Car Tires

[mrigney]

Just looking for opinions since the time is coming up for me to buy tires for both cars. One car is a '96 Nissan Maxima that I'm still driving too and from work everyday. 209k miles and still going strong. Obviously for that car, I'm going with the cheapest possible tire regardless of the warranty on it. I have no clue if that car will make it another 10k or 100k miles.

The other car is a 2010 Prius, about 80k miles. About time for new tires. Will probably stagger it and replace them 2 at a time. I guess my question is do I get cheaper tires that are warrantied for 40k miles or do I pay more and get tires warrantied for 90k miles? Obviously I could calculate a cost per mile. But, I don't know enough about tires to know whether 1) a 90k tire will actually last 90k miles or whether a 40k tire will actually last longer.

For example, I can get any of the following (price given is for two tires installed and then price per thousand miles)
Nika Avatar V344 (40k) - $154/$3.85
Falken Sincera SN250 A/S (75k)- $226/$3.01
Hankook Optimo H724 (70k) - $207/$2.96
Pirelli P4 Four Seasons Plus (80k) - $231/$2.89
Michelin Defender (90k) - $309/$3.43

I mean, if you go by price per thousand miles, it's "cheaper" to pay for the high end Michelin tire than the cheap Nika tire. But seems like the best value is something like the Pirelli tire (25% cheaper per thousand miles than the 'cheap' Nika).

Am I missing something?

Is my reasoning off here?
OR
I can get

Thoughts?

[NoStacheOhio]

I would never buy "cheap" tires, but I do try to find good value. I've had good experiences with Falkens (good grip, though they didn't last quite as long) and mixed experience with Michelins (highly variable from one line of tires to the next). We have Michelin and Kumho on our cars right now. I'm ambivalent about the Michelins (forget which specific model), and happy with the Kumhos (Crugen light truck tires). I've never seen tires last anything close to 90k miles, but I tend to prioritize performance over longevity. Your climate and typical weather will influence your choice.

Shop around and see who has the best rebates/incentives/package deals. Sometimes Tire Rack is cheapest, sometimes going to a place like NTB is cheaper. It's worth spending the hour or two.

[mrigney]

Oh yeah, I am shopping around. I guess that's what prompted the question and you get at the crux of my question....

I've never seen tires last anything close to 90k miles. Your climate and typical weather will influence your choice.

I don't know a whole lot about tires, so trying to figure out if a "90k" Michelin tire is a better value than a "40k" Nika is hard for me to compare just based on numbers because I don't really have the knowledge base to evaluate how long each will last.

[NoStacheOhio]

Oh yeah, I am shopping around. I guess that's what prompted the question and you get at the crux of my question....

I've never seen tires last anything close to 90k miles. Your climate and typical weather will influence your choice.

I don't know a whole lot about tires, so trying to figure out if a "90k" Michelin tire is a better value than a "40k" Nika is hard for me to compare just based on numbers because I don't really have the knowledge base to evaluate how long each will last.

Unless the Nikas had a ton of awesome reviews, I wouldn't consider them. Comparing those two, yes, the Michelins are probably better value.

I also wouldn't spend what Michelin is asking on tires for a Prius.

I'd be looking closer at the Falkens, Hankooks and Pirellis. From there, it's all about reviews and rebates.

[trollwithamustache]

Rotate! the perrellis have been good to me but you have to do your rotations to get all the miles out of them.  Some places like Big O will rotate tires you buy from them for free, and this is a nice benefit if they offer it.  I would think the Michelins are worth it too if you Rotate them.

[boarder42]

should be deals popping up on slickdeals just set alerts and you can find some steals from discount tire quite frequently thruout the year.

[RWD]

How much are you driving? Tires should generally be replaced after 5-6 years regardless of mileage/tread. For a Mustachian that means the rubber is likely going to go bad before the tread is worn out. Unless you're driving a lot you should shop by performance, quality, and total price.

[MoonLiteNite]

Best to get the tires for your road type, you will save more money by getting something like summer tires over all season/high mileage ones.
I mean you could, it just another factor to add in.

[FerrumB5]

KUMHO SOLUS TA71 ($70) - cheaper than Michelin defender and has better performance: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/CompareTires.jsp
60k miles

[RWD]

KUMHO SOLUS TA71 ($70) - cheaper than Michelin defender and has better performance: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/CompareTires.jsp
60k miles

Working link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Solus+TA71

[Full Beard]

My current tires on my Toyota Corolla are Michelin Defenders with a 90k mile rating.  The place I bought them from does free rotations, so I make sure I go in every 5k miles for that.  I have 50k on them right now and they look like they can go another 40k.