$50 rebate (cash card) from General Tire on Altimax RT43

[yrwei52]

It's the way it is. No tire company ships for "free", as the shipping costs are built into the cost of the tire. A company will not eat shipping costs, they pass it along to the buyer, whether they disclose it separately or in the price of the product. The cost is paid by the buyer.

I sold my OEM's for $400 so I basically got a set of tires, mounted, for $100

I use a local Discount Tire Store and they usually would match any price found on the Internet. Their store price is the same as the online price at Discoint Tire Direct with free shipping; or you can order tires online and pick up and get mounted at local store with lifetime rotating、balancing、and flat repair included with $15 mounting charge for each tire. The best thing to me is they'll always pro-rate the old tires left on mileage warranty for credit and I have never paid the full price since I bought the first set of tires.

 

[Unobtanium]

General Tires is a division of Continental Tires which is a major brand. I wouldn't consider them a "budget" brand. Continental is a huge tire company that puts out some excellent tires, including the GT RT43 tires. They have a very high rating on Tire Rack

General is Continental's budget line, though.

 

[Unobtanium]

It's the way it is. No tire company ships for "free", as the shipping costs are built into the cost of the tire. A company will not eat shipping costs, they pass it along to the buyer, whether they disclose it separately or in the price of the product. The cost is paid by the buyer.

I sold my OEM's for $400 so I basically got a set of tires, mounted, for $100

Everyone makes a profit, sure, but some companies are in better with FedEx/UPS due to their volume, etc. is my suspicion.

 

[Lbear]

I use a local Discount Tire Store and they usually would match any price found on the Internet. Their store price is the same as the online price at Discoint Tire Direct with free shipping; or you can order tires online and pick up and get mounted at local store with lifetime rotating、balancing、and flat repair included with $15 mounting charge for each tire. The best thing to me is they'll always pro-rate the old tires left on mileage warranty for credit and I have never paid the full price since I bought the first set of tires.

Discount Tire is not an accurate apples to apples comparison. What you left out was that Discount Tire will charge you SALES TAX while Tire Rack does not. $107 x 4 = $428 x 9% sales tax (my area) $38.50 = $466

In addition, Discount Tire does not offer a FREE 2-year road hazard free replacement with that price while Tire Rack does. So if a tire goes flat or is damaged, you get a free brand new tire shipped to you via Tire Rack. Not pro-rated but free up to 2-years. Discount Tire will throw a patch on the tire while Tire Rack will give you a brand new tire. That's a HUGE difference right there.

If you want that road hazard program from Discount Tire, it will cost you an additional $100 ($25 per tire).

As they say, the devil is in the details.

BTW - Costco only charges $15 per tire to mount and balance and they include FREE lifetime tire rotation, air checks and even balancing.

 

[Anchorman]

Thanks for the feedback. General has never been a serious contender here but they are growing and my local independent now stocks them and swears by them.

 

[paris1]

Thanks for the feedback. General has never been a serious contender here but they are growing and my local independent now stocks them and swears by them.

I'm assuming you know they are a wholly-owned (US) subsidiary of Continental. So it's no surprise they haven't had much of a presence over there.

 

[Lbear]

My Altimax RT43 tires get mounted tomorrow...

 

[Unobtanium]

My Altimax RT43 tires get mounted tomorrow...

Mounting my Nokian WRG3 SUVs as I type this.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

The best thing to me is they'll always pro-rate the old tires left on mileage warranty for credit and I have never paid the full price since I bought the first set of tires.

Wait...really? So I can take my old set of Michelin Latitude Tours to them, buy some new tires and they will give me a credit?

I mean, how much we talking here? They are 60k or 65k tires that I maybe put 45k-50k on and they are at between 5 and 6/32nd tread left. I was thinking one more summer on them, but then they should still be well below the mileage warranty.

 

[yrwei52]

Wait...really? So I can take my old set of Michelin Latitude Tours to them, buy some new tires and they will give me a credit?

I mean, how much we talking here? They are 60k or 65k tires that I maybe put 45k-50k on and they are at between 5 and 6/32nd tread left. I was thinking one more summer on them, but then they should still be well below the mileage warranty.

Your Michelin Latitude Tour 225/65R17 100T has 65,000-mile warranty. Assuming you bought a set of them at Discount Tire Store at $154 each in 2014. Once your tires wear close to 3/32" tread depth you can ask your DT if it's time to get new set of tires. You can even try it earlier just telling them you're not conformable on these tires during winter driving and they may be willing to do it as they want to sell more new tires. Suppose you've used the tires for 50,000 miles by that time, you'd get 23% prorated mileage credit from your original purchasing price which is $35.54 toward your new tire purchase. All history data of your Michelin's are saved in their system and they'll do all the calculations for you in their computer.

But you're wasting prorated mileage credit right now with your winter tires unless you had DT mounted your winter tires.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Your Michelin Latitude Tour 225/65R17 100T has 65,000-mile warranty. Assuming you bought a set of them at Discount Tire Store at $154 each in 2014. Once your tires wear close to 3/32" tread depth you can ask your DT if it's time to get new set of tires. You can even try it earlier just telling them you're not conformable on these tires during winter driving and they may be willing to do it as they want to sell more new tires. Suppose you've used the tires for 50,000 miles by that time, you'd get 23% prorated mileage credit from your original purchasing price which is $35.54 toward your new tire purchase. All history data of your Michelin's are saved in their system and they'll do all the calculations for you in their computer.

But you're wasting prorated mileage credit right now with your winter tires unless you had DT mounted your winter tires.

I bought them in 2014 for $125 each at DT. I don't understand why Michelins have jumped up in price since then.

Yeah I'd use that for my next set of non-winter tires. But that won't be until next year.

 

[yrwei52]

I bought them in 2014 for $125 each at DT. I don't understand why Michelins have jumped up in price since then.

Yeah I'd use that for my next set of non-winter tires. But that won't be until next year.

I'd talk to your DT making a note that from what miles you're using your winter tires with your tire mounting receipt so that they don't count any miles you're actually using your Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 ($0.0019 per mile in your case ).

 

[Lbear]

The mounting of the Altimax went good but the tire tech was kind of a jerk. He asked me WHY I was removing the Yokohama G91 and installing the "bad" Altimax tires? I told him they are not bad and he said Yokohama is the best tire on the market and the Altimax are generic garbage tires. I asked him to not debate me and just install the tires.

There are Yokhama tires that are great tires but the OEM Geolander 91A are not that good. They get 2.5 stars out of 5 stars and very poor wear, snow and wet ratings. One reviewer stated:
"I manage a small fleet of CX-5s in the Midwest. These tires are original equipment and are so bad, I've asked our Mazda dealer to junk them prior to delivery!"

What was his deal with ripping on my Altimax tires?

 

[ColoradoDriver]

The mounting of the Altimax went good but the tire tech was kind of a jerk. He asked me WHY I was removing the Yokohama G91 and installing the "bad" Altimax tires? I told him they are not bad and he said Yokohama is the best tire on the market and the Altimax are generic garbage tires. I asked him to not debate me and just install the tires.

There are Yokhama tires that are great tires but the OEM Geolander 91A are not that good. They get 2.5 stars out of 5 stars and very poor wear, snow and wet ratings. One reviewer stated:
"I manage a small fleet of CX-5s in the Midwest. These tires are original equipment and are so bad, I've asked our Mazda dealer to junk them prior to delivery!"

What was his deal with ripping on my Altimax tires?

I feel Yokohamas are largely overrated. At least the ones you can get on the CX-5.

Tech sounds like the now banned user GJ-Molestor. He wouldn't shut up about how you should only use Yokohama tires on Mazda. Was crazy.

Enjoy your new tires

Edit: I concur. OE Yokohama Geolandar G91 Torres are crap.

 

[yrwei52]

⋯ What was his deal with ripping on my Altimax tires?

Were you doing the mounting at Costco?

 

[yrwei52]

⋯ I concur. OE Yokohama Geolandar G91 Torres are crap.

Just compare OE 225/65R17 100H Yokohama Geolandar G91A's inferior "280 B A" UTQG、"100" load index and other specs, we can easily tell that it's the worst tire for this size.

On the other hand, General AltiMAX RT43 is the lightest tire at 24.3 lbs for the size. The price is reasonable and is rated #3 now out of 43 Grand Touring all-season tires in Tire Rack. It has excellent reviews at TireRack.com and here at Mazdas247 community.

If you didn't have similar problems before the tire replacement, I believe you have a defected Firestone Destination LE2 tire. But if you'd like to change to other tires, here are partial lists of 225/65R17 tires in different categories for your comparison. Personally I believe T-rated Continental CrossContact LX20 Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season tire is fine and should be much better than O.E. Yokohama Geolandar G91A Light Truck Highway All-Season tire. But since the top speed for our CX-5 is 120 mph, I'd stay with at least H-rated tires as T-rated tires are designed for the top speed of 118 mph.

Light Truck Highway All-Season Tires:

Tire	Size	UTQG	Maximum Inflation Pressure	Tread Depth	Tire Weight	Warranty	Price*
Yokohama Geolandar G91A	P225/65R17 100H	280 B A	44 psi	10/32"	26 lbs.	OEM - None	$200.55 - TR
Michelin Defender LTX M/S	225/65R17 102H	720 A A	44 psi	10.5/32"	29 lbs.	70,000 Miles 6 Years	$154.97 - TR
Firestone Destination LE2	225/65R17 102H	520 A B	44 psi	12/32"	28 lbs.	60,000 Miles 5 Years	$125.45 - TR

Grand/Standard Touring All-Season Tires:

Tire	Size	UTQG	Maximum Inflation Pressure	Tread Depth	Tire Weight	Warranty	Price*
Continental TrueContact	225/65R17 102T	800 A B	44 psi	11/32"	24.3 lbs.	90,000 Miles 6 Years	$113.56 - TR
General AltiMAX RT43	225/65R17 102H	700 A A	51 psi	11/32"	24.3 lbs.	65,000 Miles 6 Years	$100.25 - TR

Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season Tires:

Tire	Size	UTQG	Maximum Inflation Pressure	Tread Depth	Tire Weight	Warranty	Price*
Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season Plus	225/65R17 102H	740 A A	44 psi	11/32"	28 lbs.	65,000 Miles	$131.50 - TR
Continental CrossContact LX20	225/65R17 102T	740 A B	57 psi	12/32"	27.7 lbs.	70,000 Miles 6 Years	$122.45 - TR

XL = Extra Load
TR = TireRack.com

Performance Category Rank from TireRack.com:

Highway All-Season Tires:
Michelin Defender LTX M/S - #1 out of 32
Firestone Destination LE2 - #3 out of 32
Yokohama Geolandar G91A - #24 out of 32

Grand Touring All-Season Tires:
General AltiMAX RT43 - #5 out of 41

Standard Touring All-Season Tires:
Continental TrueContact - #1 out of 20

Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season Tires:
Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season Plus - #2 out of 21
Continental CrossContact LX20 - #5 out of 21

 

[Lbear]

Were you doing the mounting at Costco?

Yes, but I've mounted tires before with Costco and never had a problem.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Yes, but I've mounted tires before with Costco and never had a problem.

Sounds like a bad tech really.

 

[Lbear]

Sounds like a bad tech really.

I agree. He should just do his job of mounting tires, as he was assigned to do instead of vocalizing his opinions on tire brands. Very unprofessional. He ridiculed and basically was calling my decision stupid.

What dog does he have in the game? None. It's just a form of opinions, passive aggressiveness and unprofessional. Shame on Costco for allowing that and shame on him as a tire tech.

 

[yrwei52]

Costco's tire service is to help them selling more tires which is one of the thousands items they sell. They have very average equipments and those tire "techs" have minimum experience on few tires due to very limited brands (4) they carry. A tire tech works for a dedicated tire shop such as Discount Tire Store knows much more on tires!