I have a 90 Camry that will need 4 new tires by the next inspection. I realize there is a certain size tire that I must use but the rest of the options available are beyond me. May I have advice as to what I should ask for in a 4 season tire for a region that may get a little snow but won’t require a lot of snow driving. I realize I shouldn’t get the cheapest tires but tell me what are good ideas. Are places like Pep Boys or BJs inexpensive places to buy good tires?
I would highly recommend looking at tirerack.com for reviews of tires.
BJ’s is a decent place to get branded tires however they do not perform any alignments(if needed).
Beware of Pep Boys (installation is a killer there) , and never look at the tire price by itself, Always compare the mounted and balanced price. The tire price can be a teaser and they get you on installation. Love tirerack. if you look at their prices use about $9 per tire for shipping plus about 20-25 each to have them installed. Then comapre to the installed price locally. Most of the time tirerack is still cheaper then local with a huge selection. I have a 92 camry and due to mileage and age I went with inexpensive tires, the Fuzion brand made by bridgestone. So far they are a great tires for the price. Also have had good luck with the Kumhos and Yokohamas. Michilins on a 1990 may be way overkill. Michilins are great tires, just way way overpriced.
Pep Boys is bad news. Do you have a discount tyre place where you live or a place that sells alot of brands?
I’ve bought two sets of tires from BJs with no problems. I put Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires on my Windstar. Not a high performance tire by any means, but more than adequate for the type of driving we did. BJs includes the mounting, balancing, and road hazard in the tire price. Every few months, BJs mails out a coupon book with $30 to $50 coupon for a set of 4 tires. Pep Boys charges separately for mounting the tire. Depending on the options in the mounting package, it can get pretty pricey.
I have a 1993 Caprice that will need new tires due to the age of the current tires. Doing research at Tire Rack (www.tirerack.com), I’ve narrowed down the choice to Yokohama tires. The Aegis LS4 is an all season tire and the Avid ST is a performance all season tire. I’m leaning toward the Aegis LS4 at the moment. Spend some time on the website, there’s plenty of good tire info.
Good luck,
Ed B.
The best all-around tire I’ve had in more than 35 years of driving have been a set of Bridgestone Turanzas, which I purchased for one of my cars a few years ago. Shop around, and check out TireRack.com, as others have advised, but check out the Turanza line before you spend your money.
They are not cheap, but they have a great tread wear rating, are quiet and ride comfortably, and have delivered superb traction in all weather.
I USE to buy from BJ’s…until the local BJ’s tire place is now run by Monroe Muffler. I’m NOT pleased. They do other work if you need it…but they are such a sleeze outfit. Every time we took my wifes car there for a FREE rotation…they ALWAYS found some other service I NEEDED…WHICH I NEVER BOUGHT. But I HATE even dealing with these people…so I took my business elsewhere.
Go to tirerack.com and look at comparisons of passenger all-season radials and standard touring all-season radials. You don’t need anything more expensive. You should be happy with anything with all green ratings. Read the reviews of all those tires and see if there are features, like a quiet ride, that appeal to you. Narrow it down to about 3 to 5 tires and go looking for them at stores in your area. You might also consider buying the tires from Tire Rack and shipping them to you or your mechanic if he agrees in advance to mount them for you.
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Pep Boys is bad news.
Shame on you. Manny, Moe and Jack on south Broad Street in Philly were my uncles. We could get it for you wholesale.
I second this.
My favorite off brand was Power King/Snow King, but I’ll bet you won’t find them. I like General but not Cooper. Just don’t buy super cheap tires. Listen more to the other posts because I haven’t bought tires in about five years. When I did, I wouldn’t let them balance the tires. No warranty either. I bought cheaper tires so I could afford to replace them if anything went wrong.
Have three vehicles. Kellys on two of them, one is a town car (Lincoln) with Kelly supreme. Wife’s Olds has Kelly, Jeep Cherokee has Coopers. I rotate at 10-15K & live in the Ozarks, for road info. Have not paid over $250 for a set in my 50 yrs of cars…
I agree that tirerack.com is a good source of info and of tires. I have bought from them, and have also bought locally - when the tire their data helped me choose is available locally for a comparable price.
I would add that every recent November Consumer Reports has had tire reviews. The articles give good sound noncommercial info as well as test results.
Goodyear Viva Touring tires from Walmart (same as Goodyear Regatta) are the best all-season tires Ive ever had. Theyre great in summer and winter, and this is northern Michigan where it snows a lot.
I strongly recommend Costco for tires. They do not carry a huge selection in each size (most likely only one or two types in each size), but they are all high quality tires at very good prices.
In addition, Costco gives you a road hazard guarantee at no extra cost, as well as free rotations. I bought my B.F. Goodrich Touring T/A tires there, and I find them superior in every way to the Bridgestone Potenza RE-92 tires that originally came on the car.
I managed the family tire business in the 70’s - 80’s before coming to USA. Bridgestone & Yokohama are two of the best tires we carry. The rubber are better than most of the other brands. Too bad Costco doesn’t carry them anymore. I have been using them for years & they are #1 on my list to replace the or ginal tires from all my cars.