Tire Recommendation

I buy Michelins, same size, and get 90-100k miles, good ride, handling and reduced noise. They stay in balance and handle well. Buy at Costco and get the best installed price with their every other month sale and they include free rotation, balance and nitrogen for life. On my older 08 I sold the brand new factory tires and bought Michelins. On the 12 I waited until the factory tires were worn and went Michelin. I do not worry about rolling resistance and I keep the pressures at factory. Just rotate every 10k to 15k.

 

I believe the latest are Michelin Premier A/S. They do require a membership but you can go into their tire center for pricing without membership. The “sale” is usually a $70 rebate but Costco applies it immediately, not requiring forms, mailins, etc. If there is one close by, their gas prices are usually good as well. The store itself is interesting as it can save you on cell phones and many other deals. Supposedly, Costco won’t sell most general merchandise unless it is a deal.

 

Costco Canada has now switched to $70 gift cards.

Still not bad, but comes in the mail, sales tax not reduced, and obviously only redeemable in store.

If you don't mind waiting for less frequent mail in rebate, Kal Tire has dropped installation charges to match.

 

My gift card I managed to spend at the grocery store the next week minus $.23 i was willing to waste.

My only Michelin reasoning is:
1. I have been using them almost 50 years and on probably more than 30 very varied cars with no problems/failures
2. They are my safety link to the road. They rate high in the safety categories when tested.
3. They are available in the categories I want. LRR and A/S.
4. I tend to keep a car for 10 years so a high initial price and long safe tread life balance out.
5. I replace them at 5-6 years no matter the tread life left. Usually a lot.

 

I'm a Costco member, but I no longer buy my tires there because I find it's not convenient. I buy at Discount Tire which has a lot better service especially on the free rotations. I honestly can't imagine dealing with the congestion at Costco just to get a rotation. Of course all Costcos and Discount Tire stores aren't created equal so YMMV. If you aren't already a member of Costco I definitely wouldn't join just to buy tires.

 

No need to waste anything. Many gift cards "auto-drain" for the full amount and then the cashier will tell you your remaining balance which you can pay using a different method. At places where "auto-drain" doesn't work, you can tell the cashier to run the card for the exact amount of the gift card and then pay the balance with a different method. In the second case, you need to know the exact balance of the gift card before you pay.

And since we're talking Costco, Visa gift cards auto drain at Costco.

 

I'll pick up pennies off the sidewalk. I once collected $3+ in change that was dumped out of chairs and sofas outside my son's dorm as kids were moving out. (says something about entitled kids that it was just lying on the ground.) But I don't worry about auto-draining $.23. Inconsistent, yea. Aren't we all.

 

I get at least a couple of dollars every time I clean out the interior of one of our kid's cars. You've got to watch for it, as you're Hoovering up the petrified french fries, hair ties, wrappers, dental floss wands, drink bottles, ugh.

I leave it in the change thingy or on the dash. Hey, what are Dads for?

 

Sometimes you have to order the tires you want from Costco.

 

Tires often have to be ordered even from a local shop that carries the brand. My local store (5 times 4 tire sets over the last 8 years) had 6 outlets and the last time I went by they had a new store name on the sign. Same family was inside so I asked. They said that they weren't big enough for the tire suppliers to want to make deliveries and so they sold out, retained the real estate, rented it back and kept their jobs and were now part of a chain that was big enough that they would have a warehouse that tire manufacturers would deliver to and then the warehouse would redistribute to the individual stores. He said most of his business was in repairs and maintenance and little was tires and he could see the future of EVs needing so much less of that work. He was looking 10 years out.

With the variety of tires and sizes and capabilities available, who is going to be able to stock all those we might want. Consider for my vehicle alone, there must be 20 different tires I could order.

 

Hi Tony David,
I suggest going to a Toyota Dealer with a Service Department you can trust. Speak only to its Manager of the Service Department. Tell him you are shopping for the best deal on 4 new tires for your Prius and want to know how competitive he can be, what's included, not included, etc.
My experience was that the service manager provided 4 for the cost of 3 tires, oem, with labor, valve stems, balancing, etc included. He also included 100% warranty including labor. I had 3 blowouts/ruptures, 3 free replacements, due to where i live is "pot hole city"....also, these tires have 32K. on them now and wearing well, with rotation and balancing (free) when I get an oil change at each 5K.
April seems to be tire discount month at many Toyota dealers......

 

So your tires are 25.5" circumfrence, your speedometer reads high, a 205-55/16 would be 24.8" would real low, ideally you want a 25" circumfrence for a correct speedometer reading, ideally the 205-55/16 would give better road handeling and be safer.
Brand wise, Michelin Defender 117$ each at tire wrack. A 90,000 mile tire.

 

He's got a Prius v, stock tire OD is different I think. And, I wouldn't go varying from stock to correct a speedo: they're off by design. Changing diameter would mess up the odometer, "gearing", ride height.

 

@Tonydavid Tirerack does have Defender T+H, but I'm not sure how they vary from original Defender. The tread appears the same, but instead of "Green-X" they say "Total Performance". It'd be nice to get some straight answers from Michelin, as to what the different wording means, if anything. Also I think the treadlife warranty on the T+H is lower: does this mean a change, or did they just get tired of honouring warranty claims, lol. How about the Energy Saver A/S:

Tire Search Results

 

We put Mich Energy tires on our 2012 Prius V when the original ones (it came stock with the same tires) wore out at about 65K. I have zero complaints about them and will put the same tires on our new V when it needs them.

 

You can do much better than the Definity for about the same price. Look at the Continental Pro Contact at Discount Tire. The Discount Tire via eBay price was cheaper (+ 10% off eBay coupon when I priced them, and there is a 10% promo now). After rebates & promos, they were about $500 installed. They charged me tax, but don't charge tax in most states. The Continentals were top rated by Consumer Reports. The Michelins would also be a better choice.

Getting a tire with high rolling resistance can cost you more than the tires. LRR can save you a $100 - $200.

Costco vs Discount Tire for installation and rotation: My Costco was always overbooked. Discount Tire was fast and efficient.