Hi hunters,
It's time to buy new tyres and get a wheel alignment on my car. As a student living on noodles and working part time money becomes a priority! I don't know much about car tyres, where to look or what to buy so any help will be grand!
Thanks! :D
Helps if you post your tyre size! It's the weird numbers on the side, usually looks like…well, on mine, I think last time I checked 205/45/17. :) That way we can look for the cheapest deal.
What car do you drive? I've got a set of stockwheels off my 08 barina in SA
My first advice is don't buy 'Bob Jane All Rounders' they are rubbish. I bought a pair once & they wore out very quickly.
My most recent experience was going into a Kmart to get cheap tyres as per their catalogue for around $90-$100 each. They had ABSOLUTELY NONE of the cheap catalogue tyres in stock. So much for being a cheap tyre outlet! And I drive a normal sized vehicle. I ended up buying tyres at around $140 each. Next time I will shop around & confirm the price before booking in to a tyre dealer.
My other learning experience was buying 2 new tyres a few years ago, & the guy asked if I wanted insurance for about $7 extra per tyre (in case I got a puncture, etc). I got the insurance on both tyres. After I left realised I should have only bought insurance for one tyre, as what are the odds of flats on both new tyres??? So I wasted $7 insuring the 2nd tyre… Never had a flat on either tyre, as it turned out.
Cheapest option is buy 2 new tyres, put them on the front wheels & get the wheel alignment. Ask the mechanic to pick the 2 best older tyres (from the 4 on the car plus the spare), & fit them to the back wheels. They will do this swapover for no extra charge. You might be able to get a few more months driving out of 2 older tyres on the back. Give you time to save up to buy another 2 new ones. Unless all 5 tyres are really gone this can be a temporary solution.
Also helps that the 2 new ones are on the front wheels, as these are your steering. You need the new tyre grip here the most. If your car is front wheel drive this is another plus, as this is where the power meets the road. You want a response here when you put your foot on the accelerator. Bad tyres don't accelerate efficiently.
My car is front wheel drive. I always get the new tyres fitted to the front for this reason. When the front tyres start slipping on a wet road when I accelerate from the traffic lights I know it's time to change them.
If you ever drive at speed (ie greater than 80), avoid re-treads (ie a new layer of rubber glued onto an old, used tyre). They're clearly the cheapest option, but they have a speed limitation on them and 80 is about the limit.. more than that and you risk the tyre delaminating on you, not only dangerous, but also damaging to the car.
All the tyre fitting companies have their own ("cheap") brands of tyre these days they sell for ~$100 depending on the size.. shop around Bob Jane, Beaurepairs and Tyrepower to see who can do the best deal.
Get your tyre size off the sidewall of any of your existing tyres.. should be something like P205/65 R16 95 V.. all that info is pretty important it tells them the Width, height, diameter, load rating and speed rating.
Also ask about secondhand tyres… When people buy a set of Mags, their old Wheels/Tyres get resold by the company that fitted the mags (and new tyres).