Question about tires

[Cara]

Trying to save $$, my husband bought some used tires for his 2005 Vibe. They looked good - we didn't know what to worry about, buying used.

Driving to Florida last night, two of those tires blew out on him.

He got towed to a Tire Kingdom, left the car, came back the next a.m. - armed with the name of the tires I'd told him to get, based on a search of Tire Kingdom's website: Cooper Lifeliner GLS, 205/55/R16, 65,000 warranty, T rating, 91 load index... To be honest, I looked at the cost and the warranty and the size.

The salesman there tried to tell him that those tires wouldn't work - that his car needed a HIGHER rated tire. The tire he tried to sell him was a Sumitomo with a 40,000 warranty - less than the Cooper.

The guy tried to say that the H rated Sumitomos were required for the weight of the Vibe, or something.

Sounded like a load of crap, to me, so I told my husband to insist on the Coopers.

Were we being fed a line of bull, or am I going to regret insisting that my husband go with the Coopers? The salesman gave him LOTS of attitude -- acting like he was insulting his expertise, yada yada yada.

thanks

[tpollauf]

Stick with your original request and tell this shop where they can stick there *^#_)?>%@. They are only trying to sell you a lower line product so that they make MORE profit. Obviously they have no concern about your safety. Leave this shop immediately. Lots of other tire shops EVERYWHERE. Sounds like the bargain you got on used tires were most likely OLD and dry-rot. This would explain the blowout situation. I know from experience as it happened to my F-150 driving through Atlanta of all places. Keep us posted on this story and what you end up getting.

[metaxa44]

Hi Cara,

Those tires are fine for the car..
The 91 is for the load and the T is for the speed rating ( up to 113 MPH or 190 KM speed)..
What the T means is if You drive faster than the max 113 MPH for over 10 minutes the tire might blow on You...

[Cara]

Thanks. As I (we both) suspected but, under pressure, my husband almost caved. He did insist on the Coopers. Guy continued to give him attitude.

Tire Kingdom corporate will be receiving the details.

[SeattleJeremy]

The car came stock with Goodyear Eagle RS-A, H rated (130mph), tires. This means that T rated (118mph) tires are below the OEM spec for the car. So the sales guy has a point.

However, I completely agree with your tire choice. Besides, the speed ratings are irrelevant if you never take the car above the rated speed. Lets be honest, how many people drive their Vibe above 100mph anyway.

[ColonelPanic]

Lots of places wouldn't do this in our litigious society of today. They probably don't want the liability of installing an under-spec'ed tire on a customer's car.

But it should be more than obvious that a Pontiac Vibe is not going to reach 118 MPH with any sort of regularity, let alone 130 MPH.

[WhgVibe]

Just bought new tires and after a bit of research I went with a Mastercraft tire made by Cooper. Avenger Touring LSR T Rated with 80K warranty. 205/55/16.. So far they are quiet and the ride seems nice. They have a 45 Day ride warranty so Im going to be pretty attentive of how they perform. I'll keep you guys & gals posted.

[vibolista]

This tire rating thing is getting a little out of hand, but since we live in such a litigious country, the tire guy was just trying to cover his posterior. Plus the Vibe is such a high performance car, that H speed rating is necessary!! Just kidding !

Note the limits for your tires. Most people don't consider any type of rating on a tire. Weight (load rating) and Speed are two of the big ones that really count. Inform yourself, but use reasonable judgement. There are some pretty poor tires out there to watch out for and can be easily researched on the internet.

If you buy a tire, you can always check the ratings on the sidewalls. Lot's of info on there... UTQG (Uniform Tire Quality Grading) info. Even the date of manufacture is there. That's really important. Most tires will start to show very small cosmetic "Cracks" in the rubber at around 6 years of age. The cracks are an indications that the tire is coming to the end of it's life.

The tire is one of the most critical systems on your car. Inflate them properly and check their condition every couple of weeks. Never over inflate... the max cold tire PSI is also found on the tire sidewall. Drive reasonably and don't overload the car. Hot summer weather and fast travel with vacation loads can wreak havoc on tires that are not properly maintained.

Cooper makes excellent tires and is still an American company.

[WhgVibe]

Just bought new tires and after a bit of research I went with a Mastercraft tire made by Cooper. Avenger Touring LSR T Rated with 80K warranty. 205/55/16.. So far they are quiet and the ride seems nice. They have a 45 Day ride warranty so Im going to be pretty attentive of how they perform. I'll keep you guys & gals posted.

SO FAR SO GREAT !! These are the best tires I have ever had on my Vibe. Smoother ride and reduced road noise. Now for the winter traction test!!

[lannvouivre]

SO FAR SO GREAT !! These are the best tires I have ever had on my Vibe. Smoother ride and reduced road noise. Now for the winter traction test!!

In continuing my crusade against the goodyear rsa tires, I will again insist the rsa's are the worst tires ever created and I am glad you upgraded.

[hotbug1776]

SO FAR SO GREAT !! These are the best tires I have ever had on my Vibe. Smoother ride and reduced road noise. Now for the winter traction test!!

In continuing my crusade against the goodyear rsa tires, I will again insist the rsa's are the worst tires ever created and I am glad you upgraded.

I will add that Goodyears in general are complete garbage. they wear quickly, even with scheduled rotation. Every time anyone I know buys Goodyear, they are dissatisfied after a few rotations.

[ImUrOBGYN]

This tire rating thing is getting a little out of hand, but since we live in such a litigious country, the tire guy was just trying to cover his posterior. Plus the Vibe is such a high performance car, that H speed rating is necessary!! Just kidding !

Note the limits for your tires. Most people don't consider any type of rating on a tire. Weight (load rating) and Speed are two of the big ones that really count. Inform yourself, but use reasonable judgement. There are some pretty poor tires out there to watch out for and can be easily researched on the internet.

If you buy a tire, you can always check the ratings on the sidewalls. Lot's of info on there... UTQG (Uniform Tire Quality Grading) info. Even the date of manufacture is there. That's really important. Most tires will start to show very small cosmetic "Cracks" in the rubber at around 6 years of age. The cracks are an indications that the tire is coming to the end of it's life.

The tire is one of the most critical systems on your car. Inflate them properly and check their condition every couple of weeks. Never over inflate... the max cold tire PSI is also found on the tire sidewall. Drive reasonably and don't overload the car. Hot summer weather and fast travel with vacation loads can wreak havoc on tires that are not properly maintained.

Cooper makes excellent tires and is still an American company.

I would like to quickly add to and clarify your max psi statemtent for others - you shouldn't be anywhere near that max psi in normal conditions.

Factory asks for 32 psi all the way around. Be sure to check your tires cold, not after you've driven a few miles, not when one side has been in the sun and the other not. For more very helpful info, check Tire Rack's website. They have an incredibly informative section on tires and their care. I'm always surprised at the amount of assumption and misinformation there is out there. Educate yourselves.

[lannvouivre]

Yeah, it's the max pressure. They also said on either Tire Rack or DiscountTire that you need to make sure they don't get that high once they're hot.

As for why underinflating is so bad, if the pressure is too low, the sidewalls will flex and get very hot from flexing too much, eventually causing a blowout.