manyvices

Here's the situation...2 of my Dunlop run-flats have cupped...basically bare on the outter edges and one of them has a bubble in the sidewall. The other 2 on the rear axle have plenty of meat on them seeing that they have 7/32 and I hate the idea of replacing all 4 seeing that these 2 are barely worn but I don't want to go with run-flats again. What is a guy supposed to do?!

I was at my Lexus dealership today and they have a buy 3 get the 4th free so I'm thinking about going this route. I used to work/sell for Michelin North America and I'm 100% loyal to the brand (I just bought a set of 4 Michelins for my wife's MDX and we love them).

If anyone has any other suggestions about how to handle my situation, my ears are open.

msgs350

iTrader: (2)

I'd go for the new set since you are getting a deal and you would have to buy 2 tire anyways. Sounds like you're going to need an alignment also. Good luck!

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Yeah I would go with the Michelins tires.

Arantant

No offense, but I don't see how getting your Michelin's at Lexus is very smart even with the buy 3 get 1. Installing tires is pretty simple and I'd check out prices at discount tire, etc., before getting fleeced at the dealership.

manyvices

No offense taken and I had my suspicions about buying tires at Lexus seeing that I've heard horror stories in the past that you should NEVER buy tires at an auto dealership because of the high price so I did some homework. I went on to Tirerack and on to Discount Tire and it does seem that this dealership's pricing is advantageous.

The pricing is broken down as follows: $858 for 4 Michelin Pilot Sport AS's and this includes mounting/balancing, tax which is $51.06 (taxed only on 3 of them seeing that the 4th is free), and an alignment (they charge $131 for an alignment). If you break this down to see how much this makes just the tires themselves, it comes out to roughly $169 (($858-$131-$51.06)/4) and this price includes mounting/balancing seeing that I don't know how much they charge for this part of the service. Let's say they charge $20 per tire, this brings the price per tire down to $149. Please double-check my math on this.

Best price I can get on Discount Tire for the same Michelins is $190!!! Anyways, I believe I am going to go with this deal because I've triple-checked my math and it leans in the dealership's favor. Besides, I do like the idea of just having to take the car to one place to get the tires put on AND aligned.

sprtent

iTrader: (1)

I would go with the new set of PS AS's too and stay away from runflats.

Doing an alignment or not, I recommend frequent tire rotations to minimize noise and even set-wear, and proper tire pressure so your tires won't wear out on the edges.

Ap1_Alan

iTrader: (1)

make sure to keep the 2 good dunlops. You could resell them and recoup some of the cost

manyvices

sprtent, I've always been very good with frequent rotations and maintaining proper psi (Michelin basically beat that into our brains!), however, I bought this GS used and obviously the owner before me wasn't doing this.

And good call Ap1!

Valley101

I just did a complete change out and it cost $890. So your price from the dealer is better than mine. Seems like a very fair price.

manyvices

So I decided to go with the deal that my Lexus dealership had on the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's and I've had them on for 3 days and....ABSOLUTELY FREAKIN' LOVE THEM! The feel of them and the ride is not even comparable to the Dunlop run-flats which is a good thing for the Michelins. It hasn't been wet here yet so I can't comment on the wet traction but the dry traction is extremely good.

Oh and the dealership did keep good on their deal for all 4 tires, mounting/balancing, and alignment for $858.