In an effort to save some more money, J and I have started to carpool to work on the days we start at the same time. His truck is a gas guzzler, my car a fuel efficient practicality, so together we take the Honda to work at least three days a week.
A couple of weeks ago, at 5:45 AM on a rainy Wednesday, we hit a small lake puddle hidden in a curve of the road, causing us to hydroplane and come thisclose to hitting an oncoming vehicle. Our little car was careening out of control, and while we were able to avoid disaster that time, we might not be so lucky the next.
The first thing out of J’s mouth, after the both of us had calmed down, was “these tires cannot handle the rain“. I reminded him that I told him to be careful in that corner seconds before the incident, and the situation wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t shrug off my warning, but I knew he was right. We needed new tires.
In late 2011, I bought tires for my twenty-five year old Mercedes 190E. The tires cost me $550 installed, and a similar incident but with snow instead of rain was the catalyst for the purchase. That and many patched holes in each tire from driving over stray nails at work.
I was sure that my Mercedes would last for at least a year after the tire purchase. I’d maintained it quite well and while it was an old car, it had a lot of gusto. Plus, who knew how many kilometers were on it. The 190E had an odd defect that year of the odometer stopping at 146,000, where it had settled god knows how long prior to my acquisition of it.
Three months after I dropped hundreds of dollars on the tires, my beloved trooper broke down a foot from my driveway. After a quick assessment of the issue and some price comparisons and research, and I resigned myself to the fact that it would cost far more than the car was even worth to fix it.
The car was dismantled and shipped away and I bought my trusty Honda, excited for the air conditioning and windows that actually rolled down. The used car dealership where we bought her told us that the tires weren’t in the best shape, and that we’d need to get new ones fairly soon, but I pushed it off, thinking that I’d had enough of tire shopping to last me a decade.
We went camping a couple of weekends ago, and J pointed my tires out to a friend, who told me that they were the baldest he’d ever seen. Then, as if a message from the tire-Gods, we picked a big, sharp chunk of metal from one.
Needless to say I had to make that dreaded phone call to our local tire store today to book an appointment to get new tires on. We did a lot of research and found the right ones, but the last thing our budget needs right now is more large purchases, considering we have a wedding coming up.
$545 later, and our new tires were installed and we were ready to take on the wet roads. Despite my disdain for the necessary purchase, one of us needs a vehicle, if not both (as a condition for our jobs), and as they say, safety first.
When was the last time you bought tires?
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Tires are not cheap by any means and you get what you pay for that’s for sure. It’s one of those surprises that can pop up in the budget. I also need tires for my vehicle in the next year and I’m looking at about $800 or so for the tires so we are budgeting now for them.
We recently bought tires for our Camaro, and I think they were around $300 or $400 for EACH (I can’t remember the exact price). We now need tires for the Jeep as well, and those are usually just as expensive. I want to run away! I hate buying tires, especially twice within the same year.
Peanut bought new wheels and tires for his Jeep last year, and we’ll have to replace the tires on my car this year. I hope that’s the last time we need to think about tires for a long time!
Such is the tale about the expenses on maintenance required by having a car. I am only aware and can only empathize because I don’t own a car and perhaps never will. Still, happy for you that nothing untoward happened.
What a nightmare. One of the many reasons I’m grateful for spending my life on public transit. Is there any cheaper alternative?
Tires are bloody expensive! We shopped around for tires on my Honda Civic car. Still had to pay $600. Now we need to do the 60K maintenance on our cars. Ouch….it’s going to hurt.
Yikes – glad you two were all right. Close calls always get my heart racing.
I haven’t bought tires in four years, but I have two sets (all-season, and snow) that I switch out. My all-seasons are made specifically for rain so they’re great for all the nasty Spring and Fall weather we get. That being said, I think I have the same “super power” as you on picking up nails left and right. Honestly, I don’t even know how many patches I’ve been through… it’s like I’m a magnet for them.
Thankfully, my brother is a mechanic and he can get me at cost pricing for tires. So I can get REALLY good tires for about $300 or so. I love connections 🙂
Tires are not cheap, that’s for sure. However, that’s one area of maintenance I’m not afraid to splurge on. As someone once told me, tires are the only part of the car that actually touches the road, so if they are not in good shape, all of the safety devices in the world won’t matter. Also, I tend to look at it as the cost of one fender bender because I couldn’t stop in time will easily be more expensive than a few extra dollars on tires. Even still, it does hurt to pay that much for something that is inevitably going to wear out.
I am glad to read that you didn’t end up in an accident!
With dangerous road conditions in Montreal during the winter and a mandatory winter tire rule that has been in place for years, I spent nearly $900 for new winter tires back in Dec 2013 on my Mazda 6 because my old ones were no longer safe for the road. Man did that hurt the wallet but I don’t kid around with my safety and the tires performed really well!
I bought tires for my truck, ice and snow tires. About $800 wen it was over. luckily, they are tax deductible….
Without good tread, you hydroplane easily and run off the road. Either slow down, or get new tires.