Are Discount Tire "Certificates" worth it?

[guppydriver]

Ordering some Yokohama Geolandars A/T GO15 today before a pretty good sale ends. I don't even have my truck yet, but it shouldn't be long and I want to save the $110 dollars they are offering for 4th of July.

Anyway it's $36.75 per tire to add their certificates. That comes out to ~150 bucks after tax.

I do tow a 7500lb boat during the summer, but I hardly ever go off road. I am getting standard load tires (275/60/20) and they cost $261 per.

For those of you who use DT (or America's tire in some places), considering the manufacturer has pro rated road hazard and DT patches for free when able, would you go for the certificates? I don't mind buying piece of mind, but I was wondering how many of you have or would buy them in my situation.

TIA

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[UGADawg96]

I got Geo G015s back in December from DT. I have no idea what a certificate is that you're talking about. Is it some type of extra warranty ?

 

[UGADawg96]

Ok, just looked it up. It is their extra warranty and I declined.

 

[UGADawg96]

Keep your $150 and put it in the bank. I cannot recall in 30+ years of driving having to only replace one tire. Anytime I've ever had tire issues, it has been when they have been worn pretty good and I've had to buy a pair or a complete set. I don't think the warranty/insurance from DT is worth it. It's like those letters you get in the mail for inside wiring or plumbing insurance from your utilities for 5.99 or 8.99/month. Just another way to fleece you. If you can afford a 60k truck and put brand new tires on it just after purchase, then you don't need to waste your money on extra tire insurance. ymmv and thanks for coming to my ted talk.

 

[gblakeb]

As someone who worked for Best Buy as a kid, most extended warranties are just junk and are a pure profit center. I never buy them except for two products.

Those two products are tires and for my F150. Too much technology in the F150 and its always $500-1000 for anything that goes wrong with a truck nowadays.

For tires, I have been saved over and over many times by the certificate. I've had two replaced this year and two last year. This year my wife hit a curb and nicked the sidewall enough that the tire was toast. I also had one go flat on the freeway. Both tires were non repairable. At nearly $300 for the Michelin LTX tires for an Expedition, I've come out ahead.

For the Honda CR-V we have, the tires were bought at 85K, and in the last 15K miles, two have been replaced. Those are about $225 a piece.

As for patching tires, it only works when its in the middleish of the tread. In the sidewall or too close to the sidewall and its toast.

Its basically a bet that you will have one tire replaced over the lifespan of the tires. For me, history says that I'll have at least one replaced. I'm sure at some point I'll buy a set where I won't need a replacement and maybe then I'll reconsider my purchase. Until then, I'll buy them.

 

[DarkSkyForever]

I've had to replace a tire once in my lifetime, and it was nearly due for new tires anyway because of worn tread. I just replaced them a bit early, I think its going to depend how... accident prone you are if you consider spending an extra $150 to have a tire replaced for "free". That's over half the price of one tire, so in my opinion that just isn't worth it at all.

Consider most phone insurance is about $70 a year, and one phone new is $800-1200. You're likely going to replace your phone every 2-3 years, and you're likely going to replace your tires every 2-4 depending how you drive.

 

[guppydriver]

Thanks for all the input fellas.

I just needed to get my order in to save the $. I noticed it says that I have 20 days after installation to decide, so I just went ahead and ordered them without the certificates, and if I change my mind I will add them later.

The tires are about 260 a piece and they do have their own pro rated warranty from the manufacturer. That means, without certificates, to replace a tire at 100% my expense would run me only $110 bucks (because I would still have the $150). Considering I don't really go off road much and I'll probably get some sort of credit if they do fail from Yoke, I'll probably decline. Which of course means at least three will get sidewall punctures in the first 30 days.

I noticed I did get them for my daughters VW last summer, but that was because she is away at school, and I just wanted her to have no hassle if anything happens with me 500 miles away.

@UGADawg96

By the way...I appreciate you posting about your Geos quite a bit. I was torn between the AT3 4s by Cooper and the Geo's. I know I will give up a skosh of snow performance with the Yokes, but I'm pumped to see how they do.

 

[UGADawg96]

Thanks for all the input fellas.

I just needed to get my order in to save the $. I noticed it says that I have 20 days after installation to decide, so I just went ahead and ordered them without the certificates, and if I change my mind I will add them later.

The tires are about 260 a piece and they do have their own pro rated warranty from the manufacturer. That means, without certificates, to replace a tire at 100% my expense would run me only $110 bucks (because I would still have the $150). Considering I don't really go off road much and I'll probably get some sort of credit if they do fail from Yoke, I'll probably decline. Which of course means at least three will get sidewall punctures in the first 30 days.

I noticed I did get them for my daughters VW last summer, but that was because she is away at school, and I just wanted her to have no hassle if anything happens with me 500 miles away.

@UGADawg96

By the way...I appreciate you posting about your Geos quite a bit. I was torn between the AT3 4s by Cooper and the Geo's. I know I will give up a skosh of snow performance with the Yokes, but I'm pumped to see how they do.

Hope you like yours as much as I like mine. The only off-roading I do is occasional fire roads or camping trails. Being in FL, we get water flooding, but no snow. Probably a bit different than Utah.

 

[KartRacer25]

I was on the fence. Sometimes I buy it sometimes not. Ridge grapplers are up to like $396 each now. warranty is like $317 for all 4. I do a fair amount of off roading, we destroy alot of tires. Punctured one with a big bolt, they plugged it no cost. Destroyed one off road and they replaced it "no questions asked" but had to pay $100. So really didn't save anything this time. Buying new set soon so may skip that cost this time. Calculated risk.I'd have to kill 2 to make it worth it. Plan to use the near new one they replaced as a spare.

 

[Parthery]

Absolutely worth it! Maybe it's the roads here, but I have yet to buy 4 tires and not have one of them (or more) have to be replaced under the certificate program. I just replaced two (both had sidewall damage) on my daughters VW Tiguan. The Continental Tires were $240 apiece; total cost out the door including tax for two new tires was $87. The certs cost me $170 at the time I purchased the tires - so by my math the certs just paid for themselves and I got a free tire.

If you don't want to buy them when you buy the tires, you have up to 5K miles to add them on after the fact.

 

[HammaMan]

Had 1k miles on my truck when I had a large self tapper go through the sidewall. I worked for DT 20+ years ago and always engage in small talk w/ them upon entry. It was cheaper to buy certs and have the tire replaced using them than it was to replace the tire straight up (again, truck was new, not their tires). The certs are cheap insurance and buys favor when it's time to replace if you've hit treadwear or something else tire related. They become very flexible with things when you come in w/ an issue. Free rotations and patching from them as well. They use plug patches. When I bought new wheels and tires elsewhere they transferred them to the new tires.

YMMV will vary but pricing becomes flexible as well.

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