My 2011 Outlander ES (4-cyl FWD) has about 28,000 miles on it. Recently, I had to take it in to examine a tire that kept losing pressure. Sure enough, it had a nail embedded in it.

Something the shop and I both noticed was that the tread on the tires was getting a bit low. The shop (VA Tire and Auto, Chantilly, VA) said that the tread was around 4/32" to 5/32" so I should look at replacing these tires soon. This place gave me quotes on Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max and Firestone Destination tires. The Goodyears are about $760 including labor and tax, but not including alignment and tire protection policy. The shop said I could probably get about $80 in discounts and rebates, also. The Firestones went for about $100 less and also the possibility of a $50 rebate or so.

Since we are also members of BJs I went to get an estimate from their tire store. They said that they did not have tires that met the manufacturer's speed rating, but gave me quotes on some tires that they said fit. BF Goodrich Long Trail were $536, and Michelin Lattitude were $660 (both were out the door prices). BJs does not do alignments or charge extra for protection policies.

Do you all have any recommendations on these tires? Would you go for tires that were a bit below the manufacturer's speed rating? Would handling be that badly affected? Any other tire recommendations? We do have an NTB nearby, and sometimes they offer deals on alignments as well. Since we are not yet desperate I wanted to be able to take my time and make an informed decision.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

I see there is a Firestone up in Sterling. If that isn't too much of a drive, i'd have them quote it out for the sole purpose of lifetime alignments. I have Destination LE tires on my Ranger...great tires. We had Firestone/Bridgestone Dueler Alenza tires previously on the Outlander, which were also good, but brought our gas mileage down from the OEM Geolander tires. Our latest set were there Firestone/Bridgestone Ecopia tires which is their LRR tires. We have seen a jump in gas mileage, but tires feel a bit spongy. I think they perform acceptable for commuting and such.

Firestone offers a lifetime alignment deal that is good for the life of the vehicle...not just the tires. We bought our deal when we first put tires on at 45k miles...and have them align it every 7.5k miles. They said the #1 reason people burn off tires is due to mis-alignments. So we make sure they are aligned often. They also have a life-of-the-tire balance deal where you can at least have them check the balance as often as you want.

Lastly, if you open up a card with them, you get 6-months no interest over 300. If you can stick to a payment plan, it makes buying tires much easier on the pocket book.

 

Thanks, ccernst. Sterling is a bit inconvenient for us. We are closer to Chantilly/Centreville. The VA Tire shop is or was Goodyear affiliated, I think. I'll have to check with them on any lifetime alignment deals. NTB at least used to do those as well.

Most of our driving is suburban, though we tend to take road trip vacations once or twice a year. Maybe those Firestone LE2 tires would be a good combination of price and quality.

 

I checked the manual a bit more. It calls for P21570R 16 99H tires. The sticking point seems to be that "H" speed rating (130 mph). NTB offers Continental tires at that rating, but I can't find much else. There are tire choices at the next best "T" rating (118 mph). Does this really matter?

 

No tire shop is legally allowed to install tires at a lower speed rating than factory requires.

It will handle like a pig, because the speed rating has to do mostly with sidewall quality.

Don't let them sell you a bull**** tire warranty. When they give you a tire quote, always ask what it entails. What I like to do is buy my tires online at a discount, then go to a hole in the wall tire shop. I prefer them to the big companies because for one they remember you, they value your business, and there's usually no line. They also don't bend you over with stupid fees and whatnot. I've saved hundreds that way.

 

I posted a reply before but somehow it didn't take . . .

Sebba, Thanks for the great advice. I'll have to price things out here.

 

I wanted to give you guys an update. There is a Tires Plus ship in Chantilly that carried the Firestones and offered the lifetime alignment deal, so I went with them. The alignment and tire warranties are good at Firestone shops as well, so I think I am pretty well covered. They gave me six months no interest financing on top of it, which makes paying for the tires a bit easier. The car runs and handles well (so far) with the new tires.

Thanks again for all your help and great advice!

 

Good news! Thanks for the update.

 

Which tires did you settle on?

 

The Firestone Destination tires.