Hi friends,
I drove from Maine to Kentucky in January with expensive snow tires on. I have decided to stay in Kentucky until June, when I will drive back north. I have tires sitting in the garage in Maine that have 25,000 miles on them. The snow tires have less than 4,000 miles on them. Do you think it is worth it to buy new regular tires in Kentucky and save the snow tires, or should I just ware down the snow tires?
Thanks for advice,
First-time car owner
In the future buy good All Season tires and run them all year. There is no real need for snow tires
Wear down the snows or if you can afford to but good all seasons and sell the snows
Save the money. Leave the winter tires on until you get back up north. Then change over to the all season tires. I run winter tires on my truck all year round. Not are they only good in snow, but they also provide excellent traction in mud.
Tester
It is up to you. All season tyres are really three season. If you have real snow issues, you don’t want all season tyres, but many people who get a little snow think of it as a lot of snow. You have to decide for yourself.
A lot of people believe they need winter tyres, when infect they really don’t. All seasons are fine for reasonable amounts of snow in many areas. However they certainly will not handle as well or as safe as real winter tyres on snow or ice.
I would (and do) buy winter tyres and a set of rims with winter tyres, Winter I have the winter tyres and the rest of the year I have all seasons. In my opinion the extra safety is with the extra cost and bother.
Unless you are going to drive a lot of miles between now and your return trip to Maine, I would recommend that you drive on the snow tires. I wouldn’t drive at excessively high speeds, but if you drive within the speed limits, you’ll be fine.
Winter tires are not a need for most, but an item for people who value extra safety and for some the difference between walking up a driveway/backroad vs driving event free.
Unless the regular tires with 25K are totally worn out, just run the winter tires until you get back to Maine. If won’t run off that many miles off the winter tires. I have winter tires for my Civic that were purchased in '03 and still have loads of tread. I left them on all last summer just to wear them down some. No worry run the winter tires for now.
To me the amount of snow the area gets determines if you NEED snows or not. Here in Southern NH we only average about 40" year. And most of that will come in 2-3 storms. So 2-3 days you either need snows or you just stay in.
Areas like Upstate NY or Upper Michigan where areas can average 250" of snow…And MOST of that comes 8-10" at a time in Lake Effect snow…then snow tires are NECESSARY. Without them you’d be a shut-in for much of the winter.
That’s great, I feel good about the decision not to buy new tires! Thanks.