Is it bad to mix tire brands for awd?

[ron2368]

I am buying an 06 legacy and went to give it a second look this am. They said it has new tires but here is what I found. It has what look to be 2 brand new Cooper tires, they are diagonal on the car, not both on fr or rear. There are two yokohama but they look to be about 70%. I am going to call tomorrow saying I want 4 of the same tires, if they say it does not matter to the AWD are they right. I need a soild argument for 4 new tires. Any ideas? thank you

[fnlyfnd]

All the tires should be the same. In fact they can only vary 3/32" from tire to tire circumference.

[crazyhorse001]

Don't walk... RUN away from this car!

 

Mismatched tires can, and will destroy the transfer clutches in the transmission. That's an $800 repair. Having them on the diagonal, if the car has limited slip diffs, it will fry those as well.

 

If the car checks out mechanically, you COULD use this as leverage to get them to drop the price drastically. If you don't get them to drop it...leave a nice little note about mismatched tires in the glovebox. Then anyone curious enough will have leverage too.

[CNY_Dave]

Technically speaking, if you had 2 tires of diameter "A", and 2 of diameter "B", and put AB on the front, and AB (or BA) on the rear, the front and rear drivelines would be 'matched', and you'd be safe from torque bind, BUT...

 

As stated, it'd be hard on a limited-slip differential (if equipped), and also it indicates someone thought little enough of the car to 'take a chance' on causing a problem.

 

Also, if someone was willing to do that, what are the chances they took care to match the diameters of the similar tires?

 

Also, if someone made sure the circumference of the A tires was exactly the same as the B tires, that doesn't mean the actual rolling circumference would match (The A tires might 'squish' more).

 

 

Dave

[ron2368]

The coopers are brand new so I am assuming they wrer the replacements for the yokohamas, maybe both fronts were worn, I am sure no one at the dealer knows. But the new coopers are really new and still have the rubber edging in spots so look to have had very little use. But this still gives me concerns about the car. There still would be 3 years and 30k left on the powertrain warranty, would this be enough if there were any issues caused by the tires?

 

I have a deposit and am due to pu the car tomorrow at 4pm. I want to call early and tell my concern, I obviously need new matching tires but some assurance that I am protected in case there is damage or for them to check the areas and tell me for sure there is no problem( if I can trust that?).

[subaru360]

It's best to have matched tires, but IF they measure out the same (not likely) it's acceptable to have 2 different brands. I would hold out for 2 more of the same tires. Unless the dealer has a very small profit margin on the car (not likely) they will give you 2 tires to avoid losing the sale.

[crazyhorse001]

Trust is a non-issue. Any agreements you make with the dealer, get in writing. If, in thier ignorance, they put in writing that, they'll back the warrantee, even though the car had mismatched tires, go for it. Just make sure to stipulate a loaner car.

[ron2368]

The salesman was complaining they were only going to make $300 so he said they would not include a full 30k service job with the car. Tomorrow I will need to know what service was done , that I will get matching tires, and need some assurance on future repairs , will see if I can get the 5/75k extended warranty at a substantial discount instead of the 1280 they quoted me.

 

Thanks for the advice hopefully now I have a plan, will it work?????

[wtdash]

.....only going to make $300 so he said they would not include a full 30k service job with the car. ........get the 5/75k extended warranty at a substantial discount instead of the 1280 they quoted me.

 

Thanks for the advice hopefully now I have a plan, will it work?????

 

Is this a Subie dealer? They would/should know about the different tires/AWD issue. It sounds like the PO wore out only 2 tires?? Which means they never rotated 'em....what else didn't they do?

 

Did you negotiate a price well below their asking price? Otherwise, I doubt they're only making $300...that might be $300 LESS than their normal profit .

 

$1280 for the extended warranty sounds steep...is that for an ADDITIONAL 5 yrs/75K? Or total? If it's total, invest that money for now and pull IF you need it. We were offered a 7yr/100k warranty for $1200ish on our Toyota....which we tried to negotiate on and they wouldn't budge....so we said "no". If you plan on driving this car 'til the warranty expires (and beyond) and peace of mind is important, then get it anyway.

 

And ensure anything they promise is on the Invoice/Bill of Sale....nothing verbal.

 

Good luck and enjoy! I like the new 06+ Subies more each time I see 'em.

[edrach]

Three things:

 

Run a carfax on the car. I'm assuming 45K on the car which seems quite high for a 2 year old car, but not impossible. With that mileage, all the OEM tires should still be good; not sure why two were already replaced.

 

Go to www.nadaguides.com and check the proper price for this model car with the miles on it. I really don't believe that any dealer would limit himself to $300 profit on an '06 car. They are not that stupid.

 

Lastly, if you do buy the car, GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING AND SIGNED BY A PERSON IN AN UPPER MANGAGEMENT POSITION (preferably the owner) AT THE DEALER. Include the fact it came with mis-matched tires when you first saw it whether they replace the tires or not. Make sure that any remaining warranty is detailed in the written statement.

 

Good luck with your new car.

[edrach]

The salesman was complaining they were only going to make $300 so he said they would not include a full 30k service job with the car. Tomorrow I will need to know what service was done , that I will get matching tires, and need some assurance on future repairs , will see if I can get the 5/75k extended warranty at a substantial discount instead of the 1280 they quoted me.

 

Thanks for the advice hopefully now I have a plan, will it work?????

$1280 for the remaining warranty! Sounds a bit high to me also. I would think the original owner already paid for the full 5/75K warranty when he bought it; why should you pay any more?

 

Secondly, with the miles on the car now, all warranty issues should have surfaced and been resolved already. The likelihood of additional issues now is pretty remote (unless the car has been abused or the tire issue isn't recent)

[edrach]

Last piece of advice. Don't be afraid to walk away from the deal. Lots of nice '06 cars out there. This one has enough "what ifs" to make me think more than twice about signing off on it.

 

The salesman will call you if you walk away to offer you a better deal. The last new car I bought, I walked away 9 times. Got a call from the salesman within 24 hours each time with a slightly better deal. Finally bought the car when the price met my guidelines (brand new Mazda pickup truck back in 1988).

[edrach]

I am buying an 06 legacy and went to give it a second look this am. They said it has new tires but here is what I found. It has what look to be 2 brand new Cooper tires, they are diagonal on the car, not both on fr or rear. There are two yokohama but they look to be about 70%. I am going to call tomorrow saying I want 4 of the same tires, if they say it does not matter to the AWD are they right. I need a soild argument for 4 new tires. Any ideas? thank you

Odd that the tires should be worn in this fashion. If the tires were never rotated, fronts should be more worn than the rears. Diagonal wear might indicate an unresolved alignment problem.

[Bmm001]

I would NOT buy this car... the fact that only 2 of the tires were replaced could mean that the previous ower didn't know anything about care of an AWD car. I can't help but wonder about the rest of the car's maintenence too. Can you find out how recently the 2 new tires were put on? If the dealer just did it, you might be OK if you get them to replace the 2 old ones. My brother had one mismatched tire on his '99 OBS for a week while we were waiting for the new ones to arrive from tirerack and it's fine.

 

I think you should really test the AWD for binding and sticking by going in a parking lot, cranking the wheel all the way to the left, and creeping around in a circle, and then the opposite direction. Any hesitation, lurching, or noises means there is something wrong.

 

If you really want this car, get everything in writing from the manager. That is, that A. they will put 4 matching tires on and B. If there's something wrong with the AWD, THEY should fix it, no charge.

 

Brian

[nipper]

I am buying an 06 legacy and went to give it a second look this am. They said it has new tires but here is what I found. It has what look to be 2 brand new Cooper tires, they are diagonal on the car, not both on fr or rear. There are two yokohama but they look to be about 70%. I am going to call tomorrow saying I want 4 of the same tires, if they say it does not matter to the AWD are they right. I need a soild argument for 4 new tires. Any ideas? thank you

 

This means that the old tires were 70% more worn then the yoko.

 

Walk away from the car. There are enough of these around, and this one may have expensive issues in the future.

 

nipper

[bulwnkl]

If it's a screaming-enough deal, go ahead. I don't know how much of your money they have already (I think you said you already put a deposit down on it?), and I don't know whether you have any real chance of getting any of that back. I'd be skeptical of that car myself.

 

BTW, them saying they're only making $300 at this price probably just means they took this car in on trade against a new one, charged at least sticker price on the new one (maybe a bunch more), and gave a very high trade-in allowance on this one. Thus, they have a seriously inflated 'cost' on their books for the one you're looking at (compared with what it's actually worth down at the auto auction), and that's the measure against which they're claiming to only be making $300.