I purchased my 06 is350 earlier this year. I am having a blast whenever I drive the car. (sport package)

When I purchased it, a set of 18" Pirelli 240 Snowsport winter tires came as a package deal. The previous owner had used it for one winter and the treads still look very good. The dealer quoted me $160 for installation/balance to swap the tires. I drive the car once/twice a week and I will be trying to avoid driving as much as possible on snow. Hence, I can't justify spending $320 a year (at least) to use the winter tire for maybe 3 months or so (Boston, MA).
Of course, I am not planning to use the OEM summer tires in the winter. Eventually, I am going to get all-season tires.

My options so far are:
1. Bite the bullet and keep swapping them every year untill both sets die on me and get a set of AS tires.
2. Get a set of all season tires (Continental Extremecontact) and sell the ones I have.

Coming from Montreal, Quebec, the amount of snow and duration of winter in Boston are jokes.
What do you think?
Any better idea?

 

Put the snows on the stocks and get aftermarket wheels. DONE!

 

lol

I wish I could do that.
I am trying to save up as much as possible for more education...
Resisting the mods is a true challenge though.

 

Why are you paying dealer labor rates to mount tires? Go to Tire Rack's website and check out their recommended installer program. There you can see the prices charged by shops in your area, as well as rating and reviews of each establishment by customers that have used them. I'll bet you can find a good shop that charges half the amount you were quoted.

 

I tried tirerack's recommended installer, and they ran around ($20-25 + $3-5 TMPS service) / tire. It comes out to be at least $110 total... Still not "that" cheap.

Anyways, I take it that you think I should swap them?

 

It sounds like this is your daily driver. I would not skimp on the tire issue. I live in Illinois and I imagine weather patterns aren't too different from Boston's. Snow is not your only concern--it's slush, sleet, freezing rain, ice, etc. A rear wheel drive car like the 350 needs dedicated winter rubber, IMO. Even all-seasons will be dodgy on RWD if the weather gets a bit rough. I have dedicated winter tires (Dunlops) that I keep mounted for five months a year. Bite the bullet--your safety deserves it.

 

It would be a waste to own a good set of winter tires and not use them. For around $70 per wheel you could get a second set of rims for the snow tires so it is a true swap that you could do yourself. One season's worth of swaps at the dealer rate would get you the set of rims for the snow tires. All is takes is one slip off the road or into another car to cost you much more than the cost of putting the snow tires on the car.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I commute on public transportation system and only use the car only when necessary (church, grocery etc). If I had to drive to work, I would definitely put winter tires on without doubt. It's the fact that I only drive once/twice a week that troubles me.

Do you swap the tires, or do you have dedicated wheel/tire for the winter?

If I can find 18" winter wheels/rims that cheap, I'd definitely go this route! The only drawback is that it'll be expensive to replace 18" winter tires in a few years to get the use of the 18" rims.
I won't use the TPMS sensors in the winter setup. As long as I don't mind the warning sign on the dash, there's no other issues, right?

 

I have a separate rim/tire setup for winter with its own TPMS sensors. The winter tires are on from beginning of November until end of March. Given your infrequent driving requirements, it sounds like you can "work around" the spurts of bad weather such that all-seasons might be good enough. Winter tires have saved my hide on several occasions, so I guess I'm kind of biased...

 

I'm in CT w/ an IS250AWD. This car replaced my jeep and it was great last year in the snow, handled as well if not better than the Jeep.

I use -1 mounted snows w/ their own sensors which I got from Discount Tire. They arrive ready to bolt on and pay for themselves in a couple of seasons. I dropped back to 16" from 17" for the highr profile to better cut through the snow. I usually put the wheels on myself (I have a compressor in the garage), but I have had the dealer do it instead of a rotation. If you do this remember to have them mark the wheels so you can rotate next year.

This also extends the life of the summer tires. If you are near the end ofthe life of your tires, you may wat to put the snows on the stock rims and wait 'til sprng to put on aftermarket rims and new tires. A nice way to start the driving season

I've found the Hankook W300 snows to handle nicely on dry or wet roads.

Finally, unless you have a negotiating position the dealer is the worst place to go for tire change over. My local dealer wanted over $300 to swap tires on my SC, TownFair ( I don't know if they're in Mass.) wanted $75 (that was on stock rims no mving TPMS).

 

^i have to agree if your goin to the dealer expect the service and the wheels to be expensive. i say keep them and swap them every year. its not that expensive, 320 is a bit much, go somewhere else. nothing is more important than ur own safety.

 

I decided to get a cheap set of rims for the winter tires I have. I'll end up saving money in a couple of years b/c I change them on my own.

I placed a bid on the used stock 18" rims for $400 total to put the winter tires I have. It was the cheapest set I found online. The bid ends tonight. We'll see how it goes.

 

 

Last night, I realized that I need to make at least 1 or 2 trips to Montreal to see my gf in the winter.