I read it as a longevity vs price thing. Maybe he can clarify.

I just bought an early 2000’s Camry I4 for $2000. It had a set of brand new Michelins on it. They were probably equal to 25% of the purchase price of the entire car. People spend $120-140 per tire When they can get adequate performance for $50. It really makes no sense. Same goes for uber expensive oils.

I have a couple of cars for cheap airport transportation when i go away for work in addition to the nicer stuff.

Diesel benz gets wear items that commensurate with its mission

The Metris Gets synthetic because it needs it.
The Guzzi Gets proper Ester based lubrications and Michelin pilot 4’s because it needs it.
The P-Navajo gets DINO because it needs it

[QUOTE=R.Diesel;4150247]I read it as a longevity vs price thing. Maybe he can clarify.

I just bought an early 2000’s Camry I4 for $2000. It had a set of brand new Michelins on it. They were probably equal to 25% of the purchase price of the entire car. People spend $120-140 per tire When they can get adequate performance for $50. It really makes no sense. Same goes for uber expensive oils.
true, I do use sync atf, it does not boil like the old kinds.
I run poly gycol anti freeze at 100% no water
But I won't buy communist china made michelins

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Cheap tires are a false economy, and potentially a hazard. Tires are the most important system on a vehicle. No, it's not the brakes or the steering, none of that does a thing if the tires aren't doing their job.

I recently drove my girlfriend to an absolutely vital doctor's appointment after an ice storm - drove on ice the entire way, see the attached photo. Made it to the appointment with zero problems. I wouldn't even attempt that on $50 tires.

Look at any test of cheap tires vs. better brands. The cost difference really isn't that big, but the performance difference sure is. Here's just the first one I found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTcxNw3raNE

I'll sacrifice in a LOT of other places in my life before I'll sacrifice decent tires.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

Some folks simply cannot afford the better tires due to co$t .

I was in that boat for decades and hated it .

Some here will falsely claim there's no benefit, maybe they're broke, maybe they're ignorant, don't beat up on them until you know what for sure .

I use synthetic multi viscosity oils in all my engines, even the old worn out and worthless ones because fully synthetic oils stop the wear cycle pretty much dead wherever it is ~ I have one old Honda 90CC Motocycle with well over 40,000 miles, it neither smokes now knocks but it's clatters a LOT .

Oil is the very cheapest Mechanic you can get .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

A valid point, cheap tires are better than bald tires. I was in that boat myself when I first left the nest, and my parents never got out of that boat. That wasn't the claim that was made, though.



I do not agree that $50 tires give adequate performance. Maybe in a dry climate all the time, but I'd take a second job and sell assets before I put $50 tires on my car. Even my utility trailer got better tires than that.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

You put too much importance on tires.

The speed and the way you drive is way more important.

I've never caused an accident and that's despite the fact that I've always driven on the cheapest tires I could get and only replaced them when they were either completely wore out or lived in a state where they wouldn't pass inspection.

I will never forget the time when I was coming home from work during a snow storm in the north-east and a guy whose just overtaken me in his somewhat new awd subaru spun out right in front of me. Yet my rwd benz on dry-rotted tires always got me home safely.

Just because you skated doesn't mean it was safe nor wise .

My entire career has involved wrecks so I got to see up close and personal what happens when you're tooling long straight and narrow going 60 MPH and a tire blows .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I still maintain that keeping your speed low when the weather gets bad and keeping good distance is more important.

Also the kind of vehicle you drive is also important.

Remember the Ford Explorer tire controversy? People were dying mostly because it was an old SUV with a high center of gravity which meant it was more likely to rollover and when it did the roof folded like a beer can.

Here's a tire blowout in a 126 at over 80mph:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z21GKdznir4

You're a hazard to yourself and those around you. Glad you've gotten away with it this far, hopefully you don't kill anyone else when your luck runs out.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

You're certainly right that speed has a lot to do with it .

In my youth radial tires were for race cars....

I drove on crappy rock hard bias ply tires for many years and yes, I was that @$$#ole puttering along slowly in the snow, I never did get into a now / ice wreck, I scared my self witless a few times .

FWIW, the Ford Explorer tire debacle was caused mostly by two things :

Crappy Firestone "maypop" tires, I won't have 'stones for fee because I've seen too many fail, a Firestone 500 blew at 85 MPH on my mother's brandy new Capri in the 1970's, luckily I was driving so we weren't killed .

Firestone tires have a bad reputation for low quality, short life and blow outs since before I was born, the the trade they're called "MayPops" because they may pop at any given moment .

The other thing was : Ford dealers deliberately lowered the air pressure to give them a softer and quieter rode ~ I'da thought anyone working on the Auto Trade would know better than that but then I was always butting heads in my dealer days due to stupidness like this .

When I was young and broke ('poor' is a state of mind, not wealth) I scoured service station dumpsters for take off tires with decent treads, I never had one fail in any way but I sure did change a LOT of tires back then, I had free use of an antique tire machine @ work .

A decent quality $30 tire is *very* $pendy when you're making $60 / week .

To - day's tires age out in 5 years maximum, I can remember finding 20 year old new left over tires and getting 60,000 miles . years out of them no problem .

Not anymore .

No way will I chance my Sweet's , my sons or grand kids lives on cheap tires .
My 240D came to me with a full set of brand new $45 / each Chinese tires, they had good grip wet or dry but failed nearly *instantly* if allowed to run below 35 PSI or even gntly grazing a curb stone ~ the sidewalls were paper thin.

Never again .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

My accident and dui free driving record that spans decades seems to indicate otherwise

Argh, now I'm on a desktop and not on my phone and can see locations. You're even in the PNW, we could be neighbors. You could be driving on the same streets me and my family are.



Driving on dry rotted tires is a huge hazard. Driving on tires that are down to the wear bars, with the amount of rain we get around here, is another hazard. Have you even tried decent quality tires to know what the difference feels like? Multiple vehicle lengths shorter stopping distance, hugely more surefooted driving.



If you see a powder blue VW Beetle, a dirty white Subaru Forester, or my blue Yota, please stay the hell away from us.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

I live just 50 miles from the canadian border so you might want to watch out.

I'm sure that all the distracted drivers, dui'ers and the sleeping-while-driving truckers don't pose any real risk

I've always had excellent results with Michelins and Pirellis. They wear great, give super bad weather traction, and they stand behind them when they don't get the advertised wear mileage (the Cummins/Dodge always wears them out before the mileage warranty runs out). Worth every penny.

Dan

It's really unfortunate but more often than not, people who cannot afford to own a Mercedes often buy a used one and destroy it. Not changing tires, using Chinese parts, delayed or deferred fluids changes/ maintenance, the list goes on.

It's almost as if the car symbolizes their refusal to accept their financial circumstances. But it's hard to own a car that can bankrupt you if things go wrong.

The previous owner of a car I just purchased hadn't changed his tyres since 1997!! How I drove the car back to my home without experiencing a blowout I'll never know. I've since replaced them with Continental.

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Why I will never do business with "DieselKraut" again

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-used-parts-sale-wanted/378935-why-i-will-never-do-business-dieselkraut-again.html