Got some Arizonian tires put on the Taurus

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Apr 13, 2013
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FL, USA
I recently decided to start putting some money into the Taurus since we have now had it for nearly a year and we plan on owning it for a few years more. It does have it's fair share of problems, but it gets us from A to B without too much fuss.

The tires that were on it at the time of purchase were mismatched and the fronts were in need of replacement. Traction was also poor. I called around to get some price quote and went with Discount Tire. They were about $30 more than some local places but the tires they quoted are made by Cooper, which is a brand I'd trust over some Chinese knock off.

They put on 4 new Arizonian Silver Edition all seasons with a 60K tread wear warranty. They were finished with the job in around an hour but had a center cap crack due to "dry rot" which honestly I believe. They are ordering a new one for me.

I'll update when I pick up the car in an hour or so to comment on how they ride. On the old tires the car had a nasty vibration above 60 MPH. I HOPE that is gone.
 
I have a set of Douglas on order at Wal-Mart for my '02. They were $61 plus $17 per tire I believe for disposal and lifetime service. 40k tire, I'm a bit afraid the car may crap out so I'm not willing to pay for more mileage.

I gave up on DT after my last visit. Shame. I've bought about a dozen sets of tires from them.

Do you mind sharing what you paid?
 
Don't ever feel bad about spending money on tires or brakes. If you're going to use the vehicle or allow a loved one to use it then it's money well spent.

Let us know how the new rubber performs.
 
I have a set of Douglas on order at Wal-Mart for my '02. They were $61 plus $17 per tire I believe for disposal and lifetime service. 40k tire, I'm a bit afraid the car may crap out so I'm not willing to pay for more mileage.

I gave up on DT after my last visit. Shame. I've bought about a dozen sets of tires from them.

Do you mind sharing what you paid?
$540. Like I said, I called around to a few shops and prices were similar but with varying levels of tire quality.

My I ask why you are unhappy with Discount Tire?
 
I can't stand the price of tires right now. Dealer caught a bubble in one of my AT3 4S last time it was in. All 4 tires have 8/32" so I just had them move to the back.

In my size you can't spend less than $600, even on junk, and it just makes me sick.
 
I can't stand the price of tires right now. Dealer caught a bubble in one of my AT3 4S last time it was in. All 4 tires have 8/32" so I just had them move to the back.

In my size you can't spend less than $600, even on junk, and it just makes me sick.
It seems when prices go up-they rarely come down significantly.....

You are looking a $1,000.00 or more to replace tires on a pickup truck. Of course....if you own a pickup truck.....
 
$540. Like I said, I called around to a few shops and prices were similar but with varying levels of tire quality.

My I ask why you are unhappy with Discount Tire?
I currently have three vehicles with DT tires on them.

They failed to balance properly on my last rotate/balance trip and later I realized it was because one of the tires had developed a bubble which they should have caught. This was on a set of their house brand "Sentury" tires which lasted me 20k.

Next visit - I took two vehicles same day to them a few weeks back. One just needed rotating and balancing, there was a shake in one of the rear tires. Now it shakes on the front and no weights have been removed.

Vehicle two, had a shake and 3 leaking tires (yes, three) losing about 5-10 psi per week. Guy tried to blame it on weather even though I've been refilling them for about a year (vehicle is not driven much). I'd explain to him, and he'd just say "Ok" as if he meant "FU, get outta my face". I figure the beads weren't cleaned or prepped properly or maybe the valves are bad. No weights removed on that vehicle either.

So basically bad tires, no diligence, leaks, shakes and no fixing anything.
 
It seems when prices go up-they rarely come down significantly.....

You are looking a $1,000.00 or more to replace tires on a pickup truck. Of course....if you own a pickup truck.....
That's like when people told me I should buy Pilot Sports for my 911.

I mean yeah, it was a 911, but it was just a $14k beater and I didn't think spending 15-20% of the car's value on 10k mile tires would be an intelligent choice.

I paid $700/4 before installation for the Coopers. That same tire is now, for some reason, $1000/4.
 
The $44 tires I bought October 2020 are now $68. I almost bought used.
The tires on my pickup are 1/2 tread and 7 years old.

I'm thinking I'll try to get another year out of them. I don't do long trips towing with it ...

In it's current state it's not worth $1000 for a set of the lowest dollar Chinese tires.
 
Looks like mine weren’t recalled. Plus, if they were they wouldn’t have been on the shelf at DT. Good info regardless.
 
Next visit - I took two vehicles same day to them a few weeks back. One just needed rotating and balancing, there was a shake in one of the rear tires. Now it shakes on the front and no weights have been removed.
They balance using the Hunter Smartweight feature which minimizes the usage of weights. Bad news is that they don't balance the tires until the balancer says "OK," they are instructed to call it good when the balancer shows .25 remaining.

I can see this being a problem in some applications.
 
They balance using the Hunter Smartweight feature which minimizes the usage of weights. Bad news is that they don't balance the tires until the balancer says "OK," they are instructed to call it good when the balancer shows .25 remaining.

I can see this being a problem in some applications.
My Touareg is especially intolerant.
 
My 00 Cadillac Deville did not like these tires. Some annoying minor vibes on the highway. Even tried the RF balance. That was years ago. Maybe improved the tires by now.
 
My 00 Cadillac Deville did not like these tires. Some annoying minor vibes on the highway. Even tried the RF balance. That was years ago. Maybe improved the tires by now.
My only experience so far is from driving home from Discount Tire. I do feel slight vibrations at 70 MPH but nothing compared to before. I can't say if the vibration is from the tires or from the car. Very minimal and the improvement is so great I'm not worried about it.
 
One thing that bothers me about service facilities is that the people in the bay seem to think they're in some sort of a race. I don't know if the boss tells them that they can go home when they're finished but watching some youtube videos of how they operate at Discount Tire sort of scares me.

I don't want my oil changed in 10 minutes and I don't want my car tire just thrown on by some kid who is trying to impress his buddy. Haste makes waste... and comebacks for the shop.
 
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