My kid has small suv with 235/65/16 tires and steel wheels. Rather odd size, as in hard to find used. Their tires have 1/3 tread left. Not so good for winter snow. A new set is $450-500. I found a seller with exact wheels mounted with 1/2 worn blizzaks for $100. I say get them and use them this winter than maybe buy new all season tires next summer? We might even be able to sell blizzaks next yr for 100.
I’d do it.
Plenty of people are extremely risk-averse round here and won’t touch used tires. I don’t think there’s all that much difference between buying used tires, and buying a used car and not immediately buying four new tires.
Make sure you can determine date of manufacture. I wouldn’t pay money for tires > 5 y.o., though I might use them if they were free.
A half worn snow is not a snow anymore.
Tirerack sells winter tires your kid’s size for $99 each. Isn’t good traction worth that much extra? It is, after all, a safety item.
Is it $100 per wheel, for $400 total? or $100 for all 4 wheels with the 1/2 worn Blizzaks? At $100 for 4, this is a good deal for the wheels alone. $400 might be a decent deal, but I’d have to think about it and really take a look at those tires.
100 for whole package. It’s a GM so It has 5x115 bolt pattern. 16" fwd rims are easy to sell. Folks seem to want them. I know the blizzaks are better than their more worn a/s tires. Seller wanted 150 but he admits the tires really won’t fit on most sedans so it is making it harder to sell them as a package. They are 28" dia
$100 total - it’s a good deal IMO. Jump on it!
I agree uncle turbo. Have a tire man check out the tires AND RIMS FOR DAMAGE. A half worm snow tire has better snow traction by far then a new all season tire. Just make sure the rims aren’t damaged and they fiT exactly with tires that match the sizes in the manual. Any doubt at all, take them to a garage and pay for a test fit. If they are OK…then buy the tires and rims with that proviso. It should cost no more then a rotation and you can just leave them on if they fit and then pay the guy.
You will do well with the wheels and tires for that price.
i also found a set of 4 unmounted blizzaks for $75 total. same size. 2 are at 8/32 and 2 are at 5/32. the suv is fwd so the slight mismatch is not a big deal. probably gonna go with the mounted set for $25 more
$100 for the wheels alone is a good deal, so you should snap 'em up and then mount good winter tires to them. Then keep the original wheels for summer tires.
meanjoe75fan wrote:
I don’t think there’s all that much difference between buying used tires, and buying a used car and not immediately buying four new tires.
I do. Someone went out of their way to remove the used tires from their vehicle. There’s probably a good reason for that.
^But…not from the rims! If the tires were junk, you’d think they’d take 'em off the rims.
What I get out of the very little bit of info we’ve got is somebody owned a vehicle that they bothered to put snows on, cared enough to buy very GOOD snows, and had the foresight to have seperate rims for the snows, so they weren’t switching every year–all of which is very promising!
When I sold my mom’s car for her, I disposed of her snows similarly: told her I’d get more for them separately than as a “package,” put them on c-list and got $195 for four snows on alloy rims. There’s a LOT of reasons one gets rid of tires, besides them being no good! (No longer owning the car that they go to is a BIG reason…)
I think four quality snows, mounted on rims, is a STEAL at $100!
If they removed winter tires on rims, it’s often because they trade in the previously owned car and the dealer wants nothing to do with the snows on rims. That has happened to me on several occasions, the last being a RAV4. I have a good golf buddy with a RAV and just gave him the half worn snows on rims to do with as he pleased when we bought a new car. We got nine good years out of the rims, we will never own a car with that rim size in the short time we have left to live (relatively speaking) and my friend is on a fixed income with an ailing wife. It just made sense. Even used rims can be expensive…$100 is a great deal for four rims that are in good shape.
From the Tire Rack site:
The first 55% of a Blizzak tire, like the WS70 for example, uses the winter Multicell compound. There are taller wear bars that'll indicate when the end of the compound is close. Below this is not an all-season compound, but a standard winter compound. Because the Multicell compound is more flexible, using a standard winter compound for the base makes the tread more stable.A major point that is often overlooked is that any winter / snow tire, regardless of compound, loses much of its effectiveness when the tread is too shallow. It’s not recommended to go through a winter with snow tires of any brand that start the season with less than 6/32" of remaining tread depth.
Yeah, well, whattya expect for a lousy $100?
You’d still be getting better winter tires, with more tread than ya got now, for a great price. If money were no object, you’d buy new…but money generally IS an object.
$100? Jump on it. They’ll be better than the all-seasons on the car and by next winter you’ll have saved up enough to put new snows on your winter wheels.
lion9ca
If it is a matched set of 4 snow tires on rims the reason for removing them from the car was probably Spring. And now they no longer have the car.
Why worry about why someone is selling the rims? If they are solid, they buy them. And then put new snows on them, put them on the vehicle, and next Spring swap them with the all season set. It does not cost more to own 2 sets of wheels (except for the initial cost of the rims) because the tires last twice as long when they are used only half the time. If money is tight then you can change over from one set to the other yourself. Just store the extra set in big plastic “contractor” bags.