After the fourth time this year of having a nail hone into one of my rear tires, my luck has finally run out. The positioning of the nail makes it irreparable and the shitty condition of my tires in general (close to being bald without actually being bald) make it so that I have to get four new tires. I guess it didn't help that I had AWD.
Yeah, I'm a girl. What do I know about tires except for what I see in the commercials? Treads? What treads? I should have just let my fiance pick a tire and a store and get it done for me. I figured, however, that if I'm going to be spending close to 1k in purchasing and having four new tires installed in my 2010 Nissan Murano, then the least I could do is do some research.
First up...the internet. I wanna know what the difference are between these tires. In other words, I wanna know if I'm paying for a brand name or an actually better spec. Because while I do splurge on getting brand name meds (And why not? The insurance makes it so that I pay the same copay as brand name or generic), I'm not about to fork out extra $$ out of pocket just because I recognize the name. In terms of the internet, the most helpful website I found when it comes to comparing reviews and specs was: Tirerack.com. There were too many tires in there, however, so I had to find a way of narrowing it down. And that's where having loved ones you trust help.
The second source I used for my research was my dad and my fiance. Giving them my price range, they both recommended brands they had heard of or had some experience with. Between the two of them, there was a couple of brands that came up.
Third up the co-workers. Hehe...I must be a cheapskate. But I guess my co-workers have a point. A lot of them recommended wholesale stores like Costco, BJs, and Sam's Club. In fact, my dad also recommended it. However, upon perusing the selection at BJs (the one I have the membership for), I noticed that they all have very popular brands. Which is fine...unless you're watching you're dime. Some of those tires they recommend had good customer ratings...and some were...meh. Why pay extra for "meh"? But as my co-workers said, there's only a bit of the tire that is touching the road while you're driving your SUV...you're gonna want a good one. They recommended that if I splurge anywhere, I should splurge on tires for my safety.
Which makes sense. But, if I splurge, I wanna make sure I'm splurging for a reason, and not just the name.
Still, after all the reviews I've read and recommendations, I settled on getting Kumho Solus KR21. It's a known brand (according to friends, family and fiance), but still pretty reasonably priced. It had way better ratings than the tires that came with my car. It also had a reasonably similar ratings as the expensive Michelin brand that I was eyeing.
And after calling around, the place that will get it and install it for the cheapest price was the Atlantic Tire in Durham, close to my work and home. Hopefully, I'll have a review of it in the far future. I'll be happy if it lasts longer that these Bridgestone Duelers that came with the Murano.
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