Need to order new tires

Sorry had many sets of Michelin never saw that problem

 

How long have you worked for Michelin?

 

I don't think we should be trading suspicions. First of all I fail to see how TireRack could be making more money off $58 RT43 than off $123 Michelin. 2nd they build good tires, but they are not the only game in town. If they decided to price themselves out so be it.

 

Since we're discussing tires, you will not believe my bad luck today.

I just bought a second set of four Conti True Contacts, this time for my wife's car. On the first day she drove with them, she ran over a sharp piece of metal that punctured the passenger rear tire at the edge of the tread by the outer sidewall. The tire could not be repaired. The tire had only 50 miles on it - tops.

To make matters worse, I didn't buy the road hazard warranty for these tires (or for the other four on the Prius). So, I had to buy a new tire to replace the new one! I had always bought the warranties in the past and rarely used them. This time, I gambled and lost.

So I thought, well, I'll just purchase road hazard warranties for the other seven tires and be done with it.

But noooooooooooo, this particular tire store only sells the road hazard warranty at the time the tires are installed! This was not
explained to me when they offered the warranty nor did I ask if I could buy the warranties later.

Fortunately, another tire store I've used previously (and never should have strayed from) offers road hazard warranties on tires
they don't sell. The price was a little higher but at least now I can relax until the next flat tire, which always seems
to happen on my wife's cars. She's had two non-repairable flats this year alone. Me? None for the last five years.

Always ask if you can buy the road hazard warranty later. I wish I had.

 

At least the tire set's brand new, so you don't have the dilemma of mixing new with a worn set.

FWIW, Costco always includes road hazard, no extra charge. The sun doesn't rise and set on them by any means, just saying.

Well, maybe it costs you $50 per year, lol.

 

Probably be accused of sexism, but if your wife is like mine, she gets in the car and pretty much, anything in her way, well.

Since I have known her (some 30 years) she has hit two dogs, a few cats, squirrels, countless birds. I always seem to be pounding the license plate on her car flat as she has somehow managed to mangle the front plate into all sorts of twisted shapes. And, yes, all the flats seem to be on her vehicles.

In my 45 years of driving I have hit one rabbit, one quail and a squirrel....I think I have had three flats.

 

Isn't $55 per annum now, Mendel?

I was not pleased with the Costco tire experience for two reasons:

1) Poor tire selection - only two tires offered - Michelin Defender or Bridgestone Ecopia 422 plus for my 2010 Versa and 2005 Prius.
2) The tire store personnel were the worst - unfriendly, argumentative, uncooperative, and more.
Good prices sure but that attitude! I could not buy into that another time.
More than one Costco was like that BTW.

I have always been penny wise and dollar foolish. Maybe my 60th will be the year I stop being so damn cheap!
Yeah, and monkeys will be flying out of you know where before that happens - LOL!

 

Yeah, that and more. Demolition derby describes her driving style and or ability. Every single vehicle she's driven except one the past 19 years has been dented or driven into a ditch at one time or another. Dented license plate? Check. Cracked windshield? Checkarooney. Trashed interior? Checkmate!

 

I've got warranties from TireRack in the past, but they only cover 24mo from purchase date. Won't help much if you bought and they were collecting dust for a while in garage.

 

Ah, don't remind me. I've started stalling about going to Costco, pretty sure our membership was up in September, don't really want to go in there for a 1.5 kilo bag of coffee beans and get charged around $15 PLUS $55, lol. Oh, but then there's the trail bars, and...

My last tire buying experience there was actually a nightmare, too:

Brought in 4 loose tire/rims, and ordered Michelin X-Ice. First off, they said it'll be ready at 1 pm. I come back at 2, wait 10 minutes while the sole counter person holds someone's hand, explaining tires basics to them. Finally it's my turn, and it's "oh, we better get on it". A half hour later they hand me my new rims/tires, all bagged.

I drive down the road, pull into Chevron to put a decent amount of air in, lay them all out, look at them, realize I'm seeing 3 rights and a left. Muscle them back in the car, back to Costco, stand in the line while the sole counter person...

I'll spare you the rest.

One thing, I had an epiphany about directional snow tires, just yesterday: at least with the Michelin X-ICE, there's only one tire, there's not lefts and rights. In other words: both faces look identical, same logos, imprints. It's just how you mount them on the rim, which direction, that makes them lefts and rights.

 

Not sure of Gen2 but on Gen3 42/38 was optimal for Energy Savers. Put more and they start loosing grip, and show classic overinflated wear.. I am surprised by Defender wear; our Gen3 needed 7 savers (one lost due to sidewall damage almost new) so basically 3 pairs to get over 180k

 

There seem to be a number of people who have liked the Ecopias. I'm thinking of getting them, they're at Costco for a good price. Would like to know people's experience with wet traction in these? I'm in Seattle and we're in the rainy season now. So I'll need new tires that are good in the wet from the time they hit the road (no time for breaking them in!). The tread didn't look particularly notable for wet conditions, but interested in first-hand knowledge. I'm used to driving Yokohamas, but in a Passat, which was a very different car (am also considering the Avid Envigors, although having a hard time finding them locally and don't feel like paying the substantial shipping cost from Tire Rack). Thanks.

 

See if you can find a local source for Nokian WRg3 tires. They are LRR and have great traction in wet/snow/ice conditions.

JeffD

 

Conti TrueContacts rated very well for wet conditions. You can get them from TireRack.com, TireSavings.com or from local Walmart. TireRack has a list of local installers, so if you mailorder from tirerack/tiresavings you'd need to use them.

WRG3 is great tire for cold/slash/wintery conditions, but Nokians are known to not last when it heats up. Consumers tested Entyre2 and found it wears alot faster than 80k warranty suggests. They estimated lifespan of 36k.

To Nokian defense they never expected someone would run their tires in Western Texas, which is very like not Findland at all good luck.