ATOTers, is it the norm to spend $700-800 for a set of new tires?

[Zeze]

How much are you guys spending on your tires? They're so expensive.

At tirerack.com, I'm looking at well reviewed tires (8.9 rating+ over 2-3 million miles logged by users) which come out to $150-170 per tire. After shipping and installation costs, it's about $200 per tire, $800 total.

NTB & Pepboys either have mystery models at $99 per tire with terrible reviews or NO reviews. Or good ones at similar cost at $800-900 out the door.

Is it the norm to spend $800~ on tires?

Back in my old Mazda 6, I did get BFGoodrich T/A traction for $600 out the door about 7 years ago, I guess $800 is about right factoring inflation.

Any better prices for non-mystery models? (Brand names alone don't matter, actual models make a huge difference).

[more info]
1. The car is Accord 2009 coupe EX-L 18", 235 /45 R18
2. Looking for just hassle-free all-season for everyday driving
3. What vendors do you guys recommend?



Moved from OT

Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

 

[ViviTheMage]

Terrible tires will be terrible. Cost not only depends on the quality/brand, but the size too. $800 installed on decent tires sounds about right.

I got some all season coopers cs5 ultra's on my golf, 225/45R17 and they were pretty bad, and they cost about $488 shipped. I went back to Michelin pilots AS3's which were pretty much top of the line all seasons @ $800 shipped, not installed, MUCH better.

Trucks are another story, my General Grabber AT2's are amazing, and pretty cheap compared to the Goodyear or bfgoodrich comparison AT (all terrain) tires.

 

[lxskllr]

Last year I paid ~$650 for American made truck tires. I thought it was acceptable.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Depends on the kind of wheels you have. Putting a pair of decent tires on my Ford Focus is a $5-600 proposition. If you had those wider/lower profile "sport" tires or some other less common size/type? Absolutely they'd cost that much.

 

[ultimatebob]

I only paid $600 for new tires on my Cruze. They weren't cheap tires, either, they were 17" GoodYear Fuel Max tires.

My Chevy dealer had a much better price than the other tire shops in the area, though.

 

[Jimzz]

Depends on the tire and what you want.

What's your tire size and what do you want from it? Better ride? Longer life? Snow ability?

I got some all season coopers cs5 ultra's on my golf, 225/45R17 and they were pretty bad, and they cost about $488 shipped. .

What was bad about them? I have put 2 sets on family members cars and they love them. Even worked well in the snow we had recently.

 

[Eug]

I remember buying a set of cheap winter tires on the recommendation of a shop that was pushing them. They said these Champiro tires weren't top of the line, but they were still half decent. Well, they were total crap. I actually had less grip with those in winter weather than my all seasons. I was shocked. After 2 weeks with them, I wished I had spent $200 more to get better winter tires. I'm pretty sure that the shop was getting a volume incentive to push these tires or something like that. Otherwise they wouldn't have pushed them so hard, and would have pushed more expensive mainstream name brand tires instead.

Ever since then I only get very well rated winter tires, and all of them have always been much better in winter weather than any all seasons I've tried. The only winter tires I have ever purchased that have been worse than all seasons in the winter were those Champiros.

---

For all seasons or summer tires (and winter tires) note though that it depends on the tire size. Obviously on average, smaller tires cost a lot less than expensive ones. For my 195/65R15 passenger car tires, I would expect to pay something like $600 US installed for decent but not super high end touring tires. However, for our 235/55R18 SUV tires, I would expect to pay maybe $150 more.

 

[Genx87]

Bought a set of 4 tires in Nov for my CX-5. 968 bucks installed. They were 90K all season tires. I want to say Pirelli?

 

[3chordcharlie]

At your tire size, yes, that is definitely in the range of what they should cost.

YMMV but you might find a very good price on barely-used tires if you have time and patience.

I recently sold a set of Michelin LTX MS2 SUV tires with about 1k use for an embarrassingly cheap price. The person who bought those got a killer price for a great tire.

 

[NutBucket]

I paid about that much for a set of RE760s for our WRX; 225/40R18. Seems fair for good tires.

 

[ViviTheMage]

What was bad about them? I have put 2 sets on family members cars and they love them. Even worked well in the snow we had recently.

I put them on a day before it snowed, and anything over 1/2" I was sliding everywhere. Start, stop, everything. Throw in a small grade and i'd slide pretty far into a stop, or barely be able to accel up. This is on a FWD golf. I threw back on my old Michelin pilot as3's that were 5/32 or so, and they did a lot better in up to 1-2" of snow on the road.

This was rather fluffy stuff too, not wet/slippery either. We had about 5 more snowfalls before I decided to bail on them and just craigslist them to someone else.

One day we got 6 inches in the driveway, and about 6 on the road still. I drove into the street, and then they just spun there, couldn't make it out at all, tried a bunch of methods to get out of the street. Eventually bailed, and it took me about 20 minutes to get back into the garage, haha. Granted, I don't expect all seasons to do good in anything above 5" anyway.

 

[3chordcharlie]

I put them on a day before it snowed, and anything over 1/2" I was sliding everywhere. Start, stop, everything. Throw in a small grade and i'd slide pretty far into a stop, or barely be able to accel up. This is on a FWD golf. I threw back on my old Michelin pilot as3's that were 5/32 or so, and they did a lot better in up to 1-2" of snow on the road.

This was rather fluffy stuff too, not wet/slippery either. We had about 5 more snowfalls before I decided to bail on them and just craigslist them to someone else.

Yeah for ordinary vehicles, the difference between great tires and terrible ones is probably $50-150 per year.

It hurts a little spending more the day you buy them, but you thank yourself every day after, every time you drive. The only time cheap tires feel good is while you pay the bill.

 

[pauldun170]

How much are you guys spending on your tires? They're so expensive.

At tirerack.com, I'm looking at well reviewed tires (8.9 rating+ over 2-3 million miles logged by users) which come out to $150-170 per tire. After shipping and installation costs, it's about $200 per tire, $800 total.

NTB & Pepboys either have mystery models at $99 per tire with terrible reviews or NO reviews. Or good ones at similar cost at $800-900 out the door.

Is it the norm to spend $800~ on tires?

Back in my old Mazda 6, I did get BFGoodrich T/A traction for $600 out the door about 7 years ago, I guess $800 is about right factoring inflation.

Any better prices for non-mystery models? (Brand names alone don't matter, actual models make a huge difference).

[more info]
1. The car is Accord 2009 coupe EX-L 18", 235 /45 R18
2. Looking for just hassle-free all-season for everyday driving
3. What vendors do you guys recommend?



Moved from OT

Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

what region are you from? Do you get snow? Ice?


For B&M places, I've had an ok experience with Mavis. You can check their site for full cost with tires+mounting. Otherwise if I get then from tire rack, I'll just have our mechanic mount them on the car. He usually charges cheaper per tire to mount.

Wifes car has 17's and I'll spend anywhere between 110 to 180 per tire depending on sales. Picked up a set of Continental CWS's for about 130 per.. Prior to that pick up a set of Michelins MXM4's for a fraction of their list price.
On my station car, I've given General AltiMAX RT43's a shot and so far they get the job done. Paid under 90 per tire.

 

[ultimatebob]

Yeah, 18" tires aren't cheap. You're in the right price range.

 

[LTC8K6]

I paid about $1K for Michelin 18" tires for my Grand Cherokee.

 

[Pens1566]

For decent 18's, yes.

 

[madoka]

How much are you guys spending on your tires? They're so expensive.

Wait till you drive sports cars.

For my GTR, it's about $2300 per set (and they only last about 10K miles ).

For my Cayman S, it's about $1500 per set.

For my IS-F, it's about $1300 per set.

But, I would say that you should never skimp on the tires. It's the only part of your car that touches the ground.

 

[nk215]

I paid a lot for my tires mostly because of heavy SUV + powerful engine (around $1.4K/set).

I never tried to save $$ of tires and tirerack is about as cheap as it get for quality tires. "Where the rubber meets the road" tell you how important the tires are.

I have dedicated winter wheel/tire sets for my 3 vehicles that see snow. Better safe than sorry.

Whenever tirerack has special/rebate, I buy extra. Since I keep my vehicles for 10+ years, I don't mind keeping a few extra sets of tires in the basement. I'll use them all eventually.

 

[dainthomas]

Close to $1200 for decent tires for my truck every time.

 

[NutBucket]

But, I would say that you should never skimp on the tires. It's the only part of your car that touches the ground.

Exactly. Thank goodness the other half agrees with me.

 

[Excelsior]

Yeah, 18" tires aren't cheap. You're in the right price range.

This. I have a new car with 18s but I've priced potential replacements and $150 a tire before shipping/tax/installation looks about right.

I will never, ever skimp on a tires. Will I always get top of the line? Maybe not, but these things connect your car to the road and you should be using a set for at least 3 years (if not 4 or nearly 5). That's a lot of use out of $800 in my opinion.Think of how much you'd spend in gas during that time. Read reviews, think about what matters to you. If you live in a place that only occasionally gets wintry weather, absolute winter performance is probably a less important aspect of that all-season tire.

 

[Ferzerp]

If you drive an econobox, the best tires available may be more like $500 for a set. High end, non exotic cars, $1800-$2400 a set.

 

[herm0016]

never skimp. I spent about 700 on coopers for the truck, the snows for the volt were around 600.

 

[3chordcharlie]

If you drive an econobox, the best tires available may be more like $500 for a set. High end, non exotic cars, $1800-$2400 a set.

This - Pay attention to the tires when buying a car on a budget. A lot of cars that you would not expect come from the factory on 18" wheels (I'm looking at you Dodge Journey).

It's not a deal breaker, but the difference between 16" and 18" wheels and tires over the life of a vehicle is significant. Doubly so if you are among the ~50% of the population that begrudges every penny ever spent on tires.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

800 bucks for a good set of tires sounds about right. Zeze, take a look at Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus tires. They've treated me excellent and they are cheaper than equivalent Michelin or Bridgestones.