Tires can be negotiated too.

 

I know my dad this is a long time ago....his thing was he didn't want optional rims, and on a Toyota, they swapped the alloy rims for steel, and deducted the amount on the sticker... I'd be curious, say there are 15 nx 200t's on the lot. I want the red one, but I want the Dunlops off of another nxt200 and don't want Yokohamas or Bridgestones, because I want a traction A and not B (legit concern), and the rims are the same so there's no money factor, will they do it?

 

Most, but not all dealers will make the swap for you, since it's effectively same for same.

 

to close the sale, i'm sure, unless it really affected the money somehow.

 

I haven't seen any tire- shops here in the D.C. area that actually do that (haggle or negotiate), but I'll take your word for if you have actually seen it in FL (or elsewhere). I still have one of those old yellow-and-blue NTB/NTW (National Tire and Battery) VIP cards that give you an automatic 10% off for just showing it.....in addition to any existing discounts. I've let friends and family use it on occasion.

 

My father did this once. He liked and wanted the car but did not like the OEM tires so had the dealer swap for a preferred brand.

 

Oh, OK....apples and oranges. Perhaps I was thinking of the wrong issue my last post. Yes, I've certainly heard of dealer-swaps happening.

 

my comment had absolutely nothing to do with tire shops. johnhav430 was talking about buying a car but hesitating because of not liking the tires on it. my point was the dealer will consider changing them to make the sale.

 

OK....like I said in my last post, I did not realize you were talking about dealer-swaps. That was clarified.

Decades ago, Michelins were (overall) clearly the best tires on the market. Today, though, much of the rest of the tire industry is catching up....particularly Continental and their Contipros. Many people still feel that they have to put Michelins on to have the best....that is sometimes true, but other times wishful thinking. Michelin, though, can charge the prices they do because of their past reputation.

 

Michelin may be charging the prices they do because of the quality that goes into the tire. They are continually rated ontop, and that can easily be due to the cost of a higher standard (materials, testing, design, etc.). I don't think they come up with a high price just because they feel they can get away with it.
Btw, my dad's newish Hyundai Santa Fe came with fancy Continental tires. They ended up being the worst tires we've ever had. After about 21k miles (with plenty of tread left), they hummed and sang so loud we had to have the car inspected by the dealer several times to make sure there wasn't a bearing or other problem. A quick look in some Hyundai forums confirmed similar experiences. We were surprised a modern company such as Continental could not figure a way to make a tire that didn't make a vehicle sound like it was falling apart. The minute he bought new tires (Michelins), it was a whisper quiet ride.

 

My wife who has been doing payroll for 25 years and upon buying a new car it took all of five seconds for her to see they added "insurance" (I think it was that) buried into the final negotiations when we told them we already had insurance. No fault of the sales person but finance. The sales person was pissed. We almost walked out. Talk about slimy move trying to pocket an extra $500.

 

A decade ago I had a pretty savvy colleague, at the time I considered her "older" lol, and in retrospect, wiser. She's the one who told me to do two things--pay every penny that you have extra towards your mortgage, and refi it in the future from a 30 yr. to a 15 yr. if the rates trend down. Then, she said when buying a car, she always researches a) what tire it comes with b) what it costs to replace I thought that was pretty smart, and I totally forgot to tell my buddy to check this, because we went through this just two months ago when he got a flat with the Audi A3 loaner (had it for mos.). There were Conti OE's, and non OE's. The non-OE's were cheaper, and had a higher treadwear, so that's what he bought. I think car cos. are still cutting costs and trying to do so in ways that the majority would not notice. I just think that a tire from the factory with a B traction rating is unacceptable, when we're talking about a brand new Lexus....

 

I don't mind being honest when I get burned in life. When I bought my BMW new, imho the insurance hadn't caught up with the costs.....so I was offered a tire protection package for $390. This was actually less than the cost of 1 tire. A guy at a poker game said it's absolutely worth it, he already got 3 on his Z4, runflats are horrible, expensive, and must be replaced when they get a puncture or are driven on flat. So I took it. Not a single thing happened in 5 years. Also, once 5 years passed, 3 punctures which I plugged myself (a no-no but I'm not going to buy a new tire and I never drove 150 mph anyway). A few years ago I heard that same warranty was over $1000, as if they did factor in the rft tires....also I'll tell you this. An unscrupulous (surprise surprise) SA at a BMW dealership told me I'm not telling you what to do but if I were you I'd drive over to a construction area and pickup a few nails before it expires, and he winked. I don't play that game....

 

If a car is only a tool or appliance to you then perhaps. However, seeing that we're on a car enthusiasts website I think most here are worried about other attributes of a car other than what "replacement tires cost".

Did I read this right? Did he buy tires for an Audi loaner?

 

I think it's wise to do some research, even on a M3, Corvette, you want to know what you're getting. I looked up Bridgestone RE050A RFTs at the time and was a bit disgusted by the price and low treadwear (140 A A), but it didn't stop me. In real life, the tires went around 41k, at which time I went to much cheaper Pilot Super Sports non RFT.

Yeah he had two Audi A3's for about 9 mos., and his wife racked up like 30k across the two. But she got a flat, flats are not generally covered on loaners/rentals so they bought 1 Conti to replace the one that went flat, and never mentioned it to the dealer....the things car dealers/mfgs will do to avoid class actions....which bmw lost anyway but not audi...