thx1138

2006 TL A/T. Have about 33k. My location is Brooklyn, NY. From checking the forum, I see that the recommended replacement from the original tire:
Bridgestone Turanza EL42
P235/45R17 93W M+S
Tubeless EL42SZ
is the Continental ExtremeContact DWS.
Went to tirerack.com and checked the price...$500.00+44.08s/h=$544.08.
But now I would have to ship them to a recommended installer. I saw their recommended installers based on my zip code. But I also see some negative comments posted on tiretrack about these installers. Can anyone that lives in Brooklyn recommend an installer. I've never ordered tires online.
On a side note. I've noticed that hardly anyone on the forum recommends replacing with the original Bridgestone. Why? Price? They run about $1048.00 on tirerack. Wow.
TIA

Bearcat94

Price is part of it; but the BS EL42 had a reputation as a terrible tire.

Here's an alternative on your Conti's. Find a local tire seller/installer you like. Ask if they will match the TireRack price. If so, you're golden.

thx1138

Thanks Bearcat. Problem is in finding a local seller/installer other than sears or pepboys. Who I doubt will ever match tirerack.

I'll do a forum search on the EL42. I do recall some posts that they were not the best for the TL. But why did Acura use them and why so darn expensive. That's double the price of the Conti.

eazy

iTrader: (8)

what are you looking for in the tire (All-season i'm guessing?) and how much are you trying to spend?

thx1138

I have 33k on the car. I primarily drive locally. I picked up the car new in Aug 2006. With 33k I haven't really put much on the car. Living in Brooklyn would mean an equivalent to what the car came with. Assuming the EL42 was the best match for the car and that Acura didn't have some deal with BS. But what I see on the forum, Acura may have had some special deal with BS since there are so many negative comments about the OEM tires. I will admit, ever since I drove off the lot with the car, it has been one noisy auto. I just lived with it for the pass 5 years.

A month ago, I hit a pot hole and noticed a small bubble on the front passenger side tire. I have stopped driving the car since.

So now I'm forced to replace the tire. Since I see some wear on the other tires as well, I though it might be best to just go all out and replace them all. But the consensus on this forum seems to be that the conti are better than the oem.

I check consumer reports as well and they seem to be rated high.

Brooklyn (northeast) Summer, rain, snow.

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

Here are two places you can call that will probably get you a good price with alignment:

MLS Tire
145 North Main St. Freeport, NY 11520
(516) 378-2532

Redline Tires
110-01 Northern Boulevard Corona, NY 11368
(718) 672-7600

Both places I've purchased tires from and both are very competitive with their pricing on the DWS. I prefer the Freeport location over Redline and that's only because of location and they speak better English...LoL. I only go to places that Hunter Road Force balances, plus has a Laser Alignment machine on deck to get an alignment which both of these places do. Its very essential for our cars.

Now.. with that said... having owned these tires now for over 1 year... I'm not too impressed with them all. If you are not into a sporty drive and just are a avg. commuter from point A to point B... these tires are prolly the best. But if you like a little bit of fun once in a while.. these tires really take out the fun in handling characteristics for this car. That's the best way I can put it.

thx1138

Hey thanks Elegant Type S. Nice ride.
Living in Brooklyn, you said it best..."english". It's difficult to trust any of these places close by. I may have to head further out on the Island.
At MLS Tire, did you buy from them or tirerack to deliver to them.

1sickaccord

i just picked up some DWS's also and got them mounted on my stock wheels ... going on sunday with my stock suspension for the winter

Jiggy2dmax

iTrader: (1)

Redline is good, never heard anyone complain about them and they been around for years. Equipment they have is good and cheaper than a lot of places you'll find.

I used RCT in College Point only because I feel he's a bit more knowledgeable.

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

Yeah both places are excellent.. don't get me wrong. I just prefer MLS. Thing with Redline is .. if you purchase 4 brand new tires they give you a free alignment. MLS won't give you a free alignment but they'll hook you up with a good price for one for doing business with them. I wanna say like $50.

I never buy tires from Tire Rack and quiet frankly I don't understand how people actually save money doing it that way. Everytime I inquire about bringing my own tires.. then they charge me the full price on mounting and balancing plus wheel alignment that any savings is completely washed out and I end up losing money.

I always save more money by just calling local shops and getting a bundled price.. because I know I have to have my car road force balanced with the HUNTER GSP9700 balancer and want a HUNTER Laser Alignment and not all shops carry these things, and those that do charge more. With the bundled price they usually don't charge for the balancing or reduce the cost of the balancing substantially since they are making profit on the tire sale. With tire rack you might get the tires for cheaper but then get raped on the mounting and balancing.. so your overall cost is more.

If I just wanted to get the wheels balanced with some crap balancer than I know of other tires shops that can do this too.. .but I don't even mess with them anymore because I always end up getting the balancing redone a few months later due to annoying vibrations that only the Hunter GSP 9700 machine can get out. That machine is awesome. Its the same balancer the dealers are required to use.

My suggestion to you is to call both MLS and Redline and give them the size of tire you want and get a quote with road force balancing and wheel alignment and see which one works out cheaper. Both places if you pay cash can avoid sales tax. Let us know how much your grand total was...


I'm posting this up in an extensive post so other can benefit as well. And if there are other suggestions with shops with those machines who are competitive in their pricing on tires.. guys share.

thx1138

Guys thanks a lot. I was focused locally (Brooklyn), but looks like I'll make the trip for excellence.
I'll see what MLS can quote me for 4 Continental ExtremeContact DWS + installation/Balancing + alignment.

College Point is closer for me and know the area (used to work close by, off Booth Memorial). Looks like RCT is rated highly on tirerack. Elegant TS, I agree with ordering tires online and getting drilled with installation/balancing even though there is a so-called "price pledge" listed on tirerack. I do prefer getting it all done at one location (purchasing/install/balancing/alignment) for one price, but finding a reputable place in Brooklyn was my concern. Let's just say I've had my share of "nonsense" and "double-talk" from auto-shops and dealership. That's why the internet and these forums are great for guidance/recommendations. There's a lot of regret of places I went to but had no choice because of time. So I lost financially and had poor work done.
Jiggy, does RCT sell or just install?

MLS is some distance away from me, but if they sell and have a great bundled price, then I may have to take that trip.

I'll also check redline out.

Again, thanks a lot guys. I'm still digging those pics of Elegant's black beauty. That mirror shine. I'm 06 Nighthawk Black. When I first got it, went through the whole P21S by hand routine. Boy did it shine. As we all know, the problem with black cars and dirt.

rhafikjaan

Def recommended RCT performance..I'v been there before and still plan on going back.

eazy

iTrader: (8)

I recommend RCT as well. They have a hunter alignment system there too. They take extra care of aftermarket wheels too. I think they sell tires as well.

I had a shop patch a tire for me by redline(it was on a corner couple blocks down before the precinct) dude just shoved a impact drill wrong socket in and messed up all my pcd's on my aftermarket wheels. only reason was because RCT closed before I could get there -.-

but to go back to tires, certain BS are good but I think the EL42s' are not so great of a rubber. For 262$ a corner you could get something else much better. DWS are only 127$ a corner from tire rack and are 20x better than EL42's. Check out tire rack they have ratings on dry traction/wet traction/snow traction/road noise etc. Find the tires you're considering and compare the ratings

Jiggy2dmax

iTrader: (1)

I'm 90% sure that RCT does. I didn't see a whole of tires instock so I would assume it's on a case to case basis.

I bought my Michelin A/S Sports from Discount Tire Direct Online and they gave me $100 worth of gift cards back, not sure if its the same for Conti but I would say it was worth a look.

BoricuaTL

iTrader: (1)

if you are looking for the DWS, hit up 212motoring in brooklyn and ask for my brother, Clemente. they can get you a good price i think. i got mine from them. tell him rene sent u.

Jiggy2dmax

iTrader: (1)

Just to add, I took my fathers car to MLS off Elegants recommendation for alignment and balancing since RCT was packed and it was top notch. Knowledgeable, very good pricing and friendly guys

eazy

iTrader: (8)

So did you pick up new conti's? How much are they usually 245/40/19?

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

Yeah those guys are very cool and chill. Shop is very small and I'd only go to them I think for tires, balancing, alignment .. nothing more. Post the price you paid and size of tires including alignment and balancing so others can have a reference.

Jiggy2dmax

iTrader: (1)

Off my head(car is a 08 GMC Envoy)

245/65/17

$15 a wheel for Road Force Balancing
$60 for Front Alignment+$20 for rear(only charge if the rear is out of spec)

Just to reiterate what Elegant said, small shop sorta dirty but excellent at what they do.

thx1138

Guys, I'm sorry I couldn't respond since my last post. Several emergencies took priority. Didn't even get a chance to call RCT or MLS for pricing. The holidays are approaching and other issues come up.

I see jiggy2dmax took a trip to MLS. I'll have to call both shops and see if they sell the ContiDWS as a package deal. Would prefer RCT since they are closer to Brooklyn.

spg900ny

Just FYI, Sears will match any price - you can get a price for four from Tire Rack + shipping and they will match that price (at least my local one will).

I actually just bought a set of DWS for my brand new Acura Sportwagon. Took the Michelins off with only 1200 miles on them and trying to sell them on Craigslist. Saw the ratings on TireRack and decided I didn't want my wife & 4-year-old in the car over the winter with the stock tires. Didn't know Michelin made tires that poor.

Had the dealer do the install (cost me an hour of labor) because I didn't trust anyone else to not nick my rims. Had Mavis do the DWS on my Saab 9-5 and they damaged two of my rims. I was not happy.

Amazing how Conti can make such awesome tires cheaper than just about anyone else. I've had three sets of these now on three different cars and love them. Before these, I have had several sets of the regular ExtremeContact tires. Great stuff.

thx1138

man...bumping my own thread. I got sidetrack and wasn't able to get the tires earlier.
Here's what I was offered. BTW, I decided to just get two new (Conti) and use them with the two BS EL42 which has 6/32 left out of the 10/32 when new.
I sent emails out to both MLS and RCT.
MLS responded: "new tires continental DWS 235/45/17 will cost you $185 each which includes mounting and balancing on the hunter gsp9700 roadforce".

RCT responded: 235/45/17 for a pair is $285.00 just for the tires.
Dispose your old tires it will be $3.00 each.
The price for installation is $20.00 each wheel that includes the dismount / remount/ and Road Force Balance per wheel.
For the alignment original price is $100.00 with the discount applied will be $80.00 since you would be doing the pair of tires at the same time.
Now I haven't even factored tax into the mix. As Elegant mentioned, if I pay cash maybe they'll drop the tax.

Since RCT is a recommended installer with tirerack. It seems that it would be cheaper to order the tires (current price $133 and have them delivered to RCT and then have them mount and balance for $20. On tirerack RCT has a coupon posted for the $20 off alignment.
I ws hoping that they would get me a better deal since I'm willing to buy the tire from them. I'll call James at RCT tomorrow and see.
Also I'm wondering if it safer to buy from a tirerack (who I would assume will back up my purchase if there are issues. Not sure if RTC would do the same.

In reference to price matching at Sears. Over the phone one guy says yes. Went down with the printout and the manager says no. Qoute: "no one can beat these guys"

The alignment at RCT seems kind of high...like what one would expect at a dealership.