Sam TII

Yeah so I bought DWSs for both cars on Saturday, Discount Tire was having a $100 rebate thing on sets of four so I figured it was probably as good as it would get. Great tires so far, going to try and find some snow this weekend to try them out before my 30 trade thing is up but they've been great in rain and dry thus far.

Thanks guyths!

Stein

iTrader: (46)

Now that the purchase is settled--a rant/hijack but DWS related, lol. I was upset today. Dropped two wheel/tires from my BMW off at the tire shop because I had nails in both of them. They fixed one but the other had a nail said was "too near the sidewall to fix". The tires have 10K on them. Told me I needed a new tire. I told them to mark the nail hole with a tire crayon and I'll stick a plug in it at home. He said "no problem, it should be fine, we just can't do it". Damn lawyers anyway.

OK, rant off.

Sam TII

This is actually why I go to Discount Tire/America's Tire Co primarily. My wife is a tire killer, like within five years of marriage she has destroyed 9 tires (hitting random rail road spikes, curbing them, etc.) and America's Tire Co has a no questions asked warranty. If they can't fix it, even if there's less than a 1/16th of usable tread left, I've had them give me a replacement tire with 0 hassle.

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Sam, is that the standard warranty from ATC or an upsell/addon? Either way, I feel our wives may be somehow related If the warranty is that good I may start shopping them for her tires.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

My subaru is on shitty all seasons right now, but I'm looking to get some blizzaks for winter and some kind of dirt/gravel tires for summer. Not sure what kind yet though, probably whatever is cheap so I can tear them up.

TheScaryOne

iTrader: (3)

Discount has shitty policies when it comes to tire repair. An independent shop will repair it if the sidewall cords aren't damaged. Any damage in the sidewall WILL damage cords. I'd tell the guy at the shop to take his time. When you slap patches in and rush them out the door the glue doesn't have time to cure, which causes them to fail when they're in high flex areas like the crowns. They also have to do a good job removing the inner liner, or the patch won't stick at all. Michelins are the worst for flat repairs, because the inner liner is so thin. It's really easy to damage a tire beyond repair while trying to fix it. I found out it was easier to use some rough sandpaper and do it by hand, rather than use the slow speed grinding stone designed for that very purpose.

Be careful with those snot plugs. They can rip out while you're driving, and give you quite a ******* scare. Sudden deflation through a 1/4" hole on a 270* on-ramp? Scary. You're also increasing the odds of a tread separation, because you're not plugging the hole in the tire, and air can leak between the plug and the inner liner to the area in between the belts. If you air up with humid air, you can even get rust in the steel belts which would accelerate the separation process. If you can't find an independent shop to patch it for you, see if you can slap on your spare and take the tire home off of the wheel. You can buy the stuff to do it yourself from nearly any auto shop. Make sure you get the patches that look like these.

Shitty note about Continental/General Tire. Any flat repair voids the manufacturer warranty, and the mileage warranty. Period.

Opti

There normal warranty is a prorated warranty, you have to purchase the free replacement certificates, but im pretty sure the policy is to only replace tires ABOVE 2/32nds, after that they are beyond their service life so it wouldnt make sense to replace one for free.

You are correct that continental says a repair voids the manufacturer warranty, but really manufacturer warranties are rarely even used, a true manu defect is normally caught at a very early stage (like during mounting or the first few days of driving) and the tire is likely to have never been repaired, the other part is the mileage warranty (if they have one), which on a well maintained good tire is also very rarely needed, most mileage problems st0.em from lack of maintenance, could be lack of rotations or mechanical problems like bad parts or a bad alignment, which also voids the warranty, it's not the tire's fault.

I used to work at a Continental dealer, and dealt with there warranty department a few times, and weather the tire was patched never came up, I told them the problem, and they gave me a PO, so I could bill them for part of the customers tires. Most reputable tire manufacturers want to take good care of the customers, should an issue arise. Research has shown a customer feels better about a company when they fix a problem in a positive way, than just a general good experience, and given my experience with tire manufacturers I'd bet they also know this.

Stein

iTrader: (46)

Plugged it. It is holding air. Zero ***** given.

Sam TII

Warranty is extra (you buy replacement certificates per tire). Looks like other people in this thread have had issue with their warranties so maybe I've just had luck in dealing with cooler guys there? Every time I've gone in with a damaged tire they've given me a free replacement without any hassle and prorated the cost based on life left in the other tires if I wanted to replace any other ones at the time.

Granted, they aren't the sharpest tools in the shed (typically don't line up valve stem marks unless you ask etc.) but I'm willing to harass them a little about that stuff because they'll match anyone's printed price and I've had such good luck with their replacement warranty. There's also enough of them around that pretty much anywhere you go on a trip or whatever if something happens you're covered.

Pitlab77

iTrader: (3)

Just bought some Dunlop Direzza 101 (not starspec) for my DD mazda 3. We shall see how I like them.

I love having the Shreveport tire rack warehouse right across the state line. Ordered Thursday morning, tires at my front door in Houston by 2pm Friday.

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

DZ101's? Ah. I hated them on my GTO, but perhaps you will have a better experience.