Anyone that has bought used tires - the good, the bad, the ugly?

OldFart

Looking at tires 305 30R19's and 255 35R19's, just out of curiosity was browsing and found some deals on used ones with a pretty good amount of tread left.

For anyone that has bought used tires, have ya regretting doing it? If a good experiance would you do it again?

fuct

if you just need something to get you around town for a few months until you can buy a new set then sure do it!

the only prob ive found is that local brick and mortar store like discount tire and NTB wont mount used tires. and if they do they want about $50 to do it. if you go to some side of the road used tire shop and get them mounted its cheaper but im not letting them touch my 19" rims!

you never really know what you are getting when they are used though. i def wouldnt be pushing the limits on someone elses used tires......

one last thing, how long have these used tires been sitting around unmounted? tires do get old.

Chuck33079

If I had a shitbox commuter car, I'd run used tires with no complaints. There's a lot of crappy tire shops around me that do a lot of business in used tires. A powerful sports car? Probably not.

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JARblue

Last summer I picked up some used rear tires (same as the ones already on the Z - Nitto Invos). They were advertised at 8/32nds but were more like 6/32 when I got home to check them. I wish I had brought a tread depth gauge with me when I picked them up - if they're being shipped, you obviously won't have that luxury.

Still, for the price, I couldn't complain. The main reason behind purchasing used tires, was my front tires were wearing faster than normal - I am trying to maintain a 1:2 front:rear replacement ratio and don't want to change front tires without also changing the rears. I saw these FS and they were 305s (I was running 285s at the time), they were local (well, San Antonio), and inexpensive (I bought multiple items, but the tire cost was around $250 of the total).

That being said, I do not plan to purchase used tires again except in a very similar situation. I was just trying to better control my replacement schedule. Tires are a very key element to the safety of your vehicle, so they're not something I try to save money on. I plan to purchase a full set of new tires this coming Spring or Summer.

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JARblue

NTB didn't give me any hassles. They mounted and balanced the tires for $20 apiece. I also have a 5 yr alighnment plan with them, so I had an alignment done at the same time.

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DEpointfive0

Bought plenty, got screwed once.
No problem doing it again

CHECK THE DATE CODE!

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fuct

wow im surprised! good to know.


on a side note i stopped going to NTB when they said they couldnt do the alignment on my 2010 nismo because they only had the specs for the 2009 model.

Chuck33079

These. Buy local.

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DEpointfive0

I have a few $6-10 Harbor freight calipers, I use them as my tread depth gauges

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JARblue

I can't say I blame you. I probably wouldn't go back either Even now I sit in the bay and watch them work. Tire places are one of the few that actually get to touch the Z, so I make sure to monitor

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SouthArk370Z

I agree with most of the other ppl - OK for a DD that is babied but not if you like to drive hard and/or fast.

If you do go with used, make sure you inspect the unmounted (need to check inside, too) tires very carefully for any signs of damage. There are lots of web pages that will tell you what to look for and most have pretty pictures.

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OldFart

Guy who is selling them is about an hour and a half away. I'll have to look at the pictures again, but willing to sell at $300 (pair) for the 305's... My car isn't a DD, and also don't drive the car hard and/or fast. Purely a pleasure vehicle but do enjoy driving it.

kenchan

yah, i would not do it again unless you're looking for track/autox tires.

reason being, every car wears tires differently and that can lead to augmented road noise. even on my Z tires, i mark which corner i took it from (left or right) when swapping wheels so that i put them back on the same corner when i swap back. i swap wheels back and forth for refresh often.

even on sedans running narrow square setup, tires can be pretty noisy after rotation. some dealers dont do rotations on some luxury car service calls just for this reason...customers complain. they just tell the customer to get new tires soon.

JARblue

This is one of the more common and successful dealer scams - rather than explain the noise or recommend more frequent rotations, they just bilk the customer of more money

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SouthArk370Z

By the time you spend the time and gas (6 gallons or more of premium for a three hour tour), mounting/balancing, &c, wouldn't it be (almost) as cheap to buy a decent* set of new tires? Just seems like an awful lot of trouble to save a few bucks on something as important as tires.

*For the way you drive, some $350/pr Goodrich's may be good enough. And they'll probably throw in mount/balance.

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