My MINI is being built as we speak!! I MAY be a touch on the obsessive/compulsive side (he says as his wife is rolling on the floor in fits of laughter), but I have a ton of questions I am hoping you more experienced folks would be willing to help with.

First.... My dealer has a program where they will provide tires for life!! They want $1550 up front for non-run flats, or $2050 for run flats. I assume they would be OEM tires. It sounds awesome for a car like the MINI where the fun factor would influence tire wear, but I am skeptical and have a couple of questions.

Under normal circumstances for a daily driver, how is the MINI on tire wear. I have to say that after driving the demo again yesterday, it (I) might be more than a little hard on front tires. Am I right, or will I eventually quit playing with the boost? What should I expect?

I am also thinking of winter tires, as I gaze out my window at our first snow of the year, here in the Denver area. My first thought was to buy an extra set of 16 in rims, and stick a some Blizzaks on it for the winter. However, I am thinking the extra wheels might be a waste of money, since I couldn't buy ugly (cheap) wheels, and I will only be using them for 3 winters before I probably will buy a new MINI. I am wondering if just changing them out twice a year might not be a better idea. My concern is with the wheels, not to mention the cost of swapping them out twice a year. Also, this will impact the tire usage if I decide to buy the tires for life deal.

What do you all think? Am I making too big a deal out of this?



I'm off to Tire Rack to see what they have

 

If it free tire for life, or the life of that particular car. Because, if it is just for that car, and you are planning on getting a new one in 3 years, then $2050 is a lot to pay for tires over 3 years. Also check to see if it cover nails and stuff like that, or if it is just regular wear.
As far as tire wear, the sport will wear faster than the all season. I have head if the sport tires needing replaced around 20K, but that depends on your driving style too. I have a turbo car now and have driven the MCS many times(will be a lot more once mine gets here) and I never get tired of playing with the boost, but that is me.
The cheapest option would be to take your car to a tire shop and get non-runflats put on when the first set are worn out. Most people don't like the runflats and replace them ASAP and some do like them, it is personal preference. So if you buy the runflat option then end up hating the runflat tires, then it could be a long 3 years.
The MINI dealer will charge about $300-350 per tire for runflats so the upfront may seem like a good option, but take a close look at it and see exactly what it covers. There is probably a cheaper way.

 

Welcome to the NAMily and the obsession that follows!

In answer to your question, I tend to agree with EMY-RDL. That sounds like a lot of money. I was told you can expect about 20K miles on Performance and about 25K on All-Seasons. Also, I believe Tire Rack has the OEM runflats for around $200/tire. At that price, plus install, it would still take a while to accumulate enough to balance out the equation.

 

Boy. that's what I need! Another obsession! I'm already starting, so at least in my case, it follows pretty closely!

It's actually pretty interesting!! It includes:
*Free tires as long as you own the car, but for a 36 month lease it is transferable 1 time to your next car!
*Tire and/or wheel repair from road damage. Free replacement if not repairable.
*Free rotation and balance when damaged
*Free alignment when damage is incurred
*Free Glass repair or replacement when damaged
*Free Battery replacement, bulb and headlight replacement and wiper blades after warranty

Probably more info than you were interested in, but I have never seen anything like that before. I had also heard that run flats tend to get damaged more easily. Maybe that swings it into becoming realistic.

20K miles, huh. Boy, that's right on the edge of cost effectiveness on a 15K mile per year allowance!. I bet they plan it that way! I'm thinking that with winter tire for 3 or 4 months a year, I may pass. I'm just a sucker for these things! They can really see me coming! It's nice to have a voice of reason readily accessible!!!

 

Congrats on the order! I'll be doing the Tires of Life plan, too, since I plan on keeping my MINI for quite some time and don't feel like paying through the nose for replacement tires.

 

Well, it is a risk. If your tires and windshield are fine the whole time you lease the car then you will have paid too much. If you get a few nails in the tires or cracks in the windshield then it could pay for itself. I guess you have to look at it this way:
If you pay the $2,050 upfront then you are out $2,050 no matter what.
If you don't get the warranty there is a chance that you will not have to spend so much, maybe you only spend $1,500 and end up saving yourself $550. There is also a chance that you will have to spend more than $2,050 and then you are out more money.

I guess it is about whatever scenario you are more comfortable with.

 

Good choice on the color, by the way.

 

I went with the Tires for Life option on my New MCS. Seeing as how I currently planning on keeping this car until it needs collector plate (25 years in Colorado) I figured it would be a good choice.

bob g
1966 OEW MGB
1966 OEW MGB-GT
1973 Green Mallard MGB
1976 Inca Yellow TR-6
2009 Laser Blue MINI Cooper S

 

You might want to read this article (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/wheels/305489_talk02.html) by the Car Talk brothers on NPR.

My new MINI has the Goodyear Excellence RF's and I like them. There are a lot of buyers that do not like the stiff/loud ride and replace them ASAP. You can get some great deals on new or slightly used RF's on NAM's marketplace. I just purchased 3 Goodyear RF's w/2200mi for less than the price of one new tire. Found them on local Craigslist.

 

This is great stuff! Thanks, everyone, for the help! After a lot of reading about RFs on this and other forums, about the only real negative I have found is for the road noise. I may find that I am wrong in 6 or 8 months, but I don't think I care about road noise. Wear and handling don't seem to be impacted as much as I would have thought. I also decided to skip the Tires for Life option, since I will have winter tires on the car for a good portion of the year. The opportunity to forward to the next MINI was enticing, but not worth the 2K now. I think I'll spend that money on suspension goodies to wear out the RFs sooner.