Getting new tires and Alignment

kaimui22

Hi everyone,

I know I need to get new tires for my car...this guy who usually works on my car suggested Goodyear TripleTred tires
he said for 4 wheels + alignment it'll cost me about $950

but I also went online at Costco.ca and found that I can get MMichelin - Symmetry® tires for about $620 a set..without alignment

which option should I choose? $950 for better tires with alignment or can I actually get the $620 tires installed and find someone/some place to do the alignment for me?

Also how much does alignment cost on average at car repair places?

BTW, the tires I need are 225/70R16

Thanks for everyone's help in advance!

kaimui22

thanks for the link chobit...it seems Tripletred is A LOT better than Symmetry

Derek128 : i drive Lexus RX300

kaimui22

Derek128 :

Actually I got my car used in 2006..I was driving a BMW before and that required a tire change every 3 or so years. I think the last time the Lexus got a tire change was back in 2004...so this car's tire has been thru about 4 years of use. But now we're actually not sure if we want to stick with this car or get a new one because the RX300 isn't quite big enough to fit 2 car seats. ha..we are actually considering a minivan now.

It would be a waste to change the tires on a car we are about to sell, right? When trading in for a car, I don't think dealers would consider new tires such an incentive to give us a better price.

kaimui22

actually i just spent a couple hundred bucks changing the timing belt, cleaning the fans, changing the fluids, oil change..etc etc...

it's just the tires that i haven't touched yet


the last time i traded in a car, they didn't even take a test drive and offered money for it right away...actually the offered more than what the blackbook said my car would be worth
i guess they offered that much because i was buying a car from them..
all they did was print an icbc report, took a look at the car and offered a price

kaimui22

update :

ended up trading in RX300 for Sienna...haha
we tried a couple of other minivans but this drove the most similar to Lexus..
also we didn't change the tires on the Lexus since we were gonna sell it...saved another $1000 there

the dealership ended up giving us an extra $2000 on top of the black book top value for our Lexus
I guess they were trying to get rid of their stock with the economy doing so bad...also we got the Toyota Graduate rebate so saved another $500 there.

as for those asking about the car seat issue, yes, an RX300 can fit 2 car seats...but we also have 4 adults! Actually my parents already have a minivan but theirs is a super old caravan that won't be able to fit 2 car seats + 2 strollers...so we ended up with the Sienna with the huge trunk.

now i wanna ask about installing backup sensors..is it best to go back to the dealership to install? I've read some horror stories about aftermarket sensors that got water inside or malfunctioned or beeped all the time....also what price range am I looking at?