Than from Discount/Americas Tire, Tire Rack, or Sears

I ordered these today from my local Costco. $136.99 per, less $70.00 off an order for 4 tires, plus all of the added fees and bullshit, came to $593.26.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Speed+Rated%29

I tried to get the Michelins in size 205-50R16, but the Costco rep. said that they could not/would not install that size on a Fit because the size 195-55R16 was closer to the stock tire size than the 205 width. Even though the 205's would fit on the car with no issues, the 195's were the closest to stock and the only ones they were allowed to sell/install.

The comical part is when he said that he could install the 205's if I just brought in the wheels and not the car, but the warranty and free rotation would no longer apply, and I just laughed. The warranty is important to me, but not the free rotation. I would never wait for 1-2+ hours at Costco just to have someone else rotate the tires. Free or not, I would only do that job myself.

Apparently this is the best all season tire that Michelin now makes that will work for a Fit. I don't know if they have discontinued the Pilot Exalto and replaced that design with the Pilot Sport A/S 3, but the claims about the Sport A/S 3 seem to offer everything that I want in a all season tire.

I like Michelin better than any other tire brand, and like Costco tire service MUCH better than Discount/America's Tire stores.

This post is only meant for the people who are Michelin and Costco fans. Now you know what tire size to ask for for a GE Fit.

 

Although they are pricey, you get what you pay for. I used to kick myself for getting anything less than Michelins. Every time I tried to save a few bucks by mounting less expensive tires, I would end up "suffering" for the next few years until that set of tires got replaced.
Just curious Triskelion, how many miles did you get on the OEM tires?

 

At 20K and four years of age the stock tires are not worn out yet. But I don't like the noise or the sloppy grip, and black ice is coming to my roads soon. Would rather replace now than wear them to the danger point. The Costco Michelin sale ends in October, and this purchase just increases my AmEx card rebate for the year.

 

To 555sexydrive--

Thanks for deleting your post. It was too silly to deserve an answer anyway. The U.S. government has nothing to do with Michelin's warranty regulations that Costco is forced to use in their tire sales. It's Michelin, not the "USSA" that you were ranting about. I could not care less about my new tires being less than .5" larger in diameter than the stock tires.

 

I still contend that Costco is the best place to buy tires and that Michelin are the best tires. I tried to prove myself wrong on both accounts by buying 4 Hankook H727 through Tire Rack two years ago. I did not purchase the roadhazard. Within 5 days, my wife ruined one of the tires. Fortunately I was smart enough to keep two of the OEM Hankook 426 and have had one on the car for nearly two years. Last month, I saw that Discount Tire had an incredible deal on the H727, so I picked up a new one to get rid of the old OEM 426. Within two days of installing the new H727, one of the "older" H727s had a sidewall issue. Fortunately it was on the last day of Discount Tire's big sale on Hankook. So for the second time in a week, I had to buy another new H727. I feel like I'm caught in a gerbil wheel; if the one "older" H727 had gone bust just a week prior and before I bought the first replacement from Discount Tire, I would have ended my "getting cheaper tires on line" experiment and bought 4 new Michelin Defenders at Costco. I currently have MXV4s on my Vibe and think they are a great tire except at the end of their tread life. I am getting down to the last quarter of the tread, and the grip in rain and snow is pretty unacceptable. I think I like the Uni-T technology that Bridgestone/Firestone puts into their rubber to keep the grip throughout the tread life. Anyway, if there is a better tire than Michelin, I still have not found it as hard as I try. I know I won't be buying the MXV4s again and the Defenders look like they are a very good tire, but I just might go with the highest rated Bridgestone on Tire Rack's ratings when the time comes. I think Michelin should infuse the Uni-T type concept into their tires to make their tires perform like new even as their treads approach the wear bar.

 

I'm pretty sure it's a Costco corporate decision to not install off-size tires directly onto the car, not something "forced" onto them by Michellin. Cause I'm also pretty sure you'd get the same response if you had tried to get Bridgestone tires (and any other they have) at Costco. Most likely to save themselves on liability in case the car is involved in an accident and someone decides to poke blame at the off-size tires. By bringing in the wheels separately, they can claim they didn't see the car and can't confirm make/model.

Do I like it? Um... more like I don't really care anymore. On the one hand it can be an annoyance... but on the other hand, I use Continental DWS... something they don't carry.

 

I just brought Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 205/50/16 a couple of weeks ago off Tire Rack for $582 delivered before rebate of $70. Took them to the local Monroe shop to have put on for $70 in total. Not bad. We do not any Costco near by us, but Tire Rack has a article suggesting the 205/50/16 tire size for the Fit.

205/50-16 Tires for Your Honda Fit Sport - The Truth About Tires | Tire Rack

 

Congrats! We discussed the Michelin Pilot Exalto tires in previous post exchanges. Obviously from your experience, the limitation on what tires can be installed on Fits is not a Michelin issue- if it were, Tire Rack as a Michelin dealer would have the same restriction. So, in my case, it is only an issue with Costco. I don't personally care that I couldn't buy the 205's- would rather have done that, but put up with the restriction because I wanted that specific tire and wanted Costco as the seller/installer. We'll see if future events make me regret that decision. I am not anticipating any regrets. The speedo will be slightly off for the first year or so, but that is easy to adjust to.

 

Did you try an other Costco? An other Costco might work with you... There are two in my city... even driving ti the next town...

 

Agree it is probably Costco because the tire size does not show up in their computer system, Even TireRack does not show 205/50/16 as an option if you search by vehicle. Good luck with your tires.

 

Thanks---. Same to you.

 

I've gone to Costco and have given them a P/N for a specific Michelin tire I've wanted. They special ordered it for me... They asked what car it would go on, and I've gotten the full warranty... I had to bring them loose wheels, but they did it.

 

Just curious about how you like your new tires? As you might guess with only 20K on my '09 Fit, I have not yet had the chance to really test mine, but I noticed a significant difference from the stock tires on the mountain road drive home from Costco. On my trip TO Costco for the installation, I drove FAST on Hwy. 9 in Santa Cruz County, CA (which means nothing to you, of course). Having driven this same stretch of highway for over 30 years, I have some favorite curves. Took those at speed on the trip to Costco, noting noise levels and steering feel. On the trip back up the mountain, it felt like a completely different car. Quiet- less peceived road vibration, no squealing on high speed turns, and the front of the car seemed to have gained 200 pounds of weight (better feedback and a little more steering effort). I think that I am going to like these tires.

Good thing. At the yearly mileage that I collect, they will last me 8-10 years.

 

I know that its been a year since your last post. I just wanted to share my experience at COSTCO. I actually just installed tires @ Costco this morning. They installed the Michelin A/S All season tire, not the A/S3's. I must say, with the bigger tire size and new tires, I am a happy camper. The tire installer did say that the tire was bigger than the OEM tire sizes by 3%, which is outside their comfort zone. All they did was note it on the install and that was it. I even called prior to ordering the tires and they said that they could install the tires no problem. Just FYI, Costco has an additional discount of $70 off for executive members. So I got the $70s off of michelins and the additional discount. Out the door was around $500 plus tax. I will report back come this winter with these tires, as they were rated better than the continental contact DWSs according to tire rack.

 

NO loose wheels here, they balanced and intalled my tires with new TPMS sensors. I even notice that they wire brisker all he corrosion around my studs an hubs.

 

Depends on what ratings you're looking at.

What few consumers that rated the A/S definitely rated it high... but that's a total of 60 votes compared to the nearly 4k reviews for the DWS. As more and more people vote, we'll see just how many negative votes there are and how it affects it.

But if you look at TR's test reports... the A/S does beat out the DWS in some wet performance, the DWS beats the A/S in everything else.

The DWS is categorized at "Ultra High Performance" all-seasons compared to the A/S's "Grand Touring"... and despite that (or because of that?), the DWS is priced lower than the A/S... a pretty good deal for the DWS.

Not too fond of the lower specs for max PSI and the starting tread depth (8.5/32").

On the flip side, for those that want stock size, the A/S has them... at least, on TR.