Good stuff Alan.

Hard to go wrong with Michelin tires. Nice when you get good quality new tires and almost find that you got yourself a new car out of the deal too.

Roland