2010 Rav4 Sport tires - 235/55R18

[Brons2]

My GF's factory tires on her Rav4 are about worn out. She loves the look of the 18" factory wheels and tires, but it seems that the time has come to pay the piper. I have been looking around for decent replacement but haven't found much under $150 a tire.

I see that Walmart has Nexen CP521 tires for $119 each with free shipping to store. Are these tires any good, or are they just cheap Chinese junk? They also show free mounting, but lugnuts are $2.00 each?? LOL!

OK, so if I jack the car up on stands in my driveway and take the old tires and wheels over to Walmart, I can get the tires mounted, lifetime balance for $6.50 per, and road hazard for $10 per, with the tax on the tires, the total comes out to $581.27.

Well, I only have two jack stands, so I guess I have to go to Harbor Freight Tools and buy two more, so that takes away from the economy of the deal. And if I choose to just take the whole vehicle over there and pay the $2 per lugnut charge, the total comes to $621.27.

I see Discount Tire has Kumho Solus KL21 for $125 a tire, or $648.55 out the door. But wait, there's a $30 Visa card mail in rebate, and while I hate rebates, that would bring the cost to $618.99 if I also deduct the cost of a stamp. If these were made in S. Korea and not China, that might be interesting.

Open to any other recommendations...

The usage profile of this vehicle is easy going, daily 15 mile highway run to work at 65-70 mph. The tires are for looks, not for performance. If that makes a difference. Would like something that lasts longer than the OEM tires, as they have 38K and I really would have liked to have replaced them 3000 miles ago, but my GF doesn't have the jack, so it looks like I'll be buying. We want to take this car to Santa Fe, NM in August and it's about a 700 mile trip each way. I don't want to take the OEM tires with us.

 

[bepperb]

Why are you jacking up the car and taking the wheels off? They don't charge 2 bucks a lugnut unless you're missing them. At our WalMart, who actually has a decent tire area, it's 12.50 out the door and you don't have to dismount the wheels to get that price. The only reason I could see going through that dance is to get a size not original to the car, which I certainly wouldn't recommend on a car that isn't yours (or just to save a few bucks).

I don't think the 18" wheels are the problem. Big tires of any wheel diameter are expensive. The 16" wheels on my Highlander still had tires in the 125~175 range. Shopping tires for the van (which eats tires) will be around 150 a tire as well, 17'ers.

If you're already paying roughly 600 dollars to get any tire why you wouldn't spend 700 to get good tires is beyond me. I suppose this could be a lease or not a long-term car. Otherwise spending 10% more on "good" tires which could easily last twice as long is a no-brainer to me.

 

[bepperb]

If it were me I would try to get Discount tire to match discount tire direct's online price for the Cooper CS4's which I thought was ~160 and get out the door for a bit over 700.

 

[Brons2]

Why does Walmart say 'lug nut installation' in their charges then? Is that only for new lug nuts?

List of charges:
http://www.walmart.com/cp/Tires-Services/495845

 

[SteveSRT8]

If they charge per lug for install go somewhere else. There are TONS of tire places that want your biz.

 

[kkreit01]

Definitely go somewhere else. My guess is they charge $2/ea for new std lug nuts. Buying new tires does not warrant new lug nuts. They will want to sell you new valves/stems. I would buy a decent set for that vehicle. Go almost anywhere BUT Wal-Mart. Nexen are subpar. There's many good offerings in the $150-200 range. Yes, that's a lot of money, but good tires are that much now days -- especially in 18" sizes.

 

[bepperb]

Originally Posted By: Brons2
Why does Walmart say 'lug nut installation' in their charges then? Is that only for new lug nuts?

List of charges:
http://www.walmart.com/cp/Tires-Services/495845


I don't know why and I'm not really keen on getting into an internet debate about WalMart's service pricing. If you really want to know exactly what they are going to charge just call them. But no, they don't add another 40 dollars in lug nut fees to every order (at least in my experience).

The best part about calling them would be that you can get that aspect out of the way and concentrate on getting good tires for a decent price. In that size there are a lot of performance tires (which it sounds like you don't want since they would wear fast) and a few decent all seasons.

 

[Brons2]

I got the Kumho KL21s, like them so far.