purchasing new tires

[markbdevil]

I need to purchase 4 new tires for a 2007 Toyota RAV4 Sport. Any suggestion on brands, installers, etc...? Any brands I should definitely avoid?
Thanks.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

I bought a membership at Costco specifically for buying tires (ended up going with Michelins for my RSX). It was still a better price than any competitor even when factoring in the year membership. Also, they rotate for free.

TireRack.com has some good research tools, reviews, etc.

[allenmurray]

Costco does have excellent prices on tires. However, they only sell upper end tires. If you are going to buy a high quality tire Costco is hard to beat. However, you can't get a "discount" or even a mid-priced tire there.

There is a local chain here in Durham I've had good luck with called "Just Tires". For our family "highway" car I buy tires at Costco. For my around town junker (a 94 Volvo with 220K on it, I but cheapies from Just Tires.

[fuse]

Your tires are what connects your car to the road.
Don't go cheap if you can afford a good tire. Expect to spend $600-$1000.

Lots of things to consider- the treadwear rating (runs from 200-400+, not standardised across brands, so a relative rating) and the UTCG rating- look for an "AA" rated tire if you find one that fits your needs.

I'm guessing you will want an all season tire. Michelin, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Continental and Dunlop all make good tires. An H or V speed rating is probably more than enough, and the higher the speed rating, the less mileage you will get from your tires.

Finding a good shop to mount and balance and do a good alignment are also important.

You did not mention 4wd or 2wd for your RAV4. Some guesses for you:

Continental DWS
Pirelli Scorpion

Tire Rack is a good place to start your research. Good Luck!




-g

[hurleyfor3]

Make sure to ask if the tires are in stock!

I had to get new tires for a vehicle similar to the OP's recently. You most likely do NOT need "LT" tires if you don't do a whole lot of off-roading or carrying heavy cargo. "P" tires are fine if that is what Toyota specifies. You also do not need to go above the original speed rating. My old 5-liter Mustang took V's; I seriously doubt a Rav4 needs them.

You do not need the "road hazard warranty" or whatever it's called that typically adds $20-30/tire. You DO need balancing, and should probably check the alignment especially if you think it may be off. An alignment will probably run another $70-100 (the place may check it for free if you're buying tires from them).

Most places will give you free lifetime rotation at any store in their chain -- for example, buy tires from a Goodyear shop and you can get them rotated at any other Goodyear shop. Just save your receipt. In the Western US there's a chain called "Big O", which is my favorite name for a tire store. After all, big O's are what tires are!

I ended up spending around $600 all in for name brand all-seasons. Most places I talked to were around the same price, and the el-cheapo brands weren't a lot cheaper. What sold the deal was having the tires in stock and installed the same day.

[weezie]

TireRack.com has some good research tools, reviews, etc.


Just did this yesterday. Good deal.

[dukestheheat]

I need to purchase 4 new tires for a 2007 Toyota RAV4 Sport. Any suggestion on brands, installers, etc...? Any brands I should definitely avoid?
Thanks.

...the Kumho brand. I have them on a Saab we own and have gotten a lot of life out of them. Now, they 'claim' that Kumho is a 60,000 mile tire on tread life, but I haven't seen that, even WITH regular rotations and maintenance. And, they also 'claim' that Michelin gives a softer, smoother ride (versus Kumho), and I haven't seen that, either!

bottom-line: I do like Kumho tires.

dth.

[DukeFan83]

Costco does have excellent prices on tires. However, they only sell upper end tires. If you are going to buy a high quality tire Costco is hard to beat. However, you can't get a "discount" or even a mid-priced tire there.

There is a local chain here in Durham I've had good luck with called "Just Tires". For our family "highway" car I buy tires at Costco. For my around town junker (a 94 Volvo with 220K on it, I but cheapies from Just Tires.

I agree. Costco does sell the higher end tires, but you cannot beat their price on them. You also get a free rotation. I've had decent success with Discount Tire Barn, but they will put the cheapest tires on there if you don't mention otherwise. They also have a good replacement policy. Avoid Wal-Mart, but wasn't that obvious?

[DukeFan83]

So I straight up have a weird question. We've had to live through Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Terrific Tuesday and all the rest. The sales have been okay, but I was wondering if tires ever go on sale like other products? I mean, like a BIG sale like electronics or something. Any thoughts?

[DukeUsul]

...the Kumho brand. I have them on a Saab we own and have gotten a lot of life out of them. Now, they 'claim' that Kumho is a 60,000 mile tire on tread life, but I haven't seen that, even WITH regular rotations and maintenance. And, they also 'claim' that Michelin gives a softer, smoother ride (versus Kumho), and I haven't seen that, either!

bottom-line: I do like Kumho tires.

dth.

I've read very bad things about the lower end Kumhos. Now I did put the higher-end Kumho Ecsta ASX line on my Audi and they've been very good so far.

[hurleyfor3]

So I straight up have a weird question. We've had to live through Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Terrific Tuesday and all the rest. The sales have been okay, but I was wondering if tires ever go on sale like other products? I mean, like a BIG sale like electronics or something. Any thoughts?

About all I see is "Buy 3 get the 4th free" deals. Many stores regularly ran ads in sports sections of newspapers, but no one reads newspapers anymore.

I think the market for tires is pretty efficient. There are some differences form store to store, but it is easy to shop around and most buyers have some time to do it -- you usually don't need a set of four right this very minute -- and there are lots of sellers. What I paid a couple weeks back was not out of line with my other experiences over the years, adjusted for, um, inflation.

[elvis14]

I used to drive sports cars and go through lots of tires. As others have said, Tirerack.com is a good place to start. You can see lots of reviews and pretty quickly get an idea of what's available for your car at the various price levels. Some companies will price match them (plus a charge for installation and shipping). Locally, I've had better luck with Discount Tire than with Just Tires. Discount tire has done a better job of helping me pick appropriate tires, has price matched TireRack,


I've read very bad things about the lower end Kumhos. Now I did put the higher-end Kumho Ecsta ASX line on my Audi and they've been very good so far.

When I used to use Kumho Ecsta's on my WRX I read several reviews that said the tires would be pretty good but that they didn't get bad gradually. They be pretty good then just be done. Sure enough that's the way it went with mine. About the time I realized they were wearing down, they were suddenly terrible and had to be replaced.



You do not need the "road hazard warranty" or whatever it's called that typically adds $20-30/tire.

I'm going to disagree with hurleyfor3 (despite his great username) on this one. I get the road hazzard warranty with my tires and have used it several time to get replacement tires. It has saved me hundreds of dollars through the years. I've used it at both Discount Tire and Just Tires.

[dukestheheat]

I've read very bad things about the lower end Kumhos. Now I did put the higher-end Kumho Ecsta ASX line on my Audi and they've been very good so far.

....about the low-dollar Kumho's? (and the ones I put on went for about $125 a tire so break this news to your buddy DTH gently, my friend, gently.....). Hopefully, they won't explode or turn the Saab into the Batmobile or anything like that? Thanks!

dth.

[budwom]

Several tire thoughts:

Yes, tires do go on sale, and there are good deals to be had on good quality tires. (I don't believe in getting low-end tires as I'd like to live to see a few more Blue Devil seasons).

DEFINITELY make sure you look at the date code stamped on the side of each and every tire. I believe it shows the month and year of manufacture, e.g. 1207 = December, 2007.
This matters because SOME (even high end) dealers and distributors have tires lying around in inventory for years, and there is ample evidence that it is a good idea not to use tires that are more than six years old. Sure, lots of us have gotten away with that (moi, aussi), but regardless of tread, tires that old often start to develop sidewall cracks and other maladies. (ABC News had a report on this a month or so ago, and I discussed it with a young guy I know who is a Michelin engineer in South Carolina....he heartily agrees).

I verified this when I looked at the date codes on some very high end Nokia snow tires we have. Two of the four I bought were two years old. This is perfectly fine for me as well use and discard the tires in 3-4 years.

The point is that "new tires" aren't always new tires. And depending on how fast you use up tires, this can be important information.

[hurleyfor3]

I verified this when I looked at the date codes on some very high end Nokia snow tires we have.

Nokia snow tires? And when you're stuck in the snow, they'll call 911 for you!

Google tells me the brand you probably mean is Nokian. Had never heard of the brand before.

[Reisen]

I'm not sure why so many people in this thread say "Start with Tire Rack".

Why just "start"? Tire Rack always has some kind of great closeout or deal on tires, at least for my BMW they have. I've ordered through there dozens of times, including for my sister's SUV, my parents X5 and X3, my 3 series, and my wife's old Nissan Sentra. Never have I found a B&M place that was price competitive, nor one that would price match. Not saying that doesn't happen, especially with a warehouse club, but Tire Rack is pretty much the Amazon.com of tires, and, if you're open to a couple makes/models, you usually will find the best deal there.

Also, $125 a tire is not what I would call cheap, especially if they were on sale/closeout. $65 or $80 is cheap. Which Kumho did you buy, DTH? If they were well reviewed on TireRack, you'll probably be fine.

[budwom]

Nokia snow tires? And when you're stuck in the snow, they'll call 911 for you!

Google tells me the brand you probably mean is Nokian. Had never heard of the brand before.

Well, I guess you're a relatively young person who lives south of New England? :)
Nokia, the conglomerate, made a zillion snow tires (tyres) before they made their first cell phone...before anyone made the first cell phone...and they still make them in Nokia, Finland, hence the original name of the tires...subsequently they changed the tire name to Nokian, but old farts like me still remember who they were.

You may never have heard of the brand, but in 2008 they were the most profitable tire company in the world, based on profit as a percentage of sales. Anyone who lives in the North Country knows of their famously excellent snow tires.

I think the companies may be separate now, but everyone still refers to them as Nokias...their Hakkapelliitas (spelling) are the best snow tires I've ever had...and they have a number of other offerings which are very good, such as snow tires with somewhat less aggressive tread which are therefore quieter for year-round use. They also have summer tires...but I imagine they'd be hard to find south of the Mason-Dixon line.

[hurleyfor3]

Well, no I didn't know Nokia (or a predecessor company) really does make snow tires, and I've spent most of my life in places that get decent amounts of snow, including New England. I never doubted you knew what you were talking about, though.

[budwom]

Well, no I didn't know Nokia (or a predecessor company) really does make snow tires, and I've spent most of my life in places that get decent amounts of snow, including New England. I never doubted you knew what you were talking about, though.

I'd say that for about the last 20 years, they've had the biggest marketshare up here for snow tires....really good tires. But they don't do much business in the more southern climes....saw on their web site that they do cater to northern markets, e.g. northern US, Canada, northern Europe including Russia, Belarus, etc...

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Another point for Costco - not only do they rotate and balance the tires for free every 7000 miles for the life of the tire, but you get free road hazard warranty included with the tire so if it is damaged beyond repair (or if the nail you run over is in the outer part of the tread where they won't plug it) you get a pro-rated replacement at any Costco nationwide. Also, they fill the tires with nitrogen at no additional cost. Nitrogen doesn't heat up when you run the tires (especially in the summer on hot pavement), so the inflation pressure doesn't vary as much as your drive, which is supposed to improve tire life and handling.

They only sell Michelin, Bridgestone and I believe a few BF Goodrich tires. They alternately have $70 off coupons for Michelin and Bridgestone when you buy a set of 4 tires; right now it's for Bridgestone. Personally, I'd wait for the Michelin's to go on sale, but that's just me.

[Jim3k]

I'd say that for about the last 20 years, they've had the biggest marketshare up here for snow tires....really good tires. But they don't do much business in the more southern climes....saw on their web site that they do cater to northern markets, e.g. northern US, Canada, northern Europe including Russia, Belarus, etc...

Supporting Budwom, a Yahoo search revealed that there is a Nokian discounter who ships for free. (Guess you'd have to pay someone to mount them, etc.) I think it is against DBR rules to post such a link, so I won't, but it was easy to find.

[allenmurray]

My wife needed new tires for her car (which is our main family road car). We put good tires on it (as oppopsed to on my old junker). After a fair bit of research as to what we wanted, we then did our price research. The best price? Not a tire dealer, not Costco, but at the local Chevy dealer. Ordinarily we wouldn't have even thought to get tires there, but she had the car there anyway to have the struts replaced (free since there was a service bulletin out) and asked about tires while there. Better price on the same tire, with free rotation for the life of the tires and a free road hazard warranty as well.