Costco.com - Shop for Tires When you factor in everything (price, MPG, expected life-span of the tread, road performance) which is the best overall choice for my 2008 Prius? Michelin - X Radial ($118.99) BFGoodrich - Premier Touring ($81.99) Bridgestone - Turanza EL400 with Uni-T ($83.99) Bridgestone - Insignia SE200 with Uni-T ($74.99) Two points worth mentioning: I live in central Pennsylvania There is currently a $70 instant rebate on 4 Bridgestone tires If the more expensive tires only give me a teeny-tiny advantage, I probably won't bother. But if an extra $50-$100 means an extra year (or more) of lifespan, that's worth considering.....
None of those tires are great tires. Why the requirement to buy them from Costco? The prices online at TireRack are slightly better, you have to pay for mounting and balancing at Costco, and you have to pay sales tax at Costco, which makes up for some of the shipping from TireRack. Using TireRack opens you up to a lot more options too. For instance, these are the tires I had put on our Prius and they are great, smooth & quiet, great grip, no MPG hit: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...ta&autoYear=2008&autoModel=Prius&autoModClar= And they're only $64 a peice.
I went with the Michelin - X Radial for my 2008 because that was the only tire they had in stock. The result was a MUCH smother ride and MUCH better handeling. The downside was a floating feeling, probably due to more flexing in the sidewall. The mpg will take a hit, until the tires break in. After about 2 k miles i suspect I lost 1 to 2 mpg over the Goodyears. I will buy the same tire when the 2010 Prius needs new one's.
You should have hit Costco up 3 weeks ago. They had that $70 sale on the Michelin Energy Savers'. Mine will be arriving ths week. SW03ES also has a good idea. They were my second choice for tire vendors!
IMHO its the best way to buy tires. You know you're getting the best price, you pick a good reputable installer to receive them for you, mount balance & align. All the stats and surveys are right there. They also do all the manufacturer's sales. So if Costco has $70 off Michelins for example...they do too.
America's Tire and Discount Tire are also good alternatives, at least in the western, southwest, midwest, and southeast areas of the US where they have bricks & mortar outlets. I use TireRack as a reference price source, and have found that both America's Tire (in southern CA) and Discount Tire (in Arizona) will match their prices incl. shipping, upon request. If you buy tires at Costco, you are not limited to the tire models that are on display. You can order any model made by the tire brands that Costco sells. It is true that you have to pay sales tax at a bricks & mortar retailer, but usually you get "lifetime" balance and rotation which you will not get if you buy tires from TireRack and have a third party install the tires. I rotate tires myself because I find this is easier than going to the tire store and waiting around for this to be done. However it is nice to have the balance service available at no charge, if you decide this is needed.
A couple of more advantages to B&M. If you get a defective tire, it's the tire stores problem and you don't have to ship it back. I bought a set of tires at my local America's tire and I didn't like the way they handled. After about 200 miles I took them back and got a no-hassle full credit against a better set of tires. I have used Tirerack a couple of times when I couldn't find what I wanted at America's Tire. They are a good company but I prefer one stop shopping and problem fixing.
To each their own, I've never had an experience with TireRack I wasn't 100% happy with. Costco on the other hand, nanny's you about speed ratings and such, has a limited selection, doesn't do alignments and when I had tires put on the Prius there they used clip on weights and then snapped the trim rings back on so they stuck out.
Easy there fella....:mod:I am on my second set of Goodyear Comfortreads and I bought them from Tire Rack! The Michelins I had lasted 65k miles and they were 80k mile tires. My last set of Comfortreads lasted 91k miles and they were 80k mile tires too. So, since they are comparably priced, I feel much happier with the Goodyears going forward. Check Costco and see if they will order them for you. If not, many of the local Goodyear stores in PA will match Tire Rack's price. My local Goodyear dealer did it for for wife's MDX in southern PA. Its worth a try and they were offering $60 back on a set of four.
That, is pretty much a given! My Michelin Energy Savers' will be installed Monday at 10 Followed by an Alignment at Toyata at 12:30 A nice Detailing at 3 Margueritas at 5! Love Vacation Day Mondays!!!
That is one of the reasons I'm gonna go with Costco. The cost of one tire rotation isn't a ton of money, but you do that every 5,000 miles for the life of the tires.... that will probably add up to more savings vs. getting a lower price on the tires themselves. Costco.com - Shop for Tires
My local Costco quoted me a price of $586 out the door for Michelin X tires. This just doesn't seem to be a deal to me, especially for small tires. I'm not even sure how they came up with that price, if the tires cost $118.99 each, $15 disposal fee each, 8.75% tax and $15 installation fee. It's not adding up.
Bridgestone Potenza GIII with 17" rims. YEEEEEE. Buy from Firestone (price match) and get free tire rotations. Thats how I roll.
