Tires

Sometimes it amazes me the things that parents do that kids never know about. When I realize things that I have to do as an adult, sometimes I think back and try to remember if my parents did those things too. I don't remember seeing them sit down to pay bills (and back then there was no online-bill-pay, so they had to have mailed bills out more than I do!), I don't remember my mom changing and washing the sheets, and I don't remember other miscellaneous maintenance things that I have learned have to be done.

One in particular: I had no idea how frequently you are supposed to replace your tires. I'm not sure if my parents replaced theirs as often as you're "supposed" to or not, but I don't remember EVER having to go to the tire store with them to buy new ones.

Last year when Austin was in Iraq I had to buy new tires for my trailblazer. Kaila had accidentally gotten a flat tire, and when she had it taken off and looked at for repair they noticed that it had significant wear on the inside, showing signs of bad alignment. So when I flew up to Denver to visit Kaila in the spring I went to buy new tires. As I tell this story, please remember that Austin had just officially left the US about 2 weeks prior (though we had been apart for 2 months) so I was a little on edge. He had looked online and found a few tire places that looked like they were having good deals, and he picked one for me to go to. So, off to Tires Plus I went. I knew tires were expensive, but I had always been told to replace tires in 2 so I was prepared to replace the flat and its opposite front tire. I also planned to have the alignment checked, which I thought for sure was $20-$30. When the tire-person explained to me that on 4wheel drive vehicles it is bad for the drive train if the tires aren't worn the same, and that because my other tires were so worn down it would potentially damage the drive train causing a $5000 repair bill later, he recommended I buy all 4 tires...and when he told me that the alignment check was $90..I burst into tears. I know I told you before that emotional outbursts aren't my thing - but come on, my husband had just gotten to Iraq and I was out of my element and being told I needed to spend near $600...cut me some slack. The tire representative looked like he hadn't seen a person cry in his entire life, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with me. I then proceeded to verbally vomit all over him "My husband is in Iraq and I have no way of contacting him and, to be honest and not to be rude, I don't even know if you're being honest with me. I know nothing about cars, nothing about tires...this is his job and he should be here to do it." In hindsight, I think exposing my vulnerability may have been a poor choice, but it ended up working out in my favor. He looked around his desk area for a minute, then pulled out an invoice. He said "I'd like to show you this. This is the invoice for the tires that we order from the manufacturer. Here are the tires that you are looking at - we spent $80 per tire. The current price we are selling them at is $125 per tire, but I'd be willing to sell them to you for $90 because your husband is serving our country." I decided that if he was being honest enough on the tires, then he probably wasn't jerking my chain on the need for 4 rather than 2 (plus, the other 2 were pretty worn anyway so they'd need replacing soon too right?) SO - a box of Kleenex and $480 later, the trailblazer had new shoes. OH - the alignment - it was off less than half a percent on just that one tire. The tire-person (I really wish I had a better name for him) told me that such a slight variance like that was likely there since we purchased it and over the course of 3 years it wore the tire down. Made me feel a LITTLE better - I was starting to feel like I must be falling asleep at the wheel and hitting curbs and pot-holes or something. And it ended up being good that the tire that had a flat happened to be that particular tire, otherwise we'd never have really known right?

Well, now, a year and a few months later, its time to buy tires for Austin's truck. Bigger truck = bigger price. yippee. I told him I would take care of it while he was in California if he just picked out the tires online so I knew exactly what he wanted. He is currently en route back home, probably about an hour away, and I don't have the tires yet. Oops. I called Discount Tire this morning and they are getting them for me, then they'll call and let me know when they're ready for me to come in. I am much more comfortable in this tire-buying process this time as we've done the research, Austin has explained to me exactly what we need - and the real issue calming me nerves: he's not in Iraq. So I'm actually somewhat excited to drive up into the mountains tonight and break in his truck's new shoes!

But then it dawned on me, as I was looking at the tires online: after-market (is that the right term even?) tires have a 50,000-60,000 warranty, depending on the tire. I think TB's tires are 50K. I've already gone about 25K on them. I would estimate that I'd finish out the life of these tires in about 2 more years - so you're telling me the life of tires, with how much I drive, is 3-4 years? These things are starting to be a pain.

Lets go back to the horse and buggy days. How much could horseshoes possibly cost to replace? Hopefully less than $800 every 4 years.

I told Austin that because my TB's new shoes only cost $480 and his will tip over the $800 mark, that means that my personal shoe-closet is in need of a $300 overhaul. He didn't seem to make the connection, and wasn't very entertained either. Oh well, its fun to think about. At least my shoes look cute on my feet!