New Tires for My Buick

[Milkman]

Hello All,

I am looking for some insight from the combined BITOG "Library of Knowledge and Experience"

I am going to need to buy a new set of tires for my 2004 Buick LeSabre. (Size 225/60/16)

I currently have Cooper Lifeliner SLE tires on the car. They have about 38000 miles on them and are evenly worn to about 2 1/2 32nds. These came with a 70000 mile treadlife warranty. The Cooper Dealer that I bought them from says that he can't warranty them as they aren't to the tread bars yet. However, my wife will be using the car to take my daughter "College Shopping" in the next few weeks. I don't like the idea of them going out with tires on their last legs.

My question is this: A local Michelin dealer quoted me a price of $476 (out the door) for a set of Michelin Symmetries. The Cooper Dealer quoted me a very similar price for another set of Coopers.

The Cooper dealer really has left a bad taste in my mouth, but he claims that his hands are tied.

What do you think ?

Many Thanks

 

[WMSmotorhead]

The Michelin Syms are not that great. I've had them put on a town car, and a Focus... and they lasted mediocre. Usually Coopers wear like iron (and the wet grip is weak)... I'm going back for Hercules (by Cooper) tommorow. I'm almost to the tread bars and it's easy to get a nail at this point.

 

[spasm3]

I hear good things about the Michelin hydroedge. Its a 90,000 mile tire.

 

[sciphi]

What a scumball of a dealer. I'd avoid that place at all costs.

I've been thrilled with the Pirelli P4 Four Seasons on my Buick. They're comfortable, grip amazingly well in all conditions for an all-season, need real effort to make hydroplane, and have worn like iron. At ~70k miles, they look like they're good for their 85k mile treadlife warranty.

 

[scurvy]

Hate to say it, but the tire dealer is right - they can't warranty your tires until they're legally worn out. Down to the wear bars is what they're looking for. Not that they shouldn't be able to do you some favors as far as measuring the tread depth and possibly round it down, either...

I would look over the tires very, very carefully to find any single spot where they are down to the wear bars. It would be silly to suggest you pump them up to 45 psi and do some panic stops or burnouts but that would certainly hasten that last 1/64" to come down.

I would expect your Cooper dealer to work with you if they want your continued business, especially if you explained the college shopping family trip to them. Personally I got my tires at Costco and enjoy getting them to rebalance & rotate my tires at my leisure (since I'm there at least once a week anyway). They've worked with me on some non-repairable flats and I'm pleased with the service. Discount Tire also nicely price matched Tire Rack and worked with me on a non-standard fitment for the other car (Jetta/Golf 15" wheels on a Beetle).

 

[mrsilv04]

A good dealer would go ahead and adjust the tires out at 2.5/32nds.

Yours simply doesn't want to do it. I'd give him one more chance to do the RIGHT thing and adjust the tires (and keep your business as well.)

If not, then tell them that you're taking your business elsewhere and then do it.

 

[tomcat27]

I'd dare say that MOST people dont get the rated mileage out of tires. alot of places are starting to put a 3 year limit on the warranty also. hmmm.... something seems fishy! my tire dealer has a solid track record of giving warranty credit with no hassles at all. do you have a discount tire by you? you dont say how old the tires are or how many miles per year you drive - but I would probably at least consider the michelins at that price point - although they are apparently very average tires.

 

[charbaby]

Milkman, there are lot's of choices of what you can do. Since summer is here, you can push the tires til they reach the warebars and get them replace from the tire dealer but, I understand your passion and that you don't want your wife and daughter on these tire.

I replace my tire at my own cost at about 3-4-5/32 just because: 1)I don't like the way they look or ride or handle or viberate or something!
2)I am tired of trying to deal with dealers that give me a hard time
3)You have to choose your battles

Having 225-60-16, there are choices up the wazzuu!
I'm not a Cooper Lifeliner "FAN" as I have had them and have a low opinion of them.

Not a Good/Year fan either although I do have Comfort Treads on my wifes Lexus and they're fine for that car.

And the Michelin Symmetry are not a good Michelin although, Michelin may make the overall best tires throughout their whole line of tires, better than most other tire mfg's.

As Sciphi mentioned, Pirelli P4 as he has a similar vehicle. I too have the P4's on an Altima 2.5 S and love'em. I really do!

There are tons of choices but, it depends what your looking for exactly. In our circle of family/friends, we have a variety of vehicles from MiniVans, SUV, good riding sedans(Olds, Chevy, Toyota, Buick, Chrysler) or tight handling sedans/coupes such as most Honda's, Altima's and Mazda3's...What we like and have had good succuss with and come in your size are:

*Pirelli P4-Altima/Taurus/Sable
*Kumho Solus KR-21-Olds88/Buick LeSabre/PA's, Chry T/C, Venture MiniVan, Honda PilotSUV, Sonata
*Yokohama AVID TRZ-Camry, Elantra
*Hankook Optimo H727-Camry, CR-V, Mazda3
*Cooper CS4-new to the family-Chrysler LHS
*Michelin HydorEdge/MXV4-Civic, Prius, Elantra

And there are more vehicles in our circle using these tires mentioned above but, I'm at a loss to all of them. Comments from the family is that they "Love their tires"!

All of these tires are high rated by many online tire reviews, customer reviews, online tire stores such as DiscountTireDirect, TheTireRack and Consumer Reports Magazine.

And these are my personal favorites as they are all good/great tires with many performance capabilities and just very good everyday all-season tires for those not driving Mustang's, Camaro's, Vette's or expensive import HP cars.

These tires get the higher reviews from customers, do all things well, good ride/handling/hydroplaining resistance and including getting you through the winter snow/ice without changing to winter snows(in many areas of the country)...This is your particilar call. I haven't driven through PA in the winter.

Good Luck

 

[rshaw125]

Discount tire. I had a set of Kumho KR21's wear out at 38,000 miles on my Intrepid. One of the front tires was very close to the wear bar. They pro rated a credit on another set. I was there less than an hour.
It's still better to buy tires that will actually last. Less aggravation and time.

 

[951Indy]

Funny to see this post today. I finally am replacing my 120K mile Tiger paws (225/60-16) with Altimax RTs. This size is $87 with free ship to store at walmart. I'll pay the $7.50 per tire for lifetime balancing/rotation, again, and see if these hold up as well.

BTW, General has a $50. visa card promotion if purchased by June 4th, otherwise I'd have waited another month or so.

 

[exranger06]

Just do a few nice smoky burnouts and drive the car back to dealer. "Ok, they're at the wear bars now."

 

[Hokiefyd]

Sears warranted an old set of Michelin Pilot XGT H4s for me years ago. I lost one due to a sidewall puncture, and elected to replace all four. They were at about 4/32" at the time. It was clear they weren't going to make it to the rated miles, so they pro-rated them for me and I bought another set.

 

[charbaby]

Originally Posted By: 951Indy
Funny to see this post today. I finally am replacing my 120K mile Tiger paws (225/60-16) with Altimax RTs. This size is $87 with free ship to store at walmart. I'll pay the $7.50 per tire for lifetime balancing/rotation, again, and see if these hold up as well.

BTW, General has a $50. visa card promotion if purchased by June 4th, otherwise I'd have waited another month or so.



The Altimax RT(not HP) is another tire that is in our circle and doing well.
Know many with Tiger Paws and are OK too but an old design and rating lower as newer tires come to market.

Tires that were once at the top of their catigory and are now in the basement such as Uniroyal Tiger Paws, BFGoodrich Touring T/A's, Fireston Affinity, Good/Year Regatta II. These are still nice tires but, just not worth buying anymore with better tires on the market for the same/similar money.

 

[Milkman]

Thanks for all the replies,

Smokey Burnouts in this car...Probably not.

As far as I know the nearest Discount Tire is in Columbus OH. About 250 miles. The last 2 times I bought tires "over the net" I was less than impressed. The tires didn't last and it was impossible to get a local dealer to work with me as I didn't purchase them from him.

I figure if I buy "internet tires" I can't expect any sort of warranty service. But, then again, the Cooper Dealer ain't doing me any favors either...

I don't know what to do.

My budget for tires is about $500 (total out the door)

 

[HTSS_TR]

Yokohama AVID Touring-S is very good tire with reasonable price, I have it on my Lexus LS400. Since Discount Tire is too far, buy from Discounttiredirect.com for $88 shipped and Walmart installs it with life-time balance for less than $20 each, so that the total should be around $420-430.

Hankook Optimo H727 is very good too, the price at Discounttiredirect.com is $106 but Hankook has $40 rebate so that the final cost is $96 each.

 

[occupant]

"It would be silly to suggest you pump them up to 45 psi and do some panic stops or burnouts but that would certainly hasten that last 1/64" to come down."

It would also be silly for me to do the same when the cab garage stuck some el cheapo used 215/55/16 Primewells on my cab and I wanted takeoff 225/60/16 Eagle RS-A's. So burnout, water puddle, burnout, swap left to right, burnout, water puddle, burnout, oh gee, the wear bars are even with the tread. Go to tire shop near Dallas PD garage, pick up the tires I want, present cab garage with bill. Sorry, it was the weekend, you were closed, I had to change them out. Here's a picture, they were down to the thread.

I am silly. But I got what I wanted.

 

[PandaBear]

In dry road condition, 2.5 / 32" is not going to be a problem. I think you should be able to hold out until you reach 2/32 and then go in for the warranty. The remaining 32k/70k should land you almost half the price of new tires, 4 tires would probably be about $200.

Can your wife drive a different car to go college shopping with your daughter? How's the weather out there in PA? Personally I don't think this is a problem but then again $200 may or may not be a lot of money to you to justify it.

 

[charbaby]

Originally Posted By: Milkman
Thanks for all the replies,

Smokey Burnouts in this car...Probably not.

As far as I know the nearest Discount Tire is in Columbus OH. About 250 miles. The last 2 times I bought tires "over the net" I was less than impressed. The tires didn't last and it was impossible to get a local dealer to work with me as I didn't purchase them from him.

I figure if I buy "internet tires" I can't expect any sort of warranty service. But, then again, the Cooper Dealer ain't doing me any favors either...

I don't know what to do.

My budget for tires is about $500 (total out the door)



If you don't know what to do...Wait! Let us help you with your decision, that's why we're here

We need to know a bit more about the area in which you live...
Do you have a Wal*Mart near by that can install your tires?
W*M's prices can't be beat!
Is there another installer that can help you at a reasonable price? Most of the online tires stores that I buy from have recomended installers. At least the tire rack does but, they can be a bit pricey.
Online tire shopping shouldn't be this difficult. I've been doing it since '03, 6 sets of tires for my vehiclea and couldn't be happier. Been using, Discounttiredirect, thetirerack and treadepot(pernounced treade depot). Great succuss with all three and I have introduced all 3 to others and they too are happy. But, in our circle, we use W*M.

W*M in my area installs your new tires, balance and new valve stems and throws away your old tires, all for $12.00 each tire. Total of $48 + tax= $51.84. Then if you want in addition, life balance and rotation, it $7.50/tire + tax. Total $32.40. And a grand total of $82.24. You can't touch this price anywhere in my town and most other parts of the country.

From discounttiredirect, FREE shipping anywhere in the U.S. For (($466.69)), You can get the famous/highly rated Hankook Optimo H727, which would work well on a Buick and also comes with Hankook 4 year free road hazard warranty and 100,000 mile wearout rating, delivered to your door and a W*M install and also that $466.69 includes the .45cent postage for the $40.00 Hankook rebate. No need to buy any extra Road Hazard Warranty(RHW) either!

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: Milkman
As far as I know the nearest Discount Tire is in Columbus OH. About 250 miles.
...
I figure if I buy "internet tires" I can't expect any sort of warranty service. But, then again, the Cooper Dealer ain't doing me any favors either...


Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew.

Discount Tire Direct works with local installers. I used them when we lived in Maryland for a set of tires on the 15" wheels on my wife's Beetle. They shipped (for free) to a Mr. Tire who gladly put the tires on. All the replacements are done through DTD, the local store only acts as the physical installer. I have had no issues with this arrangement at all.

And your local Pooper dealer isn't doing you any favors at all, you're absolutely right. Smoky burnouts not an option... how about a wood rasp?

Sometimes in life it pays to be silly.

 

[charbaby]

I'd also like to add that, it's best to have a real spare tire(non space saver), even if the tire is a different make but, the same size as all 4 tires on the car. All of my vehicles have either...a spare tire or other wheels/tire pkg's entirely that I use seasonaly. Should we have an issue with the tire that was purchaced online, we can install the spare tire and drive around til the issue is taken care of and we get our new tire during the warranty period at least.

I like to use one of my best/better tires that I'll be replacing as a spare tire and keep it in the trunk or hatch for reasons that I mentioned. I want a spare tire that isn't brand new but, has plendy of tread life on it should I have to use it while I'm on the road or vacationing and I get a flat/blowout or other tire issues. I can put on the spare tire and complete my whole trip should I want to until I have a chance to get the tire repaired/replaced, whichever I choose, when I get back home! Then I can deal with the online tire store.

I pays to deal with the better/best known online tire stores that were mentioned here. They usually take care of their customers better than the "I know a guy" online tire store.

I have saved on sets of 4 tires, $120.00-$150.00, each time I made a purchace online and having my tires installed at W*M, as compared to anything local in my area such as Good/Year, Firestone, SEARS or some of the other smaller local tire stores in my region. I have saved so much money over the years by buying online and also-not paying for Road Hazard Warranty(aprox $30 or more on 4 tires), even though the RHW is inespensive that, if I ever have to EAT A TIRE at my cost, so be it! The money that I have saved will more than pay for a new tire(s).

And when I speak of the $120-$150 saved, I'm speaking of the same tire exactly, model for model, out the door/installed. I'm not speaking of one model tire online and another tire localy...Apples for apples!