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An Automotive Thread

#1

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Because "car" is an invalid search term. And so we don't have to go to the win, rant, or whine thread for the same car over and over.

Anyway. With the raise now (mostly) here (I still need to see it on an actual paycheck), I'm looking at replacing the full set of tires. AFAICT, they were last replaced in 2016. The left front has a leak that has it going near flat every three or four weeks. The weird thing is, I went to a few tire web sites, plus Walmart and Amazon, and the tire size I get when plugging my vehicle information into the site does not match the tire specs on the label in the car itself. What's up with that?

Next, the EJ251 engine had a design flaw. They used a less-than-optimal head gasket design that wears out much sooner than desired. It's become common practice to relpace the head gasket, serpentine belt, and water pump at 100,000 miles NO MATTER WHAT. And from what I've been able to gather, it wasn't done on this car. It's not a problem... yet... but I should get it done to make sure it stays that way. If I had the couple of thousand dollars to get it done, that is. Get that done, and the car is mostly set for the next 180,000 miles.


#2

Shakey

Shakey

I don’t know what year yours is, but if you’re that far in, might as well do the timing belt as well. That was an issue at about 150,000 for Subarus up until around 2013 I think when they moved to a timing chain.


#3

PatrThom

PatrThom

DarkAudit said:
the tire size I get when plugging my vehicle information into the site does not match the tire specs on the label in the car itself. What's up with that?
Click to expand...
Rim swap? Door swap, even?

—Patrick


#4

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Shakey said:
I don’t know what year yours is, but if you’re that far in, might as well do the timing belt as well. That was an issue at about 150,000 for Subarus up until around 2013 I think when they moved to a timing chain.
Click to expand...
The timing belt was replaced at ~100K, so it should be good.
Post automatically merged:

PatrThom said:
Rim swap? Door swap, even?

—Patrick
Click to expand...
The label is on the B pillar, so they'd have to swap a lot more than that. :p


#5

ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

Walmart and Amazon don't always match the tire sizes exactly. You can also look at the exact size that it came from the factory with that sticker on the pillar, on tire vendor sites, in the printed manual, and other sellers, but also verify that the tires on it are the same size (for those who don't know, that sticker on the body pillar also should list the recommended air pressure for that size tire from the manufacturer).

I am going to be buying my next tires from either TireRack.com or TireAmerica.com (owned by parent company of NTB) - they have reviews (TireRack more than TireAmerica) and both also offer free road hazard on the tires you purchase. If you purchase through these places, you just would need to find a place to mount/balance/etc. (they have preferred installers that can be searched in your area). Now, if you are not in the US, they may not be the same places.

Since you own a Subaru (I do too - mine's a 2016 Impreza) - I'm assuming it's AWD, so you need to replace all 4 tires at once as they have to have even wearing and same tread pattern, since it's full time AWD. FWD or RWD you can get by with two different tread patterns/different wears, but with AWD/4WD, you'll want them to be the same so they all grip the same when all 4 are having power.

As a suggestion for tires: my next set of tires for my Impreza will be the Continental TrueContact Tour - they have a 6 year/80k miles tread life Warranty (if you maintain them properly) and an UTOQ of 800AA. They are the second highest rated for Standard Touring All Season tires on TireRack (top are Yokohama AVID Ascend LX, which are 5 year/85k miles tread life). It's just a suggestion, as some people have heavy brand loyalty, much like cars themselves. I personally would rather go with a more expensive tire that should last longer as I should hopefully be replacing them less often.

It's going to be a bit for me to replace the ones on my Impreza as they were replaced right before I bought my car, so I have tread left (not that I'm fond of the tread design) - my wife's truck, however, needs tires (and holy cow are good 20" tires expensive).


#6

PatrThom

PatrThom

ncts_dodge_man said:
my next set of tires for my Impreza will be the Continental TrueContact Tour
Click to expand...
I got a set of 4 Continental PureContact LS (700AA) for my newest car mainly because the newest car is a plug-in hybrid, and they are one of the few decent all-season tires that are rated with a high enough load capacity (XL98V) that even if one goes, the remaining three can still support the entire weight of the vehicle and passengers (~4400lb/2000kg!). They've been very good to me so far, even in high-G turns (though I really don't recommend high-G turns in a plug-in hybrid if you can help it, they are a LOT heavier than they look).

--Patrick


#7

ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

PatrThom said:
I got a set of 4 Continental PureContact LS (700AA)
Click to expand...
Those don't fit my Impreza (15" tires) - smallest those go are 16" - PureContact TX goes down to 15", but has worse reviews.


#8

PatrThom

PatrThom

ncts_dodge_man said:
Those don't fit my Impreza (15" tires) - smallest those go are 16" - PureContact TX goes down to 15", but has worse reviews.
Click to expand...
I mean, they could fit it…for an extra $600 or so. ;)

—Patrick


#9

ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

PatrThom said:
I mean, they could fit it…for an extra $600 or so. ;)

—Patrick
Click to expand...
Plus center caps and TPMS... Not happening since I can't swing the $1k for tires and alignment on my wife's truck for a few months...


#10

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

The Continentals came up in my search, but are definitely out of my price range. The Goodyear Assurance all-season tires have good reviews and in my price range at Walmart, along with a special this week on installation. Just need to wait for Friday and payday.


#11

Sara_2814

Sara_2814

ncts_dodge_man said:
Walmart and Amazon don't always match the tire sizes exactly. You can also look at the exact size that it came from the factory with that sticker on the pillar, on tire vendor sites, in the printed manual, and other sellers, but also verify that the tires on it are the same size (for those who don't know, that sticker on the body pillar also should list the recommended air pressure for that size tire from the manufacturer).

I am going to be buying my next tires from either TireRack.com or TireAmerica.com (owned by parent company of NTB) - they have reviews (TireRack more than TireAmerica) and both also offer free road hazard on the tires you purchase. If you purchase through these places, you just would need to find a place to mount/balance/etc. (they have preferred installers that can be searched in your area). Now, if you are not in the US, they may not be the same places.

Since you own a Subaru (I do too - mine's a 2016 Impreza) - I'm assuming it's AWD, so you need to replace all 4 tires at once as they have to have even wearing and same tread pattern, since it's full time AWD. FWD or RWD you can get by with two different tread patterns/different wears, but with AWD/4WD, you'll want them to be the same so they all grip the same when all 4 are having power.

As a suggestion for tires: my next set of tires for my Impreza will be the Continental TrueContact Tour - they have a 6 year/80k miles tread life Warranty (if you maintain them properly) and an UTOQ of 800AA. They are the second highest rated for Standard Touring All Season tires on TireRack (top are Yokohama AVID Ascend LX, which are 5 year/85k miles tread life). It's just a suggestion, as some people have heavy brand loyalty, much like cars themselves. I personally would rather go with a more expensive tire that should last longer as I should hopefully be replacing them less often.

It's going to be a bit for me to replace the ones on my Impreza as they were replaced right before I bought my car, so I have tread left (not that I'm fond of the tread design) - my wife's truck, however, needs tires (and holy cow are good 20" tires expensive).
Click to expand...
We've always had good experiences with TireRack.com. They deliver through UPS, then we take the tires to the local Firestone to get them mounted.


#12

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

The Assurance Outlast tires are in stock at my local Walmart auto center at $76 each with an 80K mile warranty. Tire Rack and others are significantly higher for similar Assurance tires that have lesser warranties.

The next trick will be asking the local Subaru specialist shop how one can tell if the head gasket repair has been done without digging into the engine. The timing belt was done at ~100K, but that's all I know for sure.


#13

PatrThom

PatrThom

I'll be honest, I'd never heard of TireRack until this thread.

--Patrick


#14

ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

DarkAudit said:
The Assurance Outlast tires are in stock at my local Walmart auto center at $76 each with an 80K mile warranty. Tire Rack and others are significantly higher for similar Assurance tires that have lesser warranties.
Click to expand...
If they work out best for you, then that's all that matters in the end... You can get Road Hazard at Walmart in their $25 per tire mounting package instead of the $15 tire mounting, provided you buy them at/through Walmart.

PatrThom said:
I'll be honest, I'd never heard of TireRack until this thread.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they're pretty good - especially being able to see customer reviews and they do their own reviews and comparisons (including summer/winter comparisons with all season tires).


#15

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Mr. Regular may have a similar vintage Subaru to mine, but that doesn't mean I need to take his opinion about the EJ251 as gospel. There *is* an oil leak that needs attention, but no other signs that there is a head gasket issue. Asking around on other Subaru boards is getting me "if it's not a problem, leave it alone, do your proper routine maintenance, and don't worry."

That's $1700+ that can go elsewhere. :cool:


#16

DarkAudit

DarkAudit



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