Joh, you are right. This is why I hate to buy a used vehicle. I take extra care of my vehicles and I don't want to own someone elses problem.quote:
Originally posted by jthorner:
There is a large fraction of the buying public which just buys the cheapest stuff on the shelf. What is really crazy is that they will go to a relatively expensive for motor oil retailer like the grocery store or a gas station and then buy the cheapest stuff they can find. Thus we have people spending $2/quart for no name non detergent and/or "SF" oils when for half that money they could be a much higher quality product by shopping smarter.
Laziness and it's twin cousin perceived convenience result in lots of really poor choices being made ... and not just about motor oil.
Joh
"SF Quality" oil at Wal-Mart for $0.74 per qt.
- Thread starter ToyotaNSaturn
- Start date
- Status
I'll third that! If you cant afford the new vehicle you want, get one with less options or pick one you can afford. Its 95% about being basic transportation for me.quote:
Originally posted by Pitbull:
Joh, you are right. This is why I hate to buy a used vehicle. I take extra care of my vehicles and I don't want to own someone elses problem.quote:
Originally posted by jthorner:
There is a large fraction of the buying public which just buys the cheapest stuff on the shelf. What is really crazy is that they will go to a relatively expensive for motor oil retailer like the grocery store or a gas station and then buy the cheapest stuff they can find. Thus we have people spending $2/quart for no name non detergent and/or "SF" oils when for half that money they could be a much higher quality product by shopping smarter.
Laziness and it's twin cousin perceived convenience result in lots of really poor choices being made ... and not just about motor oil.
Joh
That's an oil change every 3000 miles. He only needs to top it off, never change it! It'll be worthless though, soon into 300K.
My brother had a car that burned a lot of oil. He'd pull into a gas station and say, "Fill it up, and check the gas too"!
Ewww, nothing is worse than bad tires. Have you even tried something modern and high-quality like Falken, Dunlop or Michelin? Consumer Reports article on tires was quite accurate imo. (had so many different tires myself it is stupid) The bottom of the list was all the crap the tire shops push on sr citizens and housewives..Cooper, Kelly, Uniroyal..junk. If you are comparing a generic tire to those ones, you are missing a whole new world of computer-modeled tires that did not even exist a few years ago.
ps long wear=less grip, the rubber compound in those "cheap" hard-wearing tires gets even harder in the cold..+25 degree wet pavment, yeah I want the rock-hard 80,000 miles tires.
Henry Ford said "Americans don't care about tires as long as they are black and round".
[ April 26, 2004, 12:55 AM: Message edited by: Audi Junkie ]
-
Wal-Mart really does sell for less.
My 2000 Monte Carlo requires SJ. The same should apply for your '99. Don't know about the '02.
No, I disagree. Building a quality tire requires much more than a extra touch of calcium or moly measured in ppm. Materials technology and manufacturing process are beyond skin-deep and cannot be replicated or simplified without compramise of the original design. My Conti's feature "Shark-Fin Biomechanics" for water dispersal and dual-layer tread that exposes softer rubber as it wears for more grip. What do the Douglas tires offer?
Consumer Reports picked the Falken for #1 and they are dirt cheap. For a few dollars less you would choose the generics? Something that has life or death differences? Turanza shortened stopping distance 15ft with the new version of their great tire. Like I said, all those crap brands were on the bottom of the test results, check for yourself.
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/findTireProductsByBrand.do?step=products
Are you serious?
lol
Team Bentley credits their debeut 3rd place finish at 2002 LeMans in pouring rain with off-the-shelf Dunlop SP9000s, an oem tire on new Audis. (Audi was #1 and #2 at 2002 LeMans) I guess they don't know about Douglas.
http://www.lemans.org/course/aco2002/statique/equipages/fiche_equipage_1_2_2_93.shtml
http://www.audiusa.com/motorsportshome
[ April 27, 2004, 08:01 PM: Message edited by: Audi Junkie ]
http://www.lemans.org/course/aco2002/statique/equipages/fiche_equipage_1_2_2_93.shtml
http://www.audiusa.com/motorsportshome
[ April 27, 2004, 08:01 PM: Message edited by: Audi Junkie ]
[ April 28, 2004, 11:12 AM: Message edited by: motorguy222 ]
Tire price certainly is not directly correlated with tire performance or quality. The Chevron/Pennzoil motor oil situatin is a good parallel. Pennzoil has a "better name" than Chevron and usually commands a significant percentage price premium as a result. Pennzoil spends big bucks on advertising while Chevron Lubricants spends almost nothing on consumer level advertising.
In any given tire category, Michelin tires are generally the most expensive to buy. However, there are other brands which depending upon category and application can provide as good or better of a tire than the similar category Michelin tire and do so at much lower cost to the consumer. For example, Falken, Continental, Dunlop and Pirelli often offer a much better value in a tire than does Michelin. Kumho out of Korea is developing a reputation for building very high performance tires at rock bottom prices. Expect to see Kumho supply Wal Mart house brands soon
.
Goodyear long has tried to get the same kind of premium pricing as Michelin enjoys, but Goodyear is finding that hard sledding these days.
Careful research and shopping rewards the astute buyer with a better value.
I buy Chevron Lubricant products much more often than Pennzoil and Continental Tires more often than Michelin because I like to get the most value for my money possible and get a high quality product at the same time.
Oddly enough, Chevron is very proud of their gasoline here in California and is often the highest priced brand in our area ... and I almost never buy from them. Why would I pay $.05 more per gallon for Chevron branded gasoline than I would for Shell or $.15 more than for Costco house brand? There are only a handful of refineries sourcing the fuel in Northern California. Fun Facts - list of California Oil Refineries
John
[ April 28, 2004, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: jthorner ]
In any given tire category, Michelin tires are generally the most expensive to buy. However, there are other brands which depending upon category and application can provide as good or better of a tire than the similar category Michelin tire and do so at much lower cost to the consumer. For example, Falken, Continental, Dunlop and Pirelli often offer a much better value in a tire than does Michelin. Kumho out of Korea is developing a reputation for building very high performance tires at rock bottom prices. Expect to see Kumho supply Wal Mart house brands soon
Goodyear long has tried to get the same kind of premium pricing as Michelin enjoys, but Goodyear is finding that hard sledding these days.
Careful research and shopping rewards the astute buyer with a better value.
I buy Chevron Lubricant products much more often than Pennzoil and Continental Tires more often than Michelin because I like to get the most value for my money possible and get a high quality product at the same time.
Oddly enough, Chevron is very proud of their gasoline here in California and is often the highest priced brand in our area ... and I almost never buy from them. Why would I pay $.05 more per gallon for Chevron branded gasoline than I would for Shell or $.15 more than for Costco house brand? There are only a handful of refineries sourcing the fuel in Northern California. Fun Facts - list of California Oil Refineries
John
[ April 28, 2004, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: jthorner ]
There is no more dramatic demonstration of the disconnect in price and quality than the oil filters at Wal-Mart. Motor Craft are about the same, and ST is about half the the price of Fram.
I am weakening on continuing to pay the premium for Pennzoil. Maybe once the Chevron/Havoline thing settles down, I will switch. In the meantime, my son in law may score some of the $.89/qt. stuff at Pep Boys'.
In the 80's, you could buy great BF Goodrich tires under many private labels. I put 2 sets of Strattons on my Phoenix. They rode better, stuck better, and out wore the Firestones that came on it. Unfortunately BFG walked away from that business under new ownership, and now many of the private labels are the crappy Cooper tires. They wear like iron, but ride and hold the road the same way. When I have to replace the Goodyears on my Cavalier, I may spring for Pirellis.
What really gripes me is that I pay more for the P205-55-16'' tires than the P205-75-13'' ones, when the difference is that the hole in the 16'' ones is bigger.
I am weakening on continuing to pay the premium for Pennzoil. Maybe once the Chevron/Havoline thing settles down, I will switch. In the meantime, my son in law may score some of the $.89/qt. stuff at Pep Boys'.
In the 80's, you could buy great BF Goodrich tires under many private labels. I put 2 sets of Strattons on my Phoenix. They rode better, stuck better, and out wore the Firestones that came on it. Unfortunately BFG walked away from that business under new ownership, and now many of the private labels are the crappy Cooper tires. They wear like iron, but ride and hold the road the same way. When I have to replace the Goodyears on my Cavalier, I may spring for Pirellis.
What really gripes me is that I pay more for the P205-55-16'' tires than the P205-75-13'' ones, when the difference is that the hole in the 16'' ones is bigger.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
