I need to replace my tires for the first time and I'm wondering if I should go to the dealer or just any tire place. I imagine the dealer will charge a lot more but I'm also concerned with taking it just anywhere. Any suggestions?

What tire size(s) do you need & are you going with all seasons, dedicated winter or summer rubber?

I personally prefer the dealer to install my tires, but I do not buy tires at the dealer (too expensive)......go to a place like tire rack & have them delivered to your front door.....and bring them into the dealer for installation.

Don't forget a 4 wheel alignment.

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ronalsk, how many miles on your IS?

Try Costco or Kaufmann Tire if possible. I prefer not to buy them online because you don't get to see what you are getting. Discount Tire or NTB is good too.

25,000. I live in Florida so no snow.

Are you looking for all seasons or summer?

I honestly don't know much about tires so any suggestions would be appreciated. Do I really need all seasons if I only drive in Florida?

Thank you,

Ron

All seasons will generally last you longer than summers. It all depends on the kind of driving you do & what you want to get out of your IS. If you not a huge enthusiast, I personally would suggest a high performance all season or ultra high performance all season personally. That's a pretty decent balance of handling, wet weather performance with pretty good overall treadlife.

Here is a link with some detailed info...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/tiretype.jsp

What size(s) do you need?

It came with 18" 225/40R18 Summer Tires

My info gives me 225 40 18 for the fronts & 255 40 18 for the rears. This based on info from Tirerack.com...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/SelectTireSi...autoModClar=RWD

Can you confirm? And are they Bridgestone Potenza RE050, Bridgestone Turanza ER33 or Dunlop SP Sport Maxx A on the car currently?

They're Potenza RE050 and on the paperwork it states 225/40R18 front and rear. Thanks!

I would suggest you go with a set of Ultra High performance all season.....and these are an excellent choice: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (and currently on sale to boot!)...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...yes&place=8

You should get more mileage than your current Bridgestones & they (imo) are a better overall tire. Fantastic wet weather performance & they handle extremely well.

Select 'Reviews' & then select 'Lexus' to see what other Lexus owners are saying about them.

I appreciate all the info! I'll check them out.

I'm having trouble deciding between the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires which have a 45k warranty or the Bridgestone Potenza RE960A/S Pole Position tires - both are suppose to be very good. The Potenzas are at the top of the list with respect to tire rack reviews, however the Pilot Plus tires just came out and are suppose to be an improvement. Decisions...decisions...I need someone to sway me one way other another =P Thoughts?

I'm having trouble deciding between the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires which have a 45k warranty or the Bridgestone Potenza RE960A/S Pole Position tires - both are suppose to be very good. The Potenzas are at the top of the list with respect to tire rack reviews, however the Pilot Plus tires just came out and are suppose to be an improvement. Decisions...decisions...I need someone to sway me one way other another =P Thoughts?

I always remember how Firestone/Bridgestone treated their customers during the recall actions of the Ford Explorer rollover debacle.

They dragged their feet and made people wait as long as a year for replacement tires that might have been endangering you and your family.
They took the low-road in that safety recall and I will not buy their products because of it.
Sorry, this has little to do with the quality of those particular tires, but based on past actions I do not trust them as a company to treat me fairly or responsibly if there is ever a problem.

Good luck on your new tires!

I disagree completely. Firestone learned their lesson from the Explorer debacle and is far more customer-oriented now than they were back in those days. I hated Firestone too after what happened. But their Japanese side (Bridgestone) took over corporate culture and changed the company. I like having the Japanese in charge - keep in mind the custom of Japanese execs committing suicide if catastrophic events happen on their watch. Think any American execs would do that these days? Hell no, they'll just go sign up again for another federal bail-out....

Both Bridgestone and Firestone build some world-class tires right now, and Firestone really prices them right. I've said for at least four years now that the Firestone Destination LE is hands-down the best SUV or truck tire for the money. It is nearly a Bridgestone Alenza (probably the best SUV or truck tire if money is no object) at perhaps 60% of the cost if you work your Firestone dealer for the right deal like I do....

GoldenStateSilverSport, you probably can't go wrong on either of your choices between Bridgestone and Michelin. If I were you, I would allow the mileage warranty to make the decision. You say that the Michelin treadwear warranty is 45,000 miles. What is the Bridgestone treadwear warranty? If it is more than 45,000, go Bridgestone. If it is less than 45,000, go Michelin. If it is the same, then flip a coin. You'll probably be happy either way. Regardless of which way you go, be sure to sharpen up your pencil and cut your best deal. I've found that it isn't difficult at all right now to get just about any local tire dealer to meet my request for a buy-three-get-one-free deal, even when the specific tire I want is not on sale. These guys are hurting too as folks stretch out their tires just as they are stretching out their vehicles in this lousy economy. Use it to your full advantage....

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I greatly appreciate the feedback. I haven't previously thought about "bargaining" for tires though your suggestion makes sense in this economic climate. I want to streeeeeetch the life of my stock Yokos as much as I can, but I saw that the Michelin's at Costco have a sale for $70 off of 4 tires right now (which is OK - not great) Total cost for four tires runs to about $1100. In addition, the Bridgestones have a $100 off when you buy 4 as well- total is about $950. If you want to get down to comparing $/mile the Bridgestones slightly edge out the Michelins 2.3cents/mile to 2.4cents/mile which is pretty negligible. I'm now intrigued by your suggestion of bargaining with certain dealers. I wonder if I could get a better deal elsewhere...

I know that Discount tire will match or beat tirerack pricing. When discount gets the impression that you are price shopping and know what you want, they shift into "get your business" mode. I like them alot. They have also treated us very well on service and free repairs on tires we didn't even buy from them. They really work for my business.

I also have great affection for one particular local Discount Tire outlet. They went out of their way to work with me two years ago when I had just purchased my wife's current 2004 RX330. The car dealer had just put a new set of Michelin Energy S8 tires on that vehicle from Discount Tire, but I wanted a set of Bridgestone Alenzas instead because the Alenza is a true SUV/truck tire and carries a 65,000-mile treadwear warranty, whereas the Michelin S8 is a sedan tire and carries NO treadwear warranty. Discount Tire wanted to make me happy so they swapped out the tires for me for a grand total of $47 and treated me like a long-time customer (I did go to the trouble of obtaining the car dealer's Michelin purchase receipt before I went to Discount Tire to initiate the swap). You can bet that I'll do business with them again and they already know that they'll have to cut me a great deal every time or I'll be ordering from tirerack.com instead....

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