To print article, click Print on your browser's File menu. Go back   Which car costs less to insure? Find out how much you can save What is your spending style? Find personal finance resources Do your taxes online Find It! Article Index Fast Answers Tools Index Site Map Recent articles by Bankrate.com: • Don't be gauche: Polite ways to talk money, 7/8/2005 • How to pay your bills while you're away, 7/1/2005 • Debit card fees sneak up on shoppers, 6/28/2005 More...		The Basics The smart shopper's guide to tires The first and biggest maintenance charge you may face as a new-vehicle buyer is tire replacement. Learn how to extend the life of your tires and get the most for your money when you buy new ones.  By Bankrate.com Car and truck manufacturers love to brag that today's vehicles handle better than ever -- steer more precisely, stop quicker and are more stable in turns -- thanks to computer-designed suspensions and other technological advances. But a large part of those improvements can be traced to today's tires. Changes in material compounds, tire construction and tread patterns have revolutionized the rubber that meets the road on virtually every vehicle. Along with those advances came higher prices -- sometimes as high as $1,000 for four fresh tires -- meaning the first and biggest maintenance charge a new vehicle buyer will likely encounter is tire replacement, not transmission repair or an engine overhaul. And on top of the tire price, there are all those add-ons that tire stores love -- everything from new valve stems and wheel balancing to front-end alignment and road-hazard warranties. "The days when getting new tires was a matter of buying four for $99 are pretty much gone," says Matt Edmonds, vice president of marketing for The Tire Rack, a national Internet and direct retailer of tires that also does more tire testing than any other retailer. Do you need life insurance? Get a quote. "Tires are a very integral part of today's vehicles. It's the only part that touches the road. To replace the tires on a car with ones that are different than what came from the manufacturer can impact the way the car steers and stops. "It's like buying cheap shoes. They may look OK, but they just won't feel very good on your feet." Know your tire types To understand the issue with tires, it's important to understand modern tires. Tires overall have been made with lower profiles -- the amount of rubber you see when you look at the side of the tire, from the wheel rim to the tread -- for better response. The rubber compound also tends to be softer than the tires on our parents' cars, and tread patterns often are computer-designed to work best on one side of the car or another. Related news and commentary on MSN Money • 6 ways to steer clear of car-sale scams • Keep your old clunker or buy a new car? • 5 keys to driving a hard new-car bargain • MSN Autos: 2005's most efficient vehicles • Fill your tank with vegetable oil Then there are the so-called "summertime" tires, the all-weather tires and the true winter tires, as well as the newer run-flat tires that can go for dozens of miles even with a hole in the sidewall. In general, summertime tires are designed for maximum handling with limited road noise in dry and rainy weather. All-weather tires have more grip in wet- and limited-snow conditions, with the trade-off often being a slight degradation in maximum handling on dry pavement and perhaps more road noise than summertime tires. Winter tires, as the name implies, are best suited to handle snowy conditions and generally are not good for use in warmer weather. Truck and sport utility vehicle owners face additional choices, ranging from a general heavy-duty tire to one suited for muddy, off-road travel. As a general rule of thumb, the more aggressive the tread pattern -- meaning larger, deeper blocks on the tread -- the better the traction off-road, accompanied by more noise on dry pavement. Original tires may have a short lifespan While all new-car buyers once could expect to go at least 40,000 miles on the original tires, many buyers today are finding the original tires are worn out after as little as 20,000 miles. Initial buyers of Nissan's 350Z sports car, for example, complained that the tires were used up after as little as 10,000 miles. Nissan made changes to the suspension settings in response to complaints, but it's clear that with the combination of performance tires and a suspension geared for maximum handling, it's unlikely 350Z buyers can expect to get 40,000 miles out of their tires. To some degree or another, this conundrum plays out with almost any car, truck or SUV with sporting pretensions. Since even basic economy models like Chevrolet's Cobalt are available in a Super Sport performance configuration, it's important for cost-conscious buyers to pay attention to the tires already on the vehicle being bought. Suppose, for example, you're shopping for the Chrysler 300 sedan. In its base form, it comes with "touring" tires -- another term for summertime tires -- in size 225/60/18, which means moderately low-profile tires on 18-inch wheels. When it is time to replace those tires, they're likely to cost $400 to $700 per set, depending on brand. But if you buy the same car with the optional low profile 245/45 tires mounted on 20-inch wheels, a replacement set could cost $1,000 to $1,500. If you drive that same car in a cold-weather climate, you may also have to buy winter tires, so you might face the expense of two entirely separate sets of tires at that price. On the plus side, while you're driving on winter tires you're not using up those summer tires, so theoretically, they'll last longer. Of course it's possible to downgrade the tires on your car, but the trade-offs are significant. A car's ability to stop quickly or execute accident-avoidance maneuvers could be compromised, as well as the overall driving experience that drew you to that particular car in the first place. Going to smaller wheels may not be an option because the wheels must be of a certain size to clear brakes and to keep the suspension geometry in proper form. Even if going from 18-inch wheels to 17- or 16-inch wheels is possible, the cost of buying new wheels could offset the savings on the cheaper tires. Make tires last longer What can you do to extend the life of those original equipment tires? The same rules that applied 30 years ago, still apply today, says Edmonds: Rotate the tires every 5,000 miles if possible. (Some high performance vehicles have varying front-to-back tire sizes that don't make rotation feasible.) Not only will that help even out wear, "it will identify unusual wear that may be due to alignment problems," Edmonds says. Maintain proper alignment. Proper alignment means keeping the wheels perpendicular to the ground and parallel to each other so that they "track," or roll, straight. Improper alignment can cause excessive wear and steering problems. Maintain proper tire pressure. "This is the one area people neglect," Edmonds says." You can't eyeball a modern tire and see if it's low on air. You need to check it with a tire gauge." Proper inflation can extend the life of the tires as well as improve fuel mileage. Avoid aggressive starts, stops and swerves. "For a tire to work (in those situations), it has to leave a little bit of itself on the pavement," Edmonds says. Shopping for tires But suppose you've done all that and it's still time to visit the tire store? What's the best way to get the most for your dollar? Here are some things to consider: Price. As with anything else, shop around and compare brands. Assuming you're not buying new tires for your Corvette or for your Chevy Silverado 4x4 off-road beast, it may not be necessary to buy the most expensive rubber out there. Many so-called off-brands at discounters like Pep Boys are made by a brand-name company, but cost considerably less. Check all of the rating symbols on the sidewall to make sure you're looking at comparable tires when comparing prices. Speed rating. Check the speed rating on your current tire -- it's indicated by a letter on the sidewall -- usually S, T, H or V. This indicates the maximum-sustained speed for which that tire is designed. While an S-rated tire is good for 112 miles per hour, a buyer might be tempted to go for the cheaper Q-rated tires, which are good for 99 mph. But the speed rating involves more than top speed. It actually speaks to the overall capabilities of the tires when it comes to handling and operating temperature of a tire. Going to a lesser speed rating is possible, but generally isn't worth the savings. Size. Increasing tread width can possibly improve handling and braking, but going down in size will almost certainly degrade handling and braking. If your budget won't stretch to buy a $1,200 set of performance touring tires on that Chrysler 300, check the owner's manual for other tire options that may have been available when new. If you have to go to a different width or performance-level tire, pay attention to how it changes your car's road personality for the first several hundred miles. You don't want to suddenly find that your new tires can't take that freeway offramp at 60 mph the way the original tires did. Another word about changing tire sizes: It can affect the clearance in the wheel wells and suspension, and tires with a larger diameter will mean you'll have to have the speedometer recalibrated for accuracy. Add-ons. All new tires must be balanced, so check if it's included in the price or if there's an extra charge. Many stores discount the tire prices only to recoup the savings -- or more -- with high charges for balancing. Alignment. Getting new tires doesn't necessarily mean you need to pay for wheel alignment. If your car pulls to one side or another when traveling on a straight, flat, nongrooved road when you let go of the wheel, you may need an alignment. Hitting curbs is a good way to put your car out of alignment. But don't automatically get an alignment every time you buy tires. Uneven treadwear -- on one side of the tire or the other -- could mean there's an alignment problem. Uneven wear on the outside edges of a tire often means underinflation, while uneven wear only in the middle of a tire is a common sign of overinflation. Worn shocks or struts can also produce uneven wear, but these rarely come into play below 50,000 miles on most modern vehicles. If you need these repairs, shop around. A good deal on tires isn't a good deal if you get soaked for an alignment or new shocks or struts. Valve stems. Not all new tires require new valve stems. A rule of thumb is that unless they have been damaged by contact with curbs or other incidents, valve stems should be good for 80,000 miles or more. Some custom wheels come with metal valve stems -- as opposed to rubber -- and they should never need replacing unless damaged. Road-hazard warranty. Tire dealers will almost certainly try to sell you on this one. Before you agree, ask about any warranty the tire may come with automatically: This is usually based on a failure of the tire due to manufacturer defect, but not punctures or tread wear. And the add-on warranty from the tire dealer may cover punctures or other catastrophic failures. But read the fine print. Most will pay a prorated amount for a ruined tire, based on the amount of tread left. So if you have a blowout and there's only 25% of the tread left, you'll likely get 25% of the cost of a new tire -- not a new tire for free. As with extended warranties on new cars, extended warranties on new tires are simply a major profit center for the dealer and are best avoided. The best approach to getting new tires is to first research what's on your vehicle now and what sizes and types of tires the manufacturer recommended. Then evaluate your driving style and the types of road conditions you usually encounter. By Terry Jackson, Bankrate.com
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