My dad's 'wrong' advice on buying tires actually cut my car budget by $120

Last fall in Phoenix, my dad told me to skip the fancy all-season tires and get the cheapest ones that fit my Civic. I thought he was being cheap and ignored him, bought the $140 premium set. Six months later they wore out unevenly anyway because I drive like a maniac on gravel roads. So I finally tried his way, $85 tires from a local shop, and they've been fine for 8 months now. Anyone else had family advice that sounded dumb but saved real money?

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fiona_clark18d ago

Wait, did your old tires actually wear out because of the tires themselves, or because of how you drive? I mean, gravel roads will chew up any tire, cheap or pricey, so I'm not sure that's a fair test. My dad used to give me the same "cheapest is fine" speech, but I've had cheap tires hydroplane in the rain and that scared me straight. The real money saver for me was learning to rotate them on schedule and slow down on rough roads, not buying the bottom shelf. You might've just gotten lucky with that set, or the local shop could've sold you something decent that happens to be cheap. Different strokes, but I'd rather pay a bit more for grip when Phoenix gets those crazy summer downpours.