Choosing the right tire goes far beyond simply deciding if you want an “all season,” “winter,” or “summer” tire. So many factors that should go in to picking the right tire too often get neglected. For the sake of keeping things simple, however, we will list just the four main factors to keep in mind when shopping for tires:
- What kind of car do you drive?
A VW Tiguan and a Ford Mustang share the same tire size, but you wouldn’t put the same tire on both vehicles. - What do you use your car for?
Do you joy ride, just drive around town, or do you have a long commute to work every day? - What main qualities do you want in a tire?
Handling, braking, snow performance, wet traction, or fuel efficiency are a few qualities to consider. - How important are warranties to you?
Some manufacturers offer road hazard, roadside assistance, and a 30 or 45 day trial for customer satisfaction. Most manufacturers offer mileage warranties.
These points may seem obvious, but from my experience retailers don’t often ask the consumer the right questions. For example, let’s assume that you have a sports car in Florida. It’s your main car and you do only short distance driving, on a daily basis. I, as your retailer, would recommend a tire that specializes in handling and breaking with not as much of a worry about mileage. In this situation, I wouldn’t be hung-up on the concept of an “all season” tire (one that can handle light snow – a nonissue in Florida) as much as I would be concerned about a tire that can handle wet conditions (rain), including hydroplane.
It’s important to remember that quality and mileage are not always married together. There are plenty of high mileage tires that are poor quality. Quality should be determined by the features, not how long it lasts. I live in New York, so for the ability to handle light to medium snow is a primary for me as well as handling. I sacrifice mileage for quality any day. Me being the tire expert I can choose among many tire brands, but I choose to go with a brand you perhaps never heard of which is made in Holland that has a half winter tread and half summer tread made as 1 tire. Hands down this was the best tire I ever used on my car. This just proves that not always the most advertised brands are always the best brands.
Jared Kugel’s Bio:
Jared Kugel is the CEO and co-founder of Tire Agent, a new smart tire recommendation platform for consumers that takes driving habits and purpose of a vehicle into consideration to suggest the perfect tire at the best price. At 31-years-old Jared boasts an impressive 11 years in the tire industry working with manufactures, distributors and retailers. Many of Jared’s early years in the industry were spent working with his family’s business, where he initiated the company’s first online ordering system, which now represents a significant portion of their sales.
