L-300 New Tires??

OK I need your help! I was at my dealer this past weekend getting an Oil
Change and they said that I only have 15% thread on all my tires and
they need to be replaced. They gave me a quote of around $700! for all
four replacements with an alignment, and labor. This seems a little high
to me, so I was wondering if I could get a better deal somewhere else?
What tires do you recommend for this Saturn? Thanks!!

 

You can (should) inspect your own tread depth using the wear indicators in
the tread grooves, but it is better to buy a simple tread depth gauge for
~$5, and use it to measure the tread remaining yourself. I bet you will
find you have a lot more than 15% remaining. Measuring across the tread
will show if you should be raising or lowering your inflation pressure and
will allow you to keep the best tires on the front.

If you have a local DIY auto wrecker, go buy tires on rims with air. My
local yard sells these for $17 ea. Most of these tires have much better
than 75% tread remaining and are great for summer use at least. I have
found lots of tires that were much closer to 90%. If you can find good
winter treads, then save them for winter use, then summer when they are more
worn. This will give you a spare set of rims so if you need to buy new
tires you can use the newest ones for winter and then mount the poorest to
wear them out in the summer. If you do not have any DIY (Pick & Pull) yards
then call the normal wreckers but expect to pay more. The benefit is you
get a spare set of rims and do not have to pay for mounting which in my area
is ~$25 ea.

You will save a lot of money by doing your own tire rotations and will tend
to better monitor both the air pressures and wear. I suggest buying a spare
jack ~$5. (or better yet two) and wheel wrench just so you don't need to dig
out your jack mounted with your small? spare. Having spare tires mounted on
rims is great if you do have a flat as you can take your time getting the
flat repaired without needing to drive on a small spare. If you have a DIY
wrecker you will probably not bother to repair a flat as the tread remaining
will not be worth the cost of a repair (~$25) which will probably be more
than you paid for the mounted used tire and rim.

Good luck, YMMV

 

Good advice from Private ... Adding another two cents here ...

You can use a simple Lincoln head penny to check remaining tread. I seem to
recall you replace when the tread is less than Abe's head.

Shop around and do not be afraid to use competitive pricing for identical
tires and services. You should be able to find a set of decent name brand
tires for that car for $300-$400.

Bob

 

$700. for tires? That's nuts. Look and ask around and find a local tire
shop. I bought my BF Goodrich tires mounted and balanced for $85. a piece.
Even at $100. ea, that is still better than $700! Shop around.

 

With respect and IMHO, the penny tool is just another example of 'the
dumbing down of America'. It may be better than nothing but just barely, it
does not tell you anything your eyes can not see in relation to the tread
wear indicators cast into the tread grooves. A real tread depth guage is
cheap, easy to use and very accurate, a plain old common caliper with depth
guage is more accurate but requires conversion from decimal to the
fractional inch measurement found in tire secifications. Accurate
measurement of tread wear, combined with visual inspection and a simple
running of your hand over the tread surface to detect feathering is IMHO the
best way to detect both inflation and alignment deficiencies.

I Agree.

 

Private,

While most people do not own a tire tread depth gauge, they should
undoubtedly have access to a penny. The penny is a simple (and cheap) way
to supplement visual inspection of the tread wear indicators.

Bob

 

Thanks for all the information! I know the dealer is out for buying new
tires so who do you guys reccomend? Who will give me the best deal for
the money, Costco, Big O, Walmart, etc? And what brand do you think
will give the best ride for this model Saturn? Dunlop, Michelin,
Goodyear, etc? Thanks!

 

I do not disagree, the point I was trying to make is......

Tires are a very important safety critical item and deserve careful
attention to maximize safe operation. They are a costly consumable that is
second to only fuel and aprox equal to oil changes in total cost. This
significant cost can be minimized by careful monitoring of inflation and
wear and by frequent rotations. Tire maintenance does not require extensive
experience or significant time and is well within the capabilities of most
any car operator. Tire inspection and rotation does not require a
significant investment in tools nor does it require a workshop. The only
tools that are required are a quality tire pressure gauge and a tread depth
gauge, both of which can be purchased for $10-25 total, a second set of 4
rims will cost $20-150. These small investments will easily pay for
themselves during the service life of any car and normally much sooner.

Many people will claim they are too busy and prefer to have tire maintenance
performed by others at time of oil change but I submit that DIY will be both
cost and time effective and give the added benefit of allowing inspection of
brakes, suspension and exhaust systems at the same time.

We both know that the primary cause of both tire failure and short tire life
is underinflation. I suspect we will agree that the most common cause of
engine damage is failure to check oil and coolant levels and that the
easiest way to obtain good engine life is frequent oil changes. Our cars
are a big investment and a substantial yearly cost, simple maintenance will
substantially extend service life and minimize total cost. IMHO depending
on others to do this maintenance leads to missed oil changes and
maintenance, depending on a garage or dealer to do all this work is IMHO a
guarantee of over paying for this work.

Good luck, YMMV

 

IMHO,

Buy quality, shop carefully, price matters.

I have been buying new premium brand and model tires but am disappointed
with total tire life. These tires not only seem to get flats easily in the
last half of tread life but suffer sidewall ply separation by the time I
realize the tire is going flat and being able to stop. (I am a perceptive
driver and stop immediately to check any soft feeling in handling.) The
high cost of flat repair means that tires are often not worth repairing
considering the life remaining. I am currently finding very cheap, near new
and mounted tires from wreckers but YMMV and availability is very timing and
luck dependant. You must buy them when available and not wait until you
need them immediately. It is really handy to have replacement tires mounted
and ready to use when a flat tire should be replaced.

IMHE very expensive tires do not seem to last much longer than bargain
brands but YMMV. There are a lot of old stock tires being sold as new,
check the date of mfg on each tire before buying.

Good luck, YMMV

 

Private,

Agreed on all points made. Underinflation is a major factor in both tire
wear and reduced fuel consumption/mileage. All tires and oil/other fluids
need to be checked at regular and frequent intervals. Back in the old days
of full service gas stations, the driver had some help with doing this at
the recommended intervals of every fill up.

On getting more miles from the tires, I've found that running them higher
than the manufacturer's placard on the side door is a good practice. Most
newer tires are max cold pressure 44PSI, and I run them 35PSI or so even if
the manufacturer recommends 26PSI. For max cold 35PSI tires, I run them at
32.5PSI. This can take a slight toll on the suspension components and give
a slightly harder ride, but pays dividends with fuel mileage, longevity and
wear.

I generally use Michelin tires and regularly get 60,000 miles on some fairly
heavy vehicles that are hard on tires. For the Saturn, less expensive tires
seem to last fairly long too as long as they are maintained and the vehicle
is properly aligned. These cars are so light that they are not as hard on
the tires. This is my experience. YMMV.

Bob

 

As usual, we substantially agree.

Larger vehicles require higher pressures to carry the higher weight. Mfgs
of lighter vehicles often spec lower pressures to improve ride quality which
has led to tire failures on SUVs operated in hot weather. On my SW series I
find 32-33 seems to work well in the summer but I like a little lower
(29-30) for winter traction on snow or packed snow. I use higher rear
pressure (approaching max) when heavily loaded in the rear of the vehicle
but these higher pressures will cause the center of the tread to wear faster
than the edges (when lightly loaded) and can cause the tire to be more
easily damaged by gravel or rough potholes. This is one of those times
where monitoring the tread wear with a proper tread depth gauge helps to
determine the best pressure to run, Front tires especially will tend to
wear the edges of the tire if run underinflated.

IMHE, S series cars are easily knocked out of front alignment and this will
cause rapid front tire wear and can be difficult to repair and realign.

I agree that lighter vehicles are much easier on tires, and the tires are a
lot cheaper. IMHE lighter vehicles are a LOT easier on all wear con$umable$
like tire$, brake$ and clutche$ as well as FUEL$$$ and is one good reason to
choose light over heavy as much as possible.

Good luck, YMMV

 

I would recommend using www.tirerack.com as an aid, even if you do not
purchase tires through them. I do this every time I need tires. Like a
person trying on shoes, every vehicle is different. Just because it's a
name brand and it was a great tire on another car you had, does not mean
it'll be good on the one you have now. The MOST important and greatest
thing about tirerack is you can select your car and make sure if you read
anything, read the user ratings/reviews!! These are ratings from people
like you who have the exact same car as you, so you can't get any better
recommendations than that...You'll see the same tire that gets great ratings
on one vehicle, get crap ratings on another....Find the best tire for your
vehicle in your price range and criteria that's important to you (mileage
warranty, road noise, etc), then see if you can find it locally for a good
price. You can also work the site in reverse. I've gone to BJ's to see
what tires they have for my Vue, wrote down the model numbers, then gone
home to see the user ratings for them and actually found they had good
ratings, and were cheaper in the long run as BJ's has "free"
mounting/balancing/3K tire rotations vs. buying them on tirerack as you have
to pay to have them mounted & balanced by someone...

Anyway - Good luck...

IYM

 

I got a good set at Sam's club. Got the set of 4 for (as I recall) $85 each
with included mounting and balancing.

BF Goodrich P205/65R15 92H M+S they were the mid grade with a decent
sidewall. I always go for all season, long life and good handling. The
cheaper tires seem to have very thin sidewalls which are more prone to
punctures and have less stability. It's always good to be able to swerve to
avoid an accident and know that the vehicle *will* respond properly.
I had the dealer replace the tires just once since inspection was overdue
and they wouldn't pass it (make big boo-boo face here). With a 4 wheel
alignment was close to $800 AND the tires only lasted 30K miles. Was same
tires the car came with that were pretty soft.

Under-inflation has two down sides. Since the tire flattens out where it
meets the road, as it flexes at those points, it creates heat that can, in
extreme cases, cause tire failure by fracture of the steel cords or by
delamination of the layers. Flattening also reduces the effective diameter
of the tire and hence reduces the distance one revolution of the wheel gets
you. Both factors contribute to worse MPG.

Oppie

** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

 

Any thoughts on the Bridgestone Potenza's G009 tires? I have been doing
a bit of research and I have about four different makes, and models in
mind for replacements. The one I listed seems to have some great
reviews. Thanks!

 

You might be surprised. I would check out prices before making that
asumption.
I know the dealer is out for buying new