Midnight_Rider's progress log

[Midnight_Rider]

New shoes for the SRT today, Michelin 205/50 R17 93Y XL BSW. $5.54 less than the Michelin 205/50 R17 93V XL BSW ones I bought eight years ago! The old tires had less than 22.4K miles on them but needed to be replaced due to their age, not necessarily their wear (although I was told at Discount Tire that they were pretty close to the wear indicators as well). Certainly not an expense I was planning on on top of Carlisle but safety is paramount.

[occasional demons]

The wife's tires are 5 years old now, with ~5000 miles. They'll probably be dry rotting, with less than 10,000 miles.


I wouldn't expect the tires on any car with decent power to last the advertised warranty. Even if you never spin them, they are going to wear more under hard acceleration and braking. Adding to it, a higher wear rated tire is probably going to wear faster, because the compounds aren't as favorable to sticking to the pavement, and might actually be more dangerous in certain situations, given the better cornering/braking abilities and power output.

Granted tire technology has come a long way, but there are still compromises between sticking to the pavement, and lasting say, 60,000 miles.

Unless you never use the power on tap, then you might see the full mileage. But then why buy a car with over 100 hp...

[thomas_w]

The wife's tires are 5 years old now, with ~5000 miles. They'll probably be dry rotting, with less than 10,000 miles.


I wouldn't expect the tires on any car with decent power to last the advertised warranty. Even if you never spin them, they are going to wear more under hard acceleration and braking. Adding to it, a higher wear rated tire is probably going to wear faster, because the compounds aren't as favorable to sticking to the pavement, and might actually be more dangerous in certain situations, given the better cornering/braking abilities and power output.

Granted tire technology has come a long way, but there are still compromises between sticking to the pavement, and lasting say, 60,000 miles.

Unless you never use the power on tap, then you might see the full mileage. But then why buy a car with over 100 hp...

Off-topic but on one of my other cars, I had to replace the tires after 9 years simply because they started to leak due to dry rot. They did not look that bad and had maybe 60k on them (they were warranted for 90k). Fortunately, the dealer had a special when I bought the car where they would buy my tires as long as I get it serviced there. Pretty good deal as I probably had spent less up to that point in service than the new tires were worth.

[Midnight_Rider]

I was told six years is when replacement is recommended, even though my old tires had a 45K mileage warranty from Michelin. So it looks like, going forward, I'll be watching age rather than mileage when it comes to buying new tires (guess that I won't have to worry about it again until 2027).

[thomas_w]

I was told six years is when replacement is recommended, even though my old tires had a 45K mileage warranty from Michelin. So it looks like, going forward, I'll be watching age rather than mileage when it comes to buying new tires (guess that I won't have to worry about it again until 2027).

Yes, six years what I have read myself as well. Given that mine actually failed definitely suggest that you should not wait that as long as I did. I do not drive enough either to wear the tires down enough; so I will have to go by time and how much dry rot there is. Your car being in the garage most of the time should limit the dry rot issue so age is probably the one to look out for.

[occasional demons]

I was told six years is when replacement is recommended, even though my old tires had a 45K mileage warranty from Michelin. So it looks like, going forward, I'll be watching age rather than mileage when it comes to buying new tires (guess that I won't have to worry about it again until 2027).

Given you'll probably never wear them down (normal driving) before 6 years passes, you may as well enjoy a little wheel spin now and then when the Law isn't watching.

[occasional demons]

I have also read that tire dealers are not supposed to sell tires that are 6 years or older, even though they have never been mounted. Given that most are stored at least in a warehouse, and not out in the elements, that alone tells you something.

It's always wise to check the date code on tires, to be sure they didn't mount 5 year old tires.

I would refuse to pay.

Where I used to work, the place we had used, mounted tires that all matched, EXCEPT for the wear rating. I had no idea they sold different wear ratings within the same tire line.

They apologized and replaced the lower rated tires, whether it was an honest mistake or not, at least they took care of it.

I admit, I probably wouldn't have noticed that IF I was a tire tech being pushed to get it all done in a certain time frame. (I worked at a place that required you to dismount, mount and balance all 4 tires, check the fluids and brakes in a half hour or less. Nevermind some of the drum brakes and diff plugs were nearly impossible to remove.

But this place didn't get in a hurry. You were lucky to get 4 tires installed in under an hour and a half. If you got tires and an alignment, you were there for nearly 3 hours.

So yeah, know what the sidewall info tells you, and make sure it's correct before you pay, or at least leave the property.

If you don't know 100%, have the counter person go with you and verify it all matches. Any decent place will do that for good PR.

[Midnight_Rider]

Given you'll probably never wear them down (normal driving) before 6 years passes, you may as well enjoy a little wheel spin now and then when the Law isn't watching.

You're right!

I had already annoyed the sales rep by asking him to allow my inspecting the new tires for place of manufacture before they were mounted. He offered to check one of them while I waited in the CS waiting area but I insisted on seeing all four of them. He then took me out on the shop floor and upstairs to where the tires were being stored. I then checked the sidewalls to make sure that all four were made in USA- then I gave the "okay" for them to be mounted. My sales rep told me that he thought that tire age was more important then manufacturer mileage warranties and I agreed, especially for the type of driving that I do (little to none since my car is so spoiled ).

[Midnight_Rider]

After calling the hotline for Michelin rebates and being told that there were none at present since I had purchased at Discount Tire, imagine my surprise when Michelin emailed me about rebates! I uploaded the sales receipt so let's see what happens.

Mobil is also having rebates so I bought a 5-quart jug of synthetic 5W 30 oil for next year's oil change and uploaded the receipt. I'm supposed to receive a $10 VISA gift card in the mail.

Just for the heck of it, I ordered a P4510923 package of water jets (backup for my Stage 2 Toys intercooler sprayer) from both Monicatti Chrysler and MoparPartsGiant. Monicatti showed no progress so I canceled the order. MoparPartsGiant billed my credit card and then emailed that this is a discontinued part (yeah, I know... but they still show it as being available on their website DUH!). i canceled that order as well. I'm still hoping to find out what size the jets are so that I can order them from a UK vendor (I didn't take the time to log this when I got the jets that are installed on my SRT and I would have to remove the bumper to get a gander). Even OD doesn't know... does anyone else here know?