BatmobileX

UPDATE: Well I contacted my Lexus service guy, who I have had dealings with before and asked if they'd bump down the Lexus price of $307 per tire (Michelin Latitude Tour HP) to match the price at either Costco or Tire Kingdom of around $250. He said he couldn't give me that much of a cut but was honest enough to say that most of his people buy their tires at Costco and there would be no warranty issues.

So I went and ordered my tires from Costco (There were some add-ons I didn't anticipate but I also had the $70 coupon) and with tax it came out to $1006 out the door, which is a savings of over $200 plus the gas it will take me to get to the Lexus dealership. So all's well that ends well (I hope).

rxsuperman

.......and your tires are now riding on exciting nitrogen (with green valve caps) instead of boring plain old air......

BatmobileX

Yeah I saw that. What happens if a tire gets low? Can I put in air with the nitrogen?

rxsuperman

Yes you can add air if needed but the purpose of using pure nitrogen is because it has larger air molecules to minimize air loss through normal tire use. Costco can also refill your tires with nitrogen as needed free of charge.

dctex99

Wow; wish I had ugly green caps and nitrogen.... I worked at a company that sold Nitrogen refills to use to blow out dirty condenser coils; cheapest gas around; probably 2 Cents to fill your tires; caps probably cost 3 cents each....lol. In early years people used R12 & R22 Refrigerant to clean coils as they did not know it polluted the atmosphere. Funny, I remember a Tech telling me once 20 years ago that he used his Nitrogen to fill up a low tire to get to a tire store to have it fixed; he was worried it might deteriorate the rubber....

lexo98

iTrader: (2)

Ive worked for Costco and I use to sell tires to a Lexus Service Manager for his families vehicles. He said that even for him there was more value in buying his tires at Costco.

BatmobileX

Well I got my new tires today and I have to say the ride is really smooth so I think it was worth the extra $$$ for the Latitude Tour HPs. But I'm not sure what you guys are talking about with the green caps. One of mine looks like this.

[IMG][/IMG]

And the other three look like this.

[IMG][/IMG]


What's up with that? Should I ask them to put green caps on so in the future service guys know to fill with nitrogen?

BertL

Oh, that is priceless. Some love the green caps that many tire companies put on to designate "nitrogen filled", other owners change them back to silver or something else, and well, it seems some dealers don't change them to green in the first place. Wonderful. (Personally, it's all good. If I had nitorgen in my tires I would change the caps back to silver just so they didn't stand outing my georgeous silver wheels, but... Add nitrogen yourself when you need it or just put regular air in -- depending on your opinion of the many other posts on the subject here.)

Congrats on the new tires BTW. Will be interested to hear how they are doing and how you like them after you get a few miles down the road.

2008M3

I just got the Michelin Latitude Tour HP from Costco and they are awesome. I have the 18 inch rims.

One thing I noticed was that the costco worker tried to sell me the 103V because they were cheaper than the 102V.

I first ordered the 103V because it was cheaper, but after coming home and doing some research I realized the OEM are 102V.

The 103V come OEM on Range Rover's I believe after speaking to Michelin.

The 103V weigh around 31 lbs and the 102V weigh around 29 LBS.

I called in and changed my order to the 102V for two reasons:

1. They are the OEM equivalents.
2. They are lighter which means you should technically get better gas mileage.

Just letting you guys know what I discovered.

I hope these Michelin's have tougher rubber as the Bridgstone Dueler's that came with the car were very soft and often got rips and tears in the tread.

RoverBoi88

i work for costco and love the tires (michelins) and free nitrogen they give! but lately ive moved onto sport SUVs and sport cars that carry 21" rims... therefore costco rarely has low profile tires specific for cars. Usually i will go to Wheel Works and negotiate something, and they price match!

SteveCraig

Just put 4 new 19" Michelin Latitude tour HP tires on my wife's car............she drives the Lexus.
All set to buy them at Costco when I called the local Lexus dealer asked about buying the sensors.
Discussion led to tire prices, he offered a quote & I accepted. Priced well below Costco, that's the part I was surprised at ! My $ 70.00 rebate arrived yesterday.

BatmobileX

Lucky you! My guy would not deal. I guess it varies by location.

ejm3

I normally buy my tires from Tire Rack.
However last time I bought tires from BJ's and had no issues.

But as noted these warehouse clubs don't do alignments so you're going to have to take it somewhere to get that done, likely around $100 for a 4-wheel alignment..

I'm not sure of the benefits of nitrogen in your tires since the air we all breathe is like 90% nitrogen anyway.

sightdev

I went with Primacy MXV4 and it is extremely soft but also extremely quieter than any other tires I have used. Price of tires fluctuate from season to season. I was happy with OEM Duelers but Primacy MXV4 is definitely the perfect tire for my RX and purpose. also recently replaced tires on my other vehicle with Primacy MXM4 and its definitely little more sportier but both tires have very good traction in dry/wet/snow and are both LRR.

nitrogen is definitely have advantages and most notable is less fluctuation in pressure hence less condensation buildup inside the tires that can cause "rusting" and premature failure of TPM.