New Tires for My Buick

[charbaby]

Buying online at the reputable tire stores has allowed me to really step-it-up in tire quality at a much lower price as compared to buying the same exact tire localy. For what I'm spending by buying online, I could have only bought JUNK tires localy. And too, by purchacing from the better known online tire stores, you have better customer satisfaction and less risk of feeling "SHCROOOED"

Beleive me, I see and hear what people outside my circle are spending on tires such as PepBoys Definity tires or Firestone FR380/whatever or Primewells, Douglas, Mastercraft etc. And their having balance and vibration issues.

And I'm buying top rated tires from customer reviews and magazines high rated/high scoring tires for the same or less money than those poor folks that are buying economy tires and being dissatisfied and crying all the time!

Even if they get tires at a good price, they're ragging on how few miles they got on the tire or how bad they ride/handle/vibrate or go through the foul weather...WAA,WAA,WAA!

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Buying online at the reputable tire stores has allowed me to really step-it-up in tire quality at a much lower price as compared to buying the same exact tire localy. For what I'm spending by buying online, I could have only bought JUNK tires localy. And too, by purchacing from the better known online tire stores, you have better customer satisfaction and less risk of feeling "SHCROOOED"

Beleive me, I see and hear what people outside my circle are spending on tires such as PepBoys Definity tires or Firestone FR380/whatever or Primewells, Douglas, Mastercraft etc. And their having balance and vibration issues.

And I'm buying top rated tires from customer reviews and magazines high rated/high scoring tires for the same or less money than those poor folks that are buying economy tires and being dissatisfied and crying all the time!

Even if they get tires at a good price, they're ragging on how few miles they got on the tire or how bad they ride/handle/vibrate or go through the foul weather...WAA,WAA,WAA!


Amen! My mom didn't listen to me and had all 4 tires on her Subaru replaced with Primewells for $300 at the local Firestone. I told her that she could have gotten a much better tire for the same price if she had listened to me, and not the Firestone manager. And she's amazed how both our cars with good snow tires keep pace with her AWD Subaru with junk all-seasons every winter.

If you can find a deal on Continental DWS's, those are doing very well on our Fit. Nice ride, very little road noise, and they grip very well.

 

[Milkman]

Once again, thanks for all of your thoughtful replies.

The first "college shopping" trip is to the eastern part of PA. I think that I will just leave these tires on the car and tell Mrs. Milkman to be cautious in heavy rain.

I forgot to add in the first post that I have a second set of wheels and tires for winter use. General Altimax Artics. Goes like a tank in snow.

Other than the short treadlife, and the Cooper dealer, I was happy with the Coopers on the car now. I prefer to buy American when at all possible. Although, it appears that Yokohama's are made here.

Once again, my thanks...

 

[Slick17601]

Milkman, have you tried contacting Cooper directly? They may give your local dealer the go ahead to give you warranty.

 

[charbaby]

Milkman,
When a tire dealer pro-rates a tire, and decides to give the customer new tires for free, the customer can ususlly ask to upgrade to another tire(same brand or maybe even a different brand/model of tire) at the cost difference between the two tires. Maybe if you contact Cooper as "Slick" mentioned, you may get the dealer to react sooner and also, upgrade to Cooper CS4's. They get nice reviews.

We appreciate that you want to buy American when possible but, there are lots of forign products/tires made in North America or the U.S. alone and, there are U.S. brand products/tires made overseas. It's a global market. Pretty soon, anything/everything we buy won't matter any longer as all products will be made all over the world. We did what we could, while we could. It's bigger than we are! Today, I just want to buy the better/best products for my money.

And I'm sure(as you mentioned) that your Buick was a TANK in the snow with those General Witer tires. Buicks are TANKS in the snow with regular All-Season tires!
Please keep us posted on your progress!

 

[Astro14]

Milkman - you and I think the same...2/32" may be legal but testing at Tire Rack (among others) has shown a significant degradation in wet braking performance below 4/32" and since it's your family in the car, you don't want the risk. I replaced the tires on my wife's Volvo XC last fall when one of them got to 3/32" because wet performance was already degraded. Tires are cheap when compared to the consequences of an accident.

So, what to do with the Coopers. Given the pro-rated nature of the warranty, you stand to get some $$ to help with the next purchase.

But, really, the first question is what kind of tires to buy? I would surf www.tirerack.com and read their tests and cutomer feedback on tires in your size. If the Coopers still make the cut and they're what you want...OK, buy the Coopers. But you're not happy with them now, why buy another set if the only advantage is the refund on the warranty?

There are some really good tires out there... and I suspect you'll sleep a lot better knowing the girls are outfitted with new tires on their trip...

 

[Ken2]

Tirerack doesn't handle Cooper tires. They used to have Cooper's Avon brand, but no more.

If you're considering mail order, consider onlinetires.com. Their prices might be the best. With my local Discount Tire store, I printed the onlinetires prices and DT matched for a set of Cooper CS4. I like those tires a lot, but don't yet have wear experience.

 

[Milkman]

Once again, thanks for the replies,

I was happy, overall, with the Coopers. The salesman at the Michelin dealer said that nobody around here gets the rated mileage out of their tires. He also said that me getting almost 40K on that set of Coopers was remarkable.

I have some time tommorow and am going to the Cooper dealer to once again plead my case. We shall see...

If that doesn't work out, I have narrowed my choices down to this:

Michelin Symmetries ($476 at a local dealer)
Yokohama Avid Touring S ($88 ea @ DTD plus $ 60 Mount and Balance about $ 420 total)

What do you guys think ?

 

[HTSS_TR]

Yokohama AVID Touring-S and inflate both front and rear about 4-6 PSI above placard, and adjust down 1-2 PSI per week to see which pressure is best for your driving style, but never below placard.

 

[charbaby]

Milkman,
Between the Symmetry's and the AVID Touring S, the Touring S is the better tire but, still not my pick.

I understand your buying localy instead of online as it's just more convienent. According to Consumer Reports Magazine, The AVID Touring S scored only 2 pts above the Cooper Lifeliner GLS.

Use this guideline of symbols comparing the Touring S/Lifeliner's
+/Better than Cooper Lifeliner GLS
-/Worst than Cooper Lifeliner GLS
=/Same as Cooper Lifeliner GLS

The Yokohama AVID Touring S's high points are:
= Wet Braking
+ Dry Braking
+ Low Noise
= Low Rolling Resistance
= Long Tread Life

The Yokohama AVID Touring S's low points are:
- Snow Traction(But, you have dedicated snow tires)

Everything else being average:
= Ride Comfort
= Handling
- Hydroplaining Resistance
= Ice Traction(But again, you have dedicated snow tires)

The Michelin Symmetry's were not tested this time as they didn't make the cut and since the last time they were tested they didn't score all that well.

The Tire Rack customer reviews may show a little different. Where The Tire Rack and Consumer Reports Mag are similar, is in their higher scoring tires.

If you liked the Cooper Lifeliner's you'll be fine with the Yokohama Avid Touring S as they are similar(better priced than the Symmetry's too).

 

[charbaby]

Here is the tire rack survey results on the Touring S

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ST

The Symmetry's rate low in their class...Very poor actually. It's in another list.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=AS

I hope this helps Milkman! If you even read this again

 

[charbaby]

I did some online comparing between CR & TR apples for apples,
Same tires. When the same tires were available from both sources.
Man, they're real close. Meaning, what CR rated a tire in a particular catigory, the TR customer reviews in the same catigory was almost identicle. Such as hydroplaining, handling or even snow/ice traction. Boy, real close, almost errie!

The only thing is, is that CR and TR measured different tires in their testing, meaning that CR tested a whole bunch of S and T rated tires together and the TR keep the catigory of tires more closley grouped. I don't know if I explained that very well!

CR & TR did not score the same model tire the same, meaning that, the tire doesn't have the same score from both sources such as a score of 98 or #1 or #2 but, when you look at both sources for a particular such as the Yokohama AVID Toruing S, both sources were very close in the areas tested such as, handling, hydroplaining, snow/ice...This is what I mean!

 

[Milkman]

Hello All,

Just an update on my "Tire Quest".

Over the last few weeks one of my tires had developed a slow leak. (The set with 2 1/2 32nds on it.) It was losing 3 or 4 PSI a week.

So, on Friday my Dad and I made plans to take it to the Cooper Dealer where I bought them from as they have $ 5.00 flat repairs and free rotation as the tires were about due. I figured if they weren't going to help with the warranty, they could rotate the tires and repair the tire for "practice".

So I go into the showroom, and they have a whole new crew of people at the counter. I tell them what needs done and tell them that me and Dad were going to the Bar 2 doors down to have lunch. (Great BBQ Brisket Sandwich) We weren't in the bar 10 minutes when the sales guy from the tire store walked in looking for us. He said that the tires were now "shot" and said that he could replace all 4 with Cooper CS4's for $ 330 "out the door".

I of course said OK. So, I guess that I got what I wanted afterall.

Oh, and I will get a $ 50 Visa card rebate on top of that. Not too shabby eh ?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[charbaby]

Very well done my friend! I think that you will be very happy with the CS4's on your LeSabre. The CS4's should still keep the good BUICK ride quality and allow the car to track better and handle better as well.

A good friend of mine has just installed the CS4's on a later model Chrysler LHS and loves'em(225-55-17). And I know he paid nearly $700 OTD localy. Drove home from the JERSEY SHORE vacation in a terential down pour and couldn't beleive the hydroplaining resistance of these tires.

What size are on your LeSabre, 15"/16" ?

 

[sciphi]

Nice price!

 

[Milkman]

Hey,
Just a quick update...

I got my $ 50 Rebate Credit Card in the mail today. A little over 4 weeks since I mailed in the claim form. I am pretty impressed with Cooper and their tires. These CS4's are great, so far.

 

[Rand]

cs4 are definitely above average.
I considered those but went with the conti dws.
my stepmom is one of those "sleeper" drivers
you in the car with her... 10mph under

her by herself ....leadfoot.

She had some trash hankooks(425's?) on her pontiac g6
She loves her new conti-dws even in the winter.

Her dealer wanted 40$/tire to mount and balance

I took her car to the hyundai dealer by me and she got ROADFORCE mount an balance for 18/tire

I still may get some CS4 eventually, I think the GF is getting hankook 727's later this year when her oem pos's wear out.

 

[charbaby]

Originally Posted By: Milkman
Hey,
Just a quick update...

I got my $ 50 Rebate Credit Card in the mail today. A little over 4 weeks since I mailed in the claim form. I am pretty impressed with Cooper and their tires. These CS4's are great, so far.


Spoke recently to our friends with the Chrysler LHS and CS4's and they are still very happy with their purchace as expensive as they were for them(225-55-17/$700)...OUCH!