The content of the article:
- Start by choosing tires
- If you want to do well - do it yourself!
- Second set of discs
- Choosing a tire workshop
- Do not inflate tires with nitrogen!
Tire fitting is a procedure that a car owner has to do when buying a car and twice a year, during a seasonal tire change. The annual “changing shoes” of the car inevitably causes the owner of the car to strive to save as much as possible on tire fitting.
But any savings need to be approached, as they say, wisely: sometimes excessive frugality can lead to diametrically opposite effects. How to save money on tire fitting and avoid possible problems?
Start by choosing tires
Tire manufacturing is a very dynamic industry, for this reason each new product line is priced higher to attract the attention of buyers with its “innovations”. But it makes sense to think: Are tires that were advertised as innovative as early as two or three years ago so out of date?
Of course, they remain of high quality and reliable. Moreover, if any brand has shown negative or weak qualities, it has already become known. But the price for such models has managed to drop significantly.
In production, models that are not part of the newest line are called "second line". It is she who is of interest to those who want to save money on seasonal tire changes. Prices for such models can be half as much as the cost of the "flagship" models of the brand. It should be understood that in some way these tires will be inferior to the latest developments, and in this situation it will be useful to study the materials of tire tests.
Tire tests
In the tire test results, which are regularly presented by the German club of motorists ADAC, there is an analysis of the widest range of manufacturers and models.
One of the main indicators when choosing tires of the second line is their durability. At the same time, do not forget that frugality should not turn into problems: tires must behave steadily on the road, this is the main thing!
We act according to plan
In order not to spend additional funds "for urgency" and not to get into a period when, due to an increase in demand, prices for the services of tire changers rise seasonally, you should not wait until the last with a change of tires.
When the first snow falls, the primary argument is the speed of the procedure, not its cost. Therefore, it is worth planning in advance all operations for the seasonal change of tires and do it without haste - this will definitely save you money.
If you want to do well - do it yourself!
This slogan is very common among domestic motorists. In fact, if the driver has his hands "from the right place", he can easily cope with the procedure of changing the shoes of his car, saving time, money, and nerves, while on the eve of "tinsmith's day" at tire changers - a rush and endless queue.
To perform the tire change procedure, it is enough to be able to use a jack and understand from which side the wheel wrench is taken. And for those in doubt, simple arithmetic can be cited: this year, at a tire service of more than an average level in a metropolis, one and a half hundred rubles are taken from the car owner for dismantling and assembling each wheel.
Dismantling and mounting tires - another one and a half hundred, 150 rubles - sealant. And don't forget about balancing - 150 rubles again. In total, twice a year, an amount of 1,800 rubles, plus or minus trifles, runs up, and plus is more likely, we like to impose unnecessary services and write additional amounts on the check.
In the "promoted" workshops the price tag can reach two and a half thousand, in dealerships - and even more expensive.
Second set of discs
So the tires are selected and purchased. The next stage is the question of purchasing a second set of discs. If you buy an additional set of discs, then in two or three seasons this purchase will pay off.
Even if the car owner does not change tires on his own, but turns to the services of a tire fitting service, changing wheels with discs will cost significantly less than transferring a disc from old rubber to new one.
However, there are some nuances here, which more experienced drivers willingly share with novice car owners:
- due to savings on balancing and installation work, a set of discs pays for itself in two to three years, but if the car has relatively low mileage;
- every time the tire is mounted on the disk, the cord is stretched, which leads to various injuries, hernias, and tearing of the cord, therefore, the less this procedure is performed, the longer the tire lasts;
- for those who are not afraid of working with a key and a jack, changing tires on their own, on which you do not need to rearrange disks, is generally a simple job that can be done without nerves and unnecessary waste of money;
- even if the driver prefers tire fitting services, replacing tires already equipped with rims will cost less and take less time;
- a set of discs should be selected taking into account the aggressive reagents with which our roads are treated in winter: for example, aluminum discs may not cope with the load and quickly become unusable;
- a tire with a disc weighs a lot, so fragile girls will have to take this circumstance into account if you need to move tires by removing them from the garage or vice versa, sending them for seasonal storage;
- if we are talking about a premium car, then it is unlikely that it will be possible to save money due to the high cost of a set of discs.
Choosing a tire workshop
If, nevertheless, for some reason, there is no desire or opportunity to change tires on your own, you will have to turn to the services of a tire workshop. Its choice should be approached carefully in order to save on costs and receive a quality service.
Please note that when buying tires, they often give a discount coupon for tire fitting services. If there are no such coupons, then you can "open the hunt" for discounts in tire shops. As a rule, they all have their own pages on social networks and on the Internet.
Often, marketers offer various promotions such as "publish a repost and get a discount of 200 rubles." In parallel, in a social group, you can ask about the quality of services - as a rule, visitors to such pages willingly share their impressions. Finally, a simple comparison of the price lists of different workshops will allow you to find the best option.
Sometimes the so-called "discount hours" are announced at tire shops - the time when services for changing the shoes of cars are cheaper. But do not forget that there are a lot of people who want to save money, therefore, having arrived for a tire fitting at the agreed "discount" time, the car owner will most likely end up in a rather big queue.
Do not think that various "surprises" cannot await in the chosen workshop:
- during the mass replacement of tires, the prices for the services of craftsmen increase slightly;
- in the course of the work, additional problems may come to light that will need to be eliminated;
- to an inexperienced car owner, workshop workers may try to impose additional types of work.
On the other hand, professional advice and a list of additional services can be very helpful. For example, many tire shops provide their customers with a service such as storing a spare set of tires.
Do not inflate tires with nitrogen!
There is an abundance of arguments from the tire changers in favor of nitrogen, and each argument looks very representative, but in fact, it is not at all so wealthy:
- There will be not much condensation with nitrogen, due to which corrosive processes start in the tire.
Actually, less condensation will occur if the pumped air is passed through a filter drier.
- Professional and sports vehicles use only nitrogen.
It is not true. Perhaps the only thing that is true is that sports tires are nitrogen-pumped or carbon dioxide is used, since these elements do not support combustion processes.
- Nitrogen does not shrink or expand with temperature drops
… just like normal air. Rather, the compression-expansion ratios have a difference of 0.0001, that is, in a tire it will be a pressure difference of 25 hundred thousandths of an atmosphere (0.00025). So is it worth the candle?
Finally, the main argument against nitrogen: the gas pumped into the tire shop under the guise of nitrogen actually contains 95% of this gas. And in the atmosphere, it is 80%. So you have to pay only for a fifteen percent difference, which has a vanishingly small effect on the condition and operation of the tires.
Summing up, we can say that it is possible to save money on replacing car tires, but for this you need to have as much information as possible, use reasonable approaches to various saving methods and not be afraid of the initial financial investments in car maintenance.
