Winter Tires needed in Montreal

[Abe Berman]

"I third that opinion. Seems like most used winter tires are advertised as
"used 1 winter only", which in many cases is less than truthful.Never mind
why would anyone sell them if they're so little used."
---------------snip------------------

I politely disagree.  I have bought used snow tires for several cars
in the past 3 years and have gotten some terrific Hak's for reasonable
prices.  Quite frankly, there are actually plenty of HONEST sellers
out there that really haven't used the tires much.  To determine the
condition/age of the tire, I simply verified that it was still an
available model, looked at the tread depth and wear pattern, examined
them for any repairs or damage to sidewall and looked for signs of
aging in the sidewalls (dry rot, cracking, etc.)  The biggest reason I
can think of for used snow tires being on the market in VT is the
popularity of leasing.  When owners return their car at the end of the
lease, they often sell the snows in the newspaper as opposed to
"giving" them away to the dealership.  This weeks Burlington Free
Press (www.burlingtonfreepress.com) had over 80 sets of used snows for
sale, mostly from independent sellers.  While I am sure there are a
few that are looking to get some real money, most are selling a
matched set of 4 barely used tires for 150 bucks.  Its hard to get TWO
new snows for that price...

While I am aware that new tires would be superior in many ways, tires
with 10k miles on them are sufficient for many drivers needs. If the
theory is that new is always better than used, I guess I would be
driving a 2006 A6 4.2 and not a 91 200...

To each his own and caveat emptor.

Abe
Burlington, VT
91 200tq 220k