Tires

[UffishThought]

I need new ones. I've never bought tires before. Is there anywhere around Provo you'd recommend? And how does it even work? Do I need to call for an appointment? Do I just go in and say "look, there's my car. It needs tires. Help me out!" What do I need to know?

[Marduk]

As far as what you need to know, the size indicator is on the tire itself, but if you go somewhere they can easily look it up too. Basically the only thing that you care about is the mile rating. The letter rating indicates what speed the tire is good for, but I'm guessing all they will really market to you is S's. Anything more than that is really a waste. In Utah I generally get all weather tires, and as far as the mile rating, that's really up to you. They are pro rated, which means if you buy a 60,000 mile tire and it wears down by 40,000, that you'll get 1/3 of the price you paid to the replacement tires. Honestly, this shouldn't really come into play much, so I'd generally just go for a mid range (somewhere in the 50-60,000 range) and call it a day.

As far as where to go, I've always particularly liked Discount in Provo (in East Bay.) They are nice and don't try to upsell you (a big plus in my book) and will also almost certainly be the cheapest. You can go there first (no appointment needed) and have them find out the size, they will give you quotes, and then you can walk out of there and call other places to get quotes. You'll most likely end up going back to discount anyways.

I've had good experience with Sam's Club, although there prices have gone up recently and they aren't competitive anymore. I will not go back to Big O.

ETA: If you are really nervous and wanted someone to go with you, I wouldn't mind.

[UffishThought]

Thanks for the recommendation! I went to Discount, and they were really friendly and made it easy for me.

[Marduk]

Yeah, I've always liked them.