Went to Costco to buy a set of Michelin tires in December that were on sale. Costco auto guy says the Fit stock tire size isn't in stock. Check back in January. Went back to check. Now the Michelin stock tire size is no longer available. Offered a set of B.F. Goodrich or Bridgestones at full price. Took a pass and went to Discount Tires. Got a set of Yokohama YK740GTX tires. Getting tires on Friday. Going to Honda on Saturday for an Alignment.

 

I just bought a full set of Michelin X-Ice for my Fit through Costco not even two weeks ago. No issues.

 

I was looking for All Season Tires. My local Costco told me they could get a set of 185/55/16 Michelin Defender Tires at a sale price back in December. Now fast forward to January. Now the Defender tires are no longer available. My choices were B.F. Goodrich or Bridgestones. I just went to Discount Tires for the Yokohama Tires.

 

Those Yoko's are a Discount Tire only model. They are likely built to dumbed down spec's. I only say this because the two times in my life I accidentally bought store exclusive tires, they were junk.

Hopefully you have a better experience.

 

The Yokos I'm getting at Discount Tires are exclusively made for and sold through Discount Tires? Because of this these Yoko tires I ordered are no good? I had a set of Yokos on my old 1995 Saturn I got from (you guessed right) Discount Tires. Best tires I ever had. So it would stand to reason that the Yokos I'm getting for my 2015 EX Fit will just as good.

 

But, were those Discount Tire only tires? The vast majority of tires sold by Discount, NTB, Tire Kingdom, etc are not store exclusives. Discount sells the entire Yokohama line and I believe only these are a store exclusive. When I hear store exclusive, I wonder what they de-spec'd in order to make more money.

Don't get me wrong, I like Yokohama's in general and these will probably be just fine. I've just not personally had good luck with store exclusive tires.

 

Just did a bit of research.

These tires are a variation of the Avid Ascend GT. Question is...what did they make different for Discount Tire? The only variation in basic specs that I see are that the Ascend is .2 lbs lighter. So, there is something different. Possibly kevlar belts in the Ascend vs steal in the Discount version.

 

Discount Tires and Tire manufacturing companies are in business to make money. So if Discount Tires can be the exclusive only tire dealer for a specific model brand tire doesn't make this tire no good. Yokohama going with Discount Tires was probably the most profitable route to distribute and sell this so called brand exclusive tire. After what I went through trying and hoping to get a good deal at Costco for tires I'm going only to Discount Tires from now on. They have better prices and tire selections than Costco.

 

You obviously are not going to be dissuaded from buying these store exclusive tires, so I'll just leave you with this. Ask yourself why the above would be true. Maybe the tire they are selling you cost less to make?

FWIW, we put a set of the Ascend GT's on my wife's Golf. Only tire we have ever taken advantage of the trial period on. They were mushy and made the car handle like crap. Went with Michelin Pilot Sport AS4's and were amazed at how well they handled. Didn't last long though. They are more of a performance tire than a high mileage tire.

Edited to add - we live in the mountains and are hard on tires. I'm sure the Ascend's would be fine for someone that drives casually on city streets. I just really don't like non-performance tires.

 

That's pretty much the goal of any company. Dissuade me from going to Discount Tires? Nope. Not going to happen.

Performance tires on a Honda Fit is overkill and silly since it's not a performance car.

 

Nothing wrong with Discount Tire. I'm saying you should get the Ascend GT's instead of the likely dumbed down store exclusive model. Can still buy them from Discount.

You would NEVER EVER say the Fit is not a performance car again if you rode with me through the Tail of the Dragon. It takes a good rider on a sport bike or a pretty serious race prepped car to do much better than a GD Fit with basic mods and sticky tires. I can't even beat my own times in the Fit with my modified sport bike. Granted, I'm no pro rider or driver for that matter.

 

I'll bet my stock Ruckus and Big Ruckus can get close to your times with your Fit.

 

My Costco had the Michelins. Yours didn't. C'est la vie. Last week one got a nail in the side wall. Not repairable. And those Michelins no longer available. Only size comparable were the Bridgestones. So I got Bridgestones on back, Michelins up front. Total cost after warranty and wear exchange, $30. I like Costco.

 

The heavily modified Ruckus' are pretty neat! A big motored one with a good rider would hang with a GD Fit in the curves, but...

You should know that my passes through TOTD in our Fit include it banging on the raised rev limiter (set at 7,000 rpm with Hondata) in third gear on any tiny short section. It carries as much speed as a sport bike. Just don't make me have to slow down because it's painful getting the thing back up to speed. LOL

Our perspective difference of a Fit is likely due to us having a GD vs your GK. The GK's are nicer, but a very different animal in stock form.

 

I'm 56 years old. I don't modify anything anymore. Cars, Bikes, Motorcycles. The Slow Lane suits me fine.

 

Look at everything Costco cells. They buy things that are on sale that they can pass along to deals to the customer. They don't carry everything. They don't carry those random things that your grocery store or your local ethnic store make Carey. Why would they carry a tire that doesn't make the money?

 

Costco makes money on volume- they are the largest seller of a lot of things in the country. For example liquor (even though they can't sell it in some states, including NY). So they can good deals when they buy in volume. But yeah, they may have Michelin tires this month and Bridgestones next month and after that another brand. They don't carry many tire brands.

Their website lists prices so it's not hard to comparison shop. And when I had a problem with a tire they were very nice to me even though I hadn't bought the tire there (if I remember right they fixed it for nothing and said don't worry about it, and this wasn't my regular Costco as I was traveling).

 

Discount Tire warranties apply nationwide. It's easy to find a Discount Tire out of state should you have any tire issues.

 

I still like Costco for bulk item shopping. Buying tires and other automotive things I'll go to Autozone and Discount Tire.

 

I ended up getting the Avid Ascends because the YK's weren't available anywhere in any Discount Tire store. So I took 1/2 of your advice.👍👍👍