Round Rubber Thingies, Part 2

I went out today to get a set of front tires to match the new rear tires. I didn't really want to go all the way into town, so I stopped off at the next-to nearest tire store to the house (the nearest is a defenseless victim zone) to see if they had what I needed.

They didn't have Hankook Ventas V12s in the proper size, and the quickest they could get them was Wednesday. I didn't want to wait until Wednesday, but they really wanted my business. So, instead of getting two more Ventas V12 tires they traded them straight across for two Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires and then sold me two more for the front at the same price, mounted and balanced, which was a few dollars less than I paid for the Hankooks.

It was a solid deal that I couldn't pass up, so I sprung for their extended road hazard warranty as well just to ease their pain a bit. Out the door for a bit more than I paid at Pep Boys for the Hankooks, but four new tires for the cost of two (and a better warranty) couldn't be beat, considering they traded used tires for new (even if the used set did only have 630 miles on them since they were installed).

So now I have four Continental tires on the car, it's just as smooth as the day I picked it up, and I have a 50,000 mile tread warranty to boot. Since I've only been able to get 20 to 30K out of the Pirellis I'm interested in seeing if the Continentals can deliver what they promise. If they do deliver as promised it should be another 2 1/2 years before I have to put tires on this car next (at which point the car will have 100K miles on it), and if that is the case I'll spring for the same tires again.

Now I'm all ready for my Florida trip next weekend. It sure would be nice if the IRS would hurry up and give me my money back so I can get axlebacks put on it before I go, but I won't hold my breath.