Buying tires & 4 wheel alignment.

[Glenn]

What I do not understand is two places I went to never mentioned the Continental tires - and they do come in my size.

The sales people at Town Fair are paid on comission. Often, you'll get a tire that's best for their paycheck vs best for your vehicle.

 

[deadheadskier]

The sales people at Town Fair are paid on comission. Often, you'll get a tire that's best for their paycheck vs best for your vehicle.

Absolutely

I went into Townfair two years ago looking to pick up the Continental DWS's after the reviews I read. Salesguy talked me right out of them and into a set of Mastercrafts which were the worst tires I've ever owned. Loud and terrible performance in snow.

 

[Glenn]

I had a few bad experiences with them a number of years ago, so I chose to go elsewhere. I'd rather pay a bit more to get better service and a better tire up front. "free alignments" are a PITA when you have to go back 3 times to get it right...same with wheel ballancing.

 

[o3jeff]

I used to work at TFT in my younger days!

 

[skijay]

Absolutely

I went into Townfair two years ago looking to pick up the Continental DWS's after the reviews I read. Salesguy talked me right out of them and into a set of Mastercrafts which were the worst tires I've ever owned. Loud and terrible performance in snow.

That is what happened to me! I went for the Primacy quote and he was quick to point out the Mastercraft in my size. They do carry the Continentals.

 

[Hado226]

Last may I put four new summers on my suv, a month later the two rears were bald, there had been no unusual wear on the winter tires. 60 bucks would have saved 600...


Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[skijay]

I'm reviving my post. I just bought my new tires today. I had 58,000 on the OEM Yokahoma Geolanders but did not want to go through this winter with them. The plus is they wore evenly and I have no alignment issues. They still have usable tread left.

I went with Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus tires. I researched on Tire Rack's site and Subaru forums first before going to purchase.

I bought local from an independent tire dealer. His price was better than Firestone & $30 more than Costco.

I left the place today with confidence. I drove on the highway with no shaking in the wheel or pulling to one side that seems to be the case when I've gone to the "chains".

 

[darent]

mastercraft is town fair tire profit tire, they always chat them up so you buy them, more profit. do your research, know what tire you want and price them at several places, then go and buy them wherever you get the best deal to your liking.I bought my winter tires for my subie at TFT and they have been changing them over for three years now with no problems or cost. of coarse I have to turn down the alignment and balancing job every time.

 

[xwhaler]

Bump to this thread. I've recently purchased 2 new sets of tires online.
1) My daily commuter 2006 Mazda 3 got a new set of Kuhmo Ecsta 4x's bought on Tirerack.....good reviews and tire rack tests liked them among the Ultra High Performance "value brand" tires. So far I'm happy with them abt 3k miles in...much less vibration than the worn out Pirelli's I had on. Didn't help as much reduce the road noise as I'd have liked but at this point I'm chalking it up to the car is both getting older (145k now) and it was never designed to have an ultra quiet cabin.

2) Yesterday I bought new rubber for our Kia Sorento. The Bridgestone Dueler H/T's that were OEM were junk and only rated to last 36k...we have 37k on it them now and sure enough down to the wear bars. Did a lot of research as I wanted my wife to be very safe with our son (not that I wasn't concerned for her safety pre-kids but you get the point!
This is our primary ski vehicle in the winter too so wanted something decent in the snow w/o having to get a dedicated snow tire and do the changeover. The wheels are 18" so dedicated snows were going to be pricey.
Went with the Firestone Destination LE2....seems like a great tire from what I read online. There's a $50 rebate through Firestone right now and I bought through TireBuyer.com and applied an addl coupon code..pretty good value at $514 delivered. Will have my buddy's shop mount for me.

 

[hammer]

Absolutely

I went into Townfair two years ago looking to pick up the Continental DWS's after the reviews I read. Salesguy talked me right out of them and into a set of Mastercrafts which were the worst tires I've ever owned. Loud and terrible performance in snow.

Bit of a bump...after reading all the great reviews of the Continentals I picked up a set for my S40 last July when the OEM Michelins wore out. They were good in the snow this season, but from day one I've had a vibration at highway speeds that I have never been able to get balanced out. Would not get them again.

 

[marcski]

Bit of a bump...after reading all the great reviews of the Continentals I picked up a set for my S40 last July when the OEM Michelins wore out. They were good in the snow this season, but from day one I've had a vibration at highway speeds that I have never been able to get balanced out. Would not get them again.

Interesting. I got these for my older Audi after going through a few sets of Pirelli's on it, which were OEM's. I have no vibration issues at all. I found them to be really great and grippy in wet or snowy roads. I did feel that the sidewalls were a bit softer than the Pirelli's and that took a bit of getting used to...but makes sense that they'd be a bit softer to get a better grip in rain and snow.

 

[HD333]

Thread jack, sorry. But kind of on subject.

Anything REALLY wrong with taking my full size spare which is actually an old rear tire from when i replaced another tire so I had 2 "new" tires on the rear and putting it on in place if a weirdly worn front tire on a 4Runner? It is mounted on a regular rim.
I plan on driving the 4runner for about a month then trading it in and would rather not trade it in with one weird worn tire showing.

 

[Puck it]

Thread jack, sorry. But kind of on subject.

Anything REALLY wrong with taking my full size spare which is actually an old rear tire from when i replaced another tire so I had 2 "new" tires on the rear and putting it on in place if a weirdly worn front tire on a 4Runner? It is mounted on a regular rim.
I plan on driving the 4runner for about a month then trading it in and would rather not trade it in with one weird worn tire showing.

No reason not to if you are trading.