Western WA tyre stores (Tire Factory)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 22 2006, 12:37 PM) [snapback]336474[/snapback]</div>

Try a Les Schwab shop. They are ubiquitous but I have always had extraordinary service there. Call and ask if they will match TireRack.

 

Here is Les Schwab's store locator link. They are close to nearly all freeway off ramps. Several local Prius owners have found that Costco has good deals on high end tires.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Nov 13 2007, 07:17 PM) [snapback]539208[/snapback]</div>

I just bought the Nokian WR tires today at Tire Factory, but it was in Southern WA.

I would say they are Winter Tires with summer capabilities. They have the Snowflake emblem on the sidewall making them legal snow tires that may be used without tire chains when chains are required. The "summer abilities" comes from their low noise, low rolling resistance and 50,000 mile tread wear. I have heard the treadwear guarentee in Canada is 100,000 KM which is actually a little less, but everyone know that a kilometer is much harder on a tire than 1.6 miles is.

My first drive home today, the roads were dry, and they were fine for me. Handles much better. I wouldn't say they were excessively noisy. DIdn't notice any more noise than with Integrities, and my MPG looks to be about the same, but tomorrow morning will be a better MPG test, and it is supposed to be raining too.

They are supposed to be Low Rolling Resitance and I upsized mine to 195-60R-15, which have 860 revs per mile compared to Integrity's 855 revs per mile.

One thing you may want to be aware of is that they are in the midst of a tread design change from WR to WR-G2. I got the older version because that is what they had.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(skwimmer @ Oct 23 2006, 05:34 AM) [snapback]336687[/snapback]</div>

As far as I know, you will not find Nokian WR or Goodyear Tripple Treads or Comfortreads at Les Schwab. They are very good at Customer Service, but they push brands for which they are the exclusive dealer such as Toyo Tires as their premium brand. I don't have as much faith as I used to in Les Schwab.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Nov 13 2007, 08:22 PM) [snapback]539231[/snapback]</div>

Sorry, I thought I answered this a few days ago, but i guess my response didn't make the complete trip.

This is my first experience with Tire Factory, but I have no complaints so far. THer prices automatically include mounting ballance, life time flat repairs and tire Rotation with road hazard insurance.

If the store in Lynden is not convenient to visit for all your tire rotations, you may wish to ask them for any discount they would offer witout their tire protection package.

They must be OK, becuase they have a bunch of stores here in the Portland area, and there are plenty of other tire stores to choose, so if they were really bad, people would be going to the others and they would have to close.

 

Tire Factory is reliable. Most are independent dealers so the service level can vary. For example, I bought a set of Nokian WR for my wife's Subaru wagon 3 years ago at Kirkland, WA Tire Factory. Their service was good but they had no enthusiasm and didn't go out of the way whereas most recently I bought a set of WRs for my 2008 Prius, I had excellent service from the Tire Factory dealer in Everett, WA. They went out of their way and gave me a descent credit for the Goodyear Integrity tires.

I am a HUGE fan of Nokians with many trips to Mount Rainier and skiing in the Cascades, they are the best tires I have found. I really liked Michelin LTX when I had a VW Vanagon. I even put them on our first minivan. I also really like the Pirelli P3000 performed well in snow. But the Nokian's have amazing grip on sheets of ice.
They handle much better than the Goodyear Integrity tires.

Good luck,

Al