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Tires: Good Year Reliant or General Altimax RT43
I need new tires for my Chevy Sonic, size P205/55R16.
The OEM tire is the Goodyear Eagle RS-A, which I have on the car now. They have no mileage rating or warranty, so I'm not considering them. I have no idea about their longevity because the dealer installed them backwards and they failed after 20,000 miles. Apparently owners report getting 40,000 miles. They're $91 at Walmart. I had the General Altimax RT43 on a previous car and liked them. They have very good professional reviews. 75,000 miles. $129 at Walmart plus installation. (4 x 29 = $516) The Walmart Goodyear Viva 3 has been replaced by the Reliant, which is supposed to be a better tire. It's hard to find comprehensive or comparison reviews since it's a Walmart-only tire, but the reviews I could find seemed positive. (Very often some people say a tire is noisy and others say it's quiet, so I don't focus too much on that even though I think it's important). 65,000 miles. $83 plus installation. 4 x 83 = $332 Regarding snow performance, I don't need to go out until after the roads have been plowed, so while important, I think merely "adequate" snow performance should be OK. (1) For financial reasons I'm inclined to go with the Goodyear Reliant. Sound OK? (2) I would buy them at the Plymouth Walmart rather than my local Tilton. Anyone have recent tire installation experience at the Plymouth Walmart? (3) Should I pay extra for the road hazard warranty? I've had it in the past but have never used it. I've only ever had one flat tire in my life due to a "road hazard" (nail). A garage fixed it for $10. My budget is limited so we can skip the Michelins. A high mileage warranty is unnecessary because the car has 90,000 miles and I'm unlikely to keep it for another 60,000 miles. Thanks for your opinion! |
I have the same size tires on my Corolla and I have had good luck with the Douglas all season tires made by Goodyear from Walmart 45,000 mile rated. I always go to the Plymouth Walmart for tires very happy with them. I always skip the extras. Plymouth has 4 tires in stock as of this morning $ 63.00 each or 4 for $252.00 plus install. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Douglas-S...-Tire/49021615
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FLL, have you had an alignment recently?
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I found two different prices at Walmart for the General Altimac RT43:
Speed rating H (130 mph): $129 Speed rating V (149 mph): $115 Why would the faster tire be cheaper? |
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Do check the manufactured date. As Walmart lost a Class Action lawsuit for selling new tires over 10 years old. |
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Reconsider
How much more are Michelin tires? Will you really notice the difference in cost three years from now? Probably no more than going out to a nice dinner.
Michelin tires make a huge difference in smoothness, noise and handling. |
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How much do you guys trust Town Fair? They offered me the Hankook New Englander, which is made specifically for Town Fair, at a good price. Treadwear 600, traction A, temp A, speed H, load 91, 60K, dual steel belt. There is zero information about this tire online, no reviews. So this would be risky.
I had a long talk with a Town Fair manager. He previously had the General Altimax RT43 on his car, now has the New Englander and prefers it. He describes it as quiet and comfortable. It's an all-weather tire with 3-peak mountain snowflake rating for severe snow. Included in the Town Fair price: free rotation every 5000 miles, free front alignment when you buy the tires, free flat repairs, 30-day test drive---if you don't like the tire within the first 30 days, they will exchange them once for another tire. This all sounds pretty good, so back to my question: How much do you trust Town Fair? I talked to four different TF stores and got some baloney from two of them (less knowledgeable people) and excellent knowledge from the last one, a manager. Attachment 17714 |
Consumer Reports rates the General Altimax RT43 just one point below the Michelin Defender; high marks all around. The Good Year Reliant was not tested.
Alan |
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Though it took a few visits, Town Fair never gave up on me or made me feel like I was being a hassle—we ended up getting things right with a couple different tire sets, so I've always felt like they actually care to get things right. Overall, they've got great policies. If you were closer to Moultonborough, I would have you check with Clifford's. That place is legit. Sent from my SM-G990U1 using Tapatalk |
Think, which Town Fair did you go to?
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Amherst Street, Nashua.
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My last experience was not the greatest. I had altimax rt43 tires mounted and balanced on my miata and it resulted in a shake and shimmie at about 60mph. I took the car back 3 times to rebalance the tires without success. They replaced 2 of the tires and also offered to give me a different brand of tires. They never gave up on me either. After some research I'd discovered that road force balancing was recommended for my car. Town fair did not have such a machine and shops with these machines are hard to find. In the end I took my car to a local tire shop who successfully balanced them. Turns out that town fair ignored the the balance indicators on the rims and tires. After all that I will probably will still go back to town fair for tires on a more conventional car |
FLL, getting back to your Goodyear Reliant tires, what did you decide to do about them and what was the outcome?
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OK FLL, that was funny.
I might be forced to get the Reliants. I've been reading an awful lot of disgruntled 1-start reviews by Town Fair customers. Most common complaints are extremely long wait times (like a full day), bad alignments, not being able to get an appointment for rotation, shady business practices, etc. Same complaints at all Town Fair stores. Sounds like a pretty stressful experience. I called a number of small garages, which would be a more pleasant experience, but they don't have tires I can afford. |
Maybe take a look at VIP-Laconia for lower priced tires. Last May I got my 2014 Subaru air conditioner recharged there for about $150, and it has been working VERY cold ever since.
Another place for low price tires is Tire Warehouse in Laconia. |
Northeast Tire
I have done business at Northeast Tire in Belmont on route 3 right next to Shooters Tavern. They were knowledgeable, fair priced and service was great!
Dan |
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(1) You have to get the tires installed by VIP for $144 (Walmart is $60) and (2) It's not really a refund. It's a credit toward future VIP purchases. Double win for VIP. I'll pass on that. |
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Tire Warehouse Court Street Laconia has the force or load balancing machine. When purchasing tires the customer should ask what type of balancing machine is used. |
To bad they don't make recaps any more. :D
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Made a puchase
After three days of research and phone calls, I ordered the General Altimax RT43 from the Laconia Tire Warehouse. $500 including installation and alignment. I chose Laconia because it's a nice location next to the bike trail and lake so you don't have to wait inside the store or outside in a hot parking lot. I was impressed with how helpful the salesman was. Apparently Town Fair salesmen are on commission, which accounts for the harder sell there. Tire Warehouse are not on commission.
If price is important to you, it really pays to contact numerous stores and call them back with quotes from other stores. The price on the Altimax went down with each call I made. It started at $675 at Northeast Tire in Belmont, $661 Town Fair, etc. and I stopped asking for a better price when it hit $500 because I thought the Laconia Tire Warehouse would be a better overall buying and installation experience, and that's worth a lot to me personally. So I saved 26%. I would have waited for fall sales but I wanted new tires for my annual fall road trips. Some tire manufacturers are offering big rebates---up to $250 on select tires---but only if you pay with their credit card. That's not something I wanted to do, but maybe you do. |
Best to do the tire research before buying tires than make a bad tire buy like me with those very noisy Goodyear Reliant tires, sold only at Walmart, that made a big bad annoying buzzing sound on my Subaru ..... bzzzzz .... bzzzz..... bzzzzz ..... just like John Belushi used to do ...... bzzzzz!
:eek: ..... Here's a heads-up alert for walking or pedaling the Wow Trail. Lakes Region E-Bikes www.lakesregionebikes.com rents out e-bikes, electric motor bicycles, and encourages rental customers to use them on the Wow Trail and these are some fast moving, electric MOTOR bicycles. ..... EEK! :eek: |
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Off topic: I've never tried an e-bike. A report on CBC news this week found a great increase in bike accidents requiring hospitalization in Montreal due to the increasing presence of speeding e-bikes. They can cause quite a bit of damage if they hit a cyclist at 20 mph. The Wow Trail is fine. One of the nicest bike rides in New Hampshire is the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge and the roads in the surrounding valley: Attachment 17723 |
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I believe my second pic is where you took yours. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4d75bbde70.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2eba4a1d06.jpg Sent from my SM-G990U1 using Tapatalk |
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Is difficult to say whether it is/was an engine noise or a tire noise or something else like a wheel bearing or other bearing because the different Subaru noises get all blended together. A 2014 Subaru Crosstrek with 125-k miles is reported to be a NOISY car ..... with a noisy engine or something ...... is what I hear? Took it in to a car repair service and they say it is mostlt the wheel bearing making all the noise, plus also something to do with a brake part cover, or something. |
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Correction: I mistakenly blamed Patriot Nissan in Salem for installing my tires backwards. Upon reviewing my rotation records, I discovered that the error was made by a garage in the Lakes Region. Within one year the tires were ruined, with less than 20,000 miles on them. So check your directional tires after you get them rotated! I have deleted the post blaming Patriot Nissan. Sorry!
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Holy Quacamole ....... much to my surprise ...... I actually got an email from Walmart wanting to help with regard to my problem with their Walmart/Goodyear Reliant tires and the loud tire noises. Does Walmart monitor this forum or what ..... :eek:????
So, in fairness to their Walmart/Goodyear Reliant tire, there is another problem with my 2014 Crosstrek that was test driven by a local repair garage after the tires issue and it needs a new front wheel bearing, about $450, plus some issue with the rear brake that also makes unwanted noise as well. Believe the wheel bearing is what is causing the grinding/buzzing noise, and the brake noise is a lesser secondary noise ...... but you understand that all these noises basically blend together like a classic rock band of old Subaru sounds. |
The final bill
What I learned from this experience: buying tires is an on-going saga and there's no such thing as a "final price" until the money leaves your hands. I ended up with an upgraded tire---General Altimax RT45, the new version of the RT43---at a lower price than the RT43, with an additional service tacked on. Final price: $460 installed, including alignment and road hazard warranty. In today's market that's a very low price for a very good tire. Unfortunately it took/will take 3 trips to finish the deal as the Laconia Tire Warehouse does not have a working alignment machine at the moment. In fact, the first time I showed up for my appointment, they didn't even have a working tire machine! Beware---that particular TW appears neglected.
Town Fair's price for the same tire, installed and alignment, is $704---more than 50% more. So the slogan "We will beat anyone else's price" is baloney. Northeast Tire and Clifford's were way out of my price range. So: if you want to save money go to Tire Warehouse, but be prepared to spend some time ironing out the wrinkles. |
Final thoughts
Had bad experiences with Tire Warehouse and VIP. Both don't pay attention to directional/asymmetrical tires. Both I had to return because the tires don't hold air and both give lousy alignment!
Never been to Walmart but I heard about bad experiences with them. Let the buyer beware. Neil's Laconia Garage has the latest tire alignment machine and does a great job aligning the car. He even makes sure the steering wheel is straight! The only other place I trust was a frame alignment shop in Belmont but he retired. As for tires, I shop online. Most online retailers have designated tire shops to mount your tires, like Tire Warehouse. I bought Nokians WRg4 online. A little pricey but all weather with a 60,000 tread life and great warranty sold me. I showed the tires to TW to see if they will indeed mount them. They will and did one better! They match the price! They were asymmetrical and were mounted correctly. Big thumbs up for TW Laconia! |
Update on General Altimax RT45
I've driven a few hundred miles on these tires and am liking them quite a lot. I'm not a tire expert, but they feel good to me, solid. Quiet in my opinion. I chose them for the 70K mile warranty and because they're supposed to be better in snow than many all-season tires. Also rated high in the rain.
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