Whats a good price for tires?

[Twistid 5,000+ posts]

I need some new tires for my car (mine look like drag slicks) just normal regular every day tires... What am I looking at paying for 4 new tires installed? Obviously you get what you pay for, but if I get some $50 tires from wallmart are the treads going to fall apart after I leave the parking lot? My size is 205/50R16 , I'm looking on tirerack.com and they have some Kumho Ecsta AST for $65 a piece (the cheapest they have actually) which have nice reviews.

(link for Kuhmo's http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+AST&vehicleSearch=true&partnum=05HR6EAST&fromCompare1=yes&place=0&speed_rating=S&speed_rating=T&speed_rating=U&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=S )

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[csu87 10+ year member]

i used to work for a tire place and your best prices are off ebay. you'll have to pay to get them installed but that shouldnt be more then $20 for all 4

 

[Cravingbass123]

tires that size are cheap as hell im sure

consider yourself lucky and get a set of good kumho/hankook/falken/pirelli's, as im sure they are hella cheap in that size

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

in general, you get what you pay for in the stores...don't compare online prices to what you pay in the store in reference to quality.

 

[chardy85 10+ year member]

Check prices on Tires-easy.com also

They are usually pretty competitive even when you add in shipping

 

[Twistid 5,000+ posts]

So my best bet is to order them then have some shop install them? What about "WallMart," brand tires, should I just steer clear from them?

 

[csu87 10+ year member]

So my best bet is to order them then have some shop install them? What about "WallMart," brand tires, should I just steer clear from them?

stay away from walmart tires

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

IT has been my experience, at least paying retail through normal outlets, that you get what you pay for. At lower pricepoints many tires will do one or two things well but one or two other things not so well. If you just want long tire life you can find that but you may sacrifice some handling. You may get a nice comfy ride but handling may **** or may not last long. Cheap tires are OK for people who are only looking for one or two specific aspects of a tire, higher end ones will tend to do alot of things that tend to contradict eachother fairly well or else do one or two things but do them EXTREMELY well.

I think you may have the same sized tire as my girlfriend's RSX. I know hers are rare size and she tends to pay closer to 150 per but she insinsts on Yokohomas. Include 10-25 bucks per tire for mounting and balancing, usually another couple dollars per tire for disposal fees. Alot of shops will push the alignment. Not needed if you've had it done recently but if you're not the type of person to do it as regular maintenance it's not a bad routine to get into doing it when you swap tires. Should be about 40-50 bucks.

 

[timaishu 10+ year member]

in general, you get what you pay for in the stores...don't compare online prices to what you pay in the store in reference to quality.

True that.

I got a pair of kuhmos from discount tire and total was 200 something. The tires were around 65-80 bucks each I think. I guess the rest was from the installation/disposal of old tires/taxes?

 

[Twistid 5,000+ posts]

I can get (4) 205/50R16 Kumho Ecsta AST Price: $260.00 for 4, plus $37 for shipping... so about $300 for some cheap-o Kumho tires, good deal?

 

[Cravingbass123]

i paid 850 for my tires.................so to me thats a great deal lmao

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

i used to work for a tire place and your best prices are off ebay. you'll have to pay to get them installed but that shouldnt be more then $20 for all 4

where do you go? a few years ago i got 2 tires mounted and balanced and it cost me like 75 bucks......

 

[converseHTnut 10+ year member]

i just got a pair of potenza's installed. it was about 85 each and after fees and everything it came out closer to 200

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

I always balance the price with the treadwear rating.

Also, while you're browsing tirerack.com filter the results by customer ratings, as the cheapest tend to **** for mileage and traction in certain weather conditions.

I ended up buying Michellin Exalto's due to the mileage ratings (and I hate replacing tires every year or two), but they werent cheap at $600 for the set, which included computerized alignment and balancing.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

You have a focus IIRC. I also have a Focus, but an ST with some mods and I had the OEM P6 Pirrelli's on mine and were a horrid tire in every aspect of weather.

I ended up getting General tires the flagship Altimax HP's in the same size as yours and so far have had them a good 6 months. In dry weather they girp very well, wet.......so so, but what is weird they do really well in the snow. Found it weird it would do well in snow but so-so in rain. Overall I give them a 8/10 and still have all my traction just about. Look in great shape still and I get on my car from time to time.

I paid IIRC 65 a tire, which was on the cheaper side through not tire rack, but the other big name internet site.......name not coming to me right now.....or maybe it was tire rack, I can't remember, lol!

Anyway, I recommed them and thought I would throw it out there as you have a Focus as well.