Yes, dealers charge obscene prices for pretty much everything they offer. A better alternative when buying tires is to buy them from Tirerack or Discount Tire, have them shipped to your house typically with free shipping, then have a local tire shop you can trust mount them, balance them, and align your axles. The price of the whole whack...tires included...will most often be half what you'd pay at a dealership.

 

Riding on the Primacy MXV4's you should also see a slight increase in your gas mileage. I bought a set only two days after my new '12 TCH XLT arrived. I'm nearing 10,000 miles and their still a very quiet tire. I do have Discount Tire rotate and balance them every 5000 miles although they recommend 7500. I rather do the rotation close to the same time I change my oil. The lifetime rotation was worked out in the tire deal.

 

Michelin Energy MXV4 S8

Michelin Primacy MXV4


see Tire Rack website


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...ameter=17&sortCode=49560&skipOver=true&minSpeedRating=H&minLoadRating=S&tab=All

 

I bought a set of Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 tires for my '07 TCH when it had around 20K on the clock.

They were ok but the newer Michelin Primacy MXV4 seems to be a much better quieter riding tire. Both are a low rolling resistant tires which is very important to me for peak mpg.

 

Yap I dumped and sold my Bridgestones at 2K miles and went to TireRack and got the Primacy's in 2012 for 650.88. They were shipped local tire dealer who installed them. I am very satisfied with them.

 

I traded my oem Bridgestones in at 80 miles at a Discount Tire Store. Being they were the 'getting more popular' 17" tires off my new TCH XLT they gave me a nice trade in. The deal came out to around $550 and Michelin had a $70 debit card sent later to sweeten the deal.

I wish Toyota would offer a dealer tire swap out for a few hundred extra dollars when you purchase a car.

 

How do the Primacy's handle compared to the crappy OEM tire? My tires howl when turning sharply even at low speed. They just have no bite at all it seems.

 

I run 40 psi cold in my MXV4 Primacy Tires. I don't make turns very fast but in a parking lot with the windows down they make very little sound in a turn. The Mich tires will handle just fine if you air them up to around 38 to 40 psi cold.

 

I have the H4's and the thread is 11/32. I now have 9/32 after 16K use.

They are quiet and a very tire.

I used them in snowy weather in Wisconsin last winter. Very good.

I am very satisfied with them.

 

So when replacing the Tires with Michelin MXV4's, are you getting the H or V rated tire? The H should last a little longer and don't see the need for the higher speed rating.

 

I don't know if this guy knows what he's talking about but did y'all know that there is a Michelin MXV4 that is NOT a "primacy" tire?

At Tire Rack I only found 4 MXV4 tires for the XLE. One is an Energy 93V, and the other three are Primacy, 94H, 94V, 93V (Original Equipment Version). See this link.

I would select the 94H Primacy version. It is the cheapest and provides longer tread life with a 620 rating vs a 440 for the Energy.

 

I would concur with you.

 

Not Michelins but the 'green' 'low resistence' 'quiet' tires I put on my '07 are the worst tires I've ever owned. There were available in 'regular' which is what I had on the car or 'gas saving' or what ever they call them. Horrible, horrible tires....I should have went with the regular version.

 

Would you mind tell us what tires you bought so we can avoid them? I am probably at least a year away from needing new tires but, looking at the choices. Certainly the Michelin Primacy MXV4 (H) are a consideration even though the OEM tires are V rated. I know Costco will not allow a downgrade in the rating but, it appears that Discount Tire Direct is ok with it. I am also looking at the Continental Purecontact tires as they get very good survey results on Tirerack. The Bridgestone Serenity Plus also looks good and both are warranteed for higher miles than the MXV4. Note in the Tirerack tests, the Purecontacts have lower resistance/higher fuel economy than the MXV4 and Serenity Plus tires.

 

Take a look at the Tirerack tests. They provide information on the gas mileage for the tires in the report. That's where I saw that the Continental Purecontacts did better than the Primacy MXV4 and the Bridgestone Serenity Plus.


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Take a look at the Tirerack tests. They provide information on the gas mileage for the tires in the report. That's where I saw that the Continental Purecontacts did better than the Primacy MXV4 and the Bridgestone Serenity Plus.

My understanding is that Consumer Reports is the only one, other than the government that has the equipment to test tire rolling resistance. I recall that rolling resistance is much easier to measure as something like a 10% change in rolling resistance translates to a 1% change in gas mileage. Measuring gas mileage while it is your final objective, tends to get masked by measurement error. i.e. easy to mess it up.

 

Does anyone know definitively why the higher rated longer mileage Michelins are cheaper? Unless you're in a totally controlled test environment how could they not be the better value in the long run for the average driver?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...ameter=17&sortCode=49560&skipOver=true&minSpeedRating=H&minLoadRating=S&tab=All

Common sense says go with the 620-A-A rating? Not?

 

Just guessing but I expect a higher speed rating tire has to use better materials. Also I think some tires minimize the tread depth to reduce rolling resistance. I would rather have the rubber and wear it off myself, and take the slight mileage hit until it wears down.

And then there is the status factor. The more you pay the "better the tire". Why else would people put larger diameter wheels and tires on the car, only to pay more for the tire that has less rubber??? Marketing to a certain crowd I suspect.

 

Why the surprise that a stealership is overcharging for tires?


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I buy my tires for a smooth quite ride and pay extra attention to the LRR rating.

I remember when Continental came out maybe 4 years ago with a LRR tire that would give 4% bonus in mpg.
Not long later Goodyear upped that with their rather low priced Fuel Max tire rated at 6% increase in mpg. I read up on this tire on tire rack's customer reviews. Many complained of a low level whining noise from the tires.

Months later maybe the Summer of 2009 Michelin advertised their new Energy Saver tires. They advertised a 8% increase in mpg and how much gas money you could save in 5 years of driving. I had to have a set and with my routine trips to town and back here in the country where I live, making it easy to compare any mpg increase. After 500 miles for the tires to break-in I put 40 psi cold in the tires and started tracking my mpg from tank to tank. I got a 10% increase in mpg just from installing the tires. My test mpg was during September and October 2009 and it was dry that year in Southern NM.

In 2010 Michelin had a advertisment for this Energy tire saying it can save you up to $100 a year. So I figure 5 years $500 saved on gas. That would sure help pay for a new set of tires. Not only that but now it's 3 years later with higher gas prices. I did later buy the mxv4 primacy's which seem to have the same LRR gas savings.

These Michelin Energy Saver tires were fine till after about 20K miles when they started to be a little noisy. I traded the '07 TCH for the new '12 TCH and two days later took the car to discount tires and swapped the Bridgestones for a new set of Michelin MXV4 Primacy tires. I did pay extra for the 93V version as it gives a bit of extra mpg due to the shorter tread depth. I now have near 11K on them and they still ride great, quiet and are giving the same type mpg boost as the Energy Saver tires did.

I would advise the same as RonAKA does to go with the 94H series which are lower priced and are a longer lasting tires with the 11/32 tread depth. Check tire racks specs on this tire to make sure it's a green-X tire. You can find the tiny X on your tire sidewall insuring you have a great LRR tire.

If you want to deal with discount tire, call all their stores in your area to get the best deal. Then have that store transfer their low priced deal to a discount store near your house to they can install them. Be sure to get a drive out price to compare the various stores prices. Michelin usually has a $70 sale deal going on in the form of a debit card sent to you in the mail to use as you wish.

 

I buy my tires for a smooth quite ride and pay extra attention to the LRR rating.

The problem I have with the tire industry now is that there is no standard for rolling resistance. They all make claims which are somewhat arbitrary. It is always tire Y is 5% better than tire X. We does that mean tire X is bad, or tire Y is good. There is no universal standard. Green X is just a Michelin designation, and all it really means is that the rolling resistance in Michelin's opinion is "lower" lower than what. Why not make all tires lower?

If you look at Consumer Reports ratings they actually test rolling resistance on a machine, and only a handful of all season tires test as excellent. They are:

Michelin Energy Saver A/S
Cooper GFE
Michelin Primacy MXV4(H)*
Dunlop SP Sport 7000 A/S(H)
Bridgestone Ecopia EP422(H) - But rated dead last overall for performance
Bridgestone Ecopia EP422(V) - Third last for overall performance
Nexen N7000

* the Primacy H tire in the size that Consumer Reports tested had the 9.5/32 tread depth like the V tire does in the Camry XLE size. So the rating is likely more reflective of the Camry V tire than the H. The Primacy tire with the 11/32 tread tested only good, so it appears there is an initial price to that higher tread mileage tire. Suspect Toyota selects the shorter tread depth to make their EPA ratings look better...