I have a 2014 Ford Fusion Front-Wheel-Drive with 40,000 miles on it. Recently got a nail in the corner (near sidewall) which I don’t think can be plugged. The tires show very little wear and specs show at least 25k miles left on them - I plan on selling the car by then, so would rather not replace all the tires.
I know you usually have to replace the tires in pairs, however tirerack.com offers a tire shaving service. I could purchase the OEM Tire (Michelin Energy Saver A/S 235/50R17 96H Touring) shaved down to match the other 3 tires, and installed for around $250.
Would you recommend this? I’m guessing my other options would be to purchase 2 less expensive tires, or replace all 4 tires. Thank you!
That’s not something I would do. How would TR know how much to shave them? And $250 to mess around with one tire? I think you need to take another look at your tires though with 40,000 on four year old original tires. I suspect they are more worn than you think they are and probably ought to just be replaced at this point, or just get two new ones.
You can get the same size tires , two for the rear of vehicle for less that 250.00 so why have one shaved ? I am with Bing, you are going to need tires soon anyway.
Thanks for the input! This is the first time I’ve ever bought tires - what would you recommend in looking for?
If I buy the same Michelin Energy Saver tires, I’m looking at $650 for the 4 tires + install. This is much more than I’m looking to spend on a car I’m going to keep 1-2 years. However, I don’t want to buy cheap tires if it means compromising safety.
The word is research, look on line at the tire stores near you and places like Sams Wholesale or Costco . It is not that difficult and you are only going to keep the vehicle for 2 years.
Like I said before, I rely on what my tire shop tells me. If you are going to sell the car anyway, I see no reason to go with high priced and energy efficient tires that are harder tires-but I’m no expert. At any rate, I put General Tires on my Pontiac twice and am very happy with them. I don’t remember what the cost (between 4-600, I’d have to look it up-$584 out the door) was but I think actually that $650 is not too bad. The Generals are made in US with good traction in rain and snow, quiet, etc. They don’t seem to wear as long but who cares? I think I got 35-40K on my old set and replaced when they were at 5/32.
tirerack.com has a very informative website, including a tire selection guide. November issues of Consumer Reports also have test data and ratings. Start by knowing the correct size - on a sticker on your drivers door jamb or maybe the glove compartment door.
If you get good new tires I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. And a buyer a year or two hence will have one less thing to worry about.
Nothing against TR but I just haven’t found it that useful, like I have said before. I have had some trouble just finding the same tire that I have or what is available from the dealer or tire shop. Maybe same brand but always something a little different. Yet prices are very close to local prices. The customer reviews really are worthless because for any given tire the reviews range from poor to excellent for the same tire. I guess just like Yelp. The TR reviews seem to be a little more unbiased and useful, however. That’s why I still rely on my local shop.
Why not get one new tire to match the other front.
Then rotate the tires so the old rears go up front.
Then you would have the mismatched tires on the rear, where it makes no difference to the rear axles what tires are on the rear. Mismatched would not hurt a thing.
If they already had 40k on them and were approaching the 5 year mark, I’d probably just get a new set. You can get a set of Michelin Defenders (very good tires) for around $600-$650 installed. If you go through with one-shaved tire deal, when you sell the car, it’s going to have worn tires and whatever offers you get for the car will reflect the cost of a new set of tires (that the car will need) anyway. So you’re going to pay either way.
Reminds me of a Corolla wagon I bought from a college roommate. He said “the brakes work - you just have to pump them.” Each of the 4 tires was a different brand. The spare was another brand. I had a lot of fun with that $400 car for a couple years, mostly fixing it and some trips including one all the way across Wisconsin and back. Stored for the winter, the mice took over and I had it towed away come summer.
I guess I’m pretty much convinced that buying 4 matching tires that have good reports about wear, now, is the solution. When you go to sell you will otherwise have 3 or 4 worn out tires on the car, and you’ll have a harder time selling it. People are lazy, and they don’t want to buy a used car that needs anything at all. The best sales pitch is “It doesn’t need anything!”
One of my college friends had a rust-bucket '59 Pontiac.
While all 4 of its tires were the same brand (Delta), they were all different Delta models/tread patterns, and there were at least 2 different tire sizes involved in that mix.
The first 10 or so cars I owned had mixed tires. They were all such heaps I never could tell any difference, and I drove from near New York to Utah several times as well as other 300 to 500 mile trips.
My friend with the 4 different Delta tires drove like Grandma, so the wildly varying coefficients of friction were probably not a problem for him.
My biggest fears when driving with him were the possibility of being rear-ended by people driving at a normal speed, and the possibility of being T-boned when he pulled into a driveway. He apparently feared entering a driveway at more than 5 mph much more than he feared being T-boned by traffic.
If I had that problem I’d do what @Yosemite suggests above, move the two good matching rear tires to the front, and put the new tire on the back, with the remaining good tire on the other side.
