Tire shopping -- Getting frustrated

[AM6_Cutlass]

It's getting time for a new set of tires. I was inspired by the white letter tires Brian P. made for his car, and colored the letters of my Goodyear Eagle GAs white also. Started looking for replacement tires awhile ago and found Goodyear (or any other name brand tire manufacturer) doesn't make white letter tires in the size I want (P225/60/16). The closest I found were the Goodyear Eagle #1 NASCAR tires with yellow letter. I didn't like the idea at first, but more and more people were telling me that they would look good on my green (it's teal :x ! ) car, and I started to want agree with that.

 

Went out to get some tire prices yesterday.

 

Tire store #1 wants $124/tire for Goodyear Eagle HPs (plain blackwall) (including mounting, balancing, etc), and $132/tire for Goodyear Eagle #1 yellow lettered NASCAR tires(same as the first time I was there). The guy says they don't have the Eagle #1s in stock, but can get them in from thier warehouse in Ohio in two to three days.

 

Tire store #2 (Goodyear shop) wants $126/tire for the Eagle HPs, plus another $11/tire to mount and balance. Screw that. So, I ask about the Eagle #1s and the lady says they stopped making them and they have none left, but the last price in the computer was $68 (ok, so now I'm mad because first they don't have them, and second I missed out on perhaps the deal of a lifetime)

 

So, on to tire store #3 (different location of store #1). The guy quotes me the same price on the HPs, but says they have no more of the NASCAR tires. (Why can the first guy get them in from Ohio, but this guy can't?) :?

 

When I come home, I log onto goodyear.com to see exactly what the deal is with the EAGLE #1s. Sure enough they are listed, BUT an interesting thing under the description says they are WHITE lettered, not yellow :shock:. Now, this could have been a mistake, or perhaps they are making white lettered tires instead of the yellow now, which is what I wanted to begin with.

 

I follow the links from the goodyear site to the site of store #1 and store #3, and look up the tires. It lists a price of $118/tire :!: , but it says "price may vary by location". So, now I'm confused as what to do. Should I go back to tire store #1 and try to get the yellow lettered tires for that price (I hate to buy them even for that price if they are discontinued), or try and get the white ones for that price (if the white ones even exist, or are available yet) :?: Perhaps someone can confirm/deny whether the yellow ones have been discontinued and/or if they do indeed make white ones.

[godofthunder]

Anyone ever used BF Goodrich Radial T/A on our cars? I have heard good things about them

 

Jon

[Brian P]

I know for a fact that they still make the yellow ones, and yes I agree the yellow would look great on your dark teal car. I paid about the same for the HP's, and the only other tire brand that sells RWL in 225-60-16 is futura (pep boys)

 

Send me the website where you saw raised white lettering listed as opposed to yellow!

[SuperBuick]

Buying tires at a store is silly. The prices you can get at tires.com or tirerack.com are so ungodly lower that it isn't worth it. the only place that comes close is like BJs or Costco, but most of their tires aren't that great. I reccomend you buy them online. I paid $360 for 4 Z-rated 235/55/16 tires, and $50 locally to get them mounted and blanced. The tires were nittos, not cheap imitation tires. Thats my 2 cents, take it or leave it!

 

-Tom

[godofthunder]

Sams Club has some good prices. MY GF just got a set of new BFG Radial long trails for her 2001 Dakota Sport. They are some nice tires. We looked at tirerack.com, but the price for the same tires at Sams was cheaper (but you have to be a member).

 

I really like her truck tires, and really liked BFG. I cant stand firestone, or any of their sub brands. And Goodyear is nice (I have Regatta (rear) and Regata 2 on the front).

 

Has anyone used BFG's Radial TA? I see it on tons of cars arround town, more performance one (Camaros, classic muscle, some newer cars like ours), and those that I have talked to love em. Anyone have any ideas?

 

 

Jon

[MARK 91 Z34]

MICHELIN PILOT XGTH4'S make that 3 words...

[Guest Anonymous]

I had BF Goodrich radial TA's on my other Grand Prix. I didn't care for them. I was constantly getting flats from stone chips. Maybe I just got a junk set.

[Guest RedCutlassSL]

has anyone here got any experience with the BFG Goodrich Scorchers? I think thats the name. The tires with the colored stripes on them. I've been thinking about a set, but I'm not sure if there good.

[godofthunder]

I have never used those schorchers, but they do look kinda cool. My dad was going to put the black and yellow ones on his truck (since its black and yellow).

 

When they came out, some shops arround here would pay people who could make the colors out on the pavement.

 

Jon

[AM6_Cutlass]

Thanks for the tips guys...

 

One thing I wanted to stick to were Goodyears or Michelins because they were the OEM tires for the Cutlass Supreme. I found a bit more info on the Goodyears, and since that's what I currently have and am fairly satisfied with, I decided to stick with them (I originally wanted the Eagle RS-A that come on the Intrigue Autobahn pkg, Police Impalas, Monte SS, etc, until I found out they are $178 each). I have a friend that works at pep boys that said he would check about the Futuras for me, but I really don't want those.

 

Here is the link that shows the Eagle #1s as White lettered:

http://www.goodyeartires.com/catalog/products/EAG1NAS.html

 

I never thought of checking online before. tirerack.com has the Eagle #1s for $76 in my size. It describes them as white lettered, but the picture shows the yellow letters

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+%231+NASCAR&vehicleSearch=true&partnum=26SR6E1NASRWL

COmes to about $342 after shipping, which is definately the cheapest thus far, just have to find someone to mount and balance them.

[jeffz34]

All I can say is go with the online store if you don't car about service, If you go there you wont get an actual store to back up your product. I work at Discount tire, and with the purchase of tires you get Liftime balancing, rotations flat repairs, air checks and you can buy free replacement certificates (which I highly recomend) that will cover the replacement cost of any tire that still has tread that can't be repaired or has been damaged, ie: hole in the sidewall. The certificates will run you about 10% of the price of the tire. Discount Tire will also match any competing tire store price. So I would recomend to shop around and then buy your stuff from Discount Tire. Furthermore, if you do buy them online and save a few bucks the difference will be nominal and you won't get the services that I described above. Sorry if this sounds like a comercial but Im a tire tech at Discount Tire and I have had nothing but good experiences with the people that work there. Everyone there actually cares about the customers and I hope you at least talk to someone from a local Discount Tire, if there is one in your area.

 

If anyone has delt with a Discount Tire store in there area I would be interested to hear about it. In my area the stores are very proffesional.

 

Jeff

[AM6_Cutlass]

Thanks for the input.

 

Unfortinately there are no discount tire locations around here, so I'd have to order them through the website anyway, and they don't appear to have Goodyears. Sorry, but I'm pretty much set on Goodyears.

 

The original store I went to has mounting and balancing included in the price, plus lifetime rotations (and I think all the other stuff you listed). The free rotations do come into consideration, since I have owned my car for almost four years and have yet to rotate the tires once on my own (but then again, I was waiting for them to wear out so I could get 225s instead of 215s, and if a new set of tires lasts another four years, I don't care because I will definately have another car by then).

[gimp19]

I have a set of radial t/a's for summer and a set of BFG Winter Slalom's for winter. The Slalom's are great in any nasty weather their only down fall is cornering at higher speeds. The Radial T/A's are amazing in fact when I first but my Slalom's on I almost hit a gaurd rail because I was used too much better handling. They also have great treadlife, I bought mine a SAM'S CLUB for less then $250.

[godofthunder]

gimp, you got the Radial T/As for 250 at sams? or the saloms? And they do have great handling on our cars? What do you have (car wise).

 

Thanks

Jon

[gimp19]

Opp's :? I mean BJ's same differance right, I got both set's for around $250 mounting, valve stem's and balancing included. The Radial T/A's were a little more but they were having a sale on all their tire's when I bought them so they ended up being a little cheaper. I was gonna go cheap on my summer tire's but my mom's caravan came with radial t/a's and they lasted for ever, handled well, and even made a caravan look sporty. I have an 88' Cutlass Supreme my Radial T/A's are 205/75/r14's.

[Guest]

I have run BFG T/A's before a a couple cars. The last being my 86' GP. I ran 265/50-15s out back with 235/60-15s up front. I could NOT wear out the front tires. The rears? well with the Chev 383 I had replaced the 305 with had a thing or two to do with them being worn a bit.

 

They were OK on that car, a vast improvment over the granny tires that were on it beofre I got my hands dirty on the car.

 

The car before that was my SUnbird. I had a habit of torching the GT+4's in 7500 miles and couldn't afford anything more that the T/As. They sucked on that car. Squeeled like stuck pig, mushy sidewalls and poor rain perfromance. They were cheap though.

 

I have Goodyear Aquatread 3's on my olds now. I don't like the squashy sidewalls, but man do they bite on dry pavement. If you really look at them, they are a modified version of the old Gatorbacks. They totally kick ass in rain, so-so winter performance, so I use Blizzaks in steel wheels in winter. They wear great for being driven as aggressively as I do.

I have purchased a ton of tires and a couple wheel and tires combos through Tirerack, and have been totally impressed. if you order something that is out of the ordinary, they call you back right away and make sure that it is a correct order, and talk to you a bit about the decision. The prices were great and the mounting and balancing were suburb, one set lasting longer than the car LOL!

 

I would suggest Tirerack to anyone in a heart beat.

[AM6_Cutlass]

Update:

 

I bought my tires today. Got the yellow lettered Eagle #1s from the Goodyear store. $280 for all four after tax, cheaper than the $340 on tire rack. The reason is that the yellow ones have indeed been discontinued. The store had the new white ones in stock, but they wanted $118 each.

[Brian P]

sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AM6_Cutlass]

sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, I definately notice an improvement in ride quality. The ride seems a bit firmer and more solid, and my car rattles and shakes less going over bumps. I notice some tire hum at higher speeds, but I guess that will lessen as the tread wears. I was pretty much driving on slicks before. Big improvement in snow traction too, I no longer get stuck in my driveway (which is like a 1% grade, tells you how bad my old tires really were). I gotta snap some pics with the digital camera. Will post when I do.

[NORBI]

Too bad you dont live close to Newark NJ because there you can buy tires Good Year, Michelin, Pirelli all for 20$ each brand new or almost new, all stolen. You just go to a garage and pick tires you like and they put them on your car all for 20$ each.