Throughout my dad's lifetime, he always said: "New tires are good insurance." Interestingly, he traded cars every three years. He never purchased an extended warranty. He thought if the car dealer could make money selling the policy, he could save money not buying it. The standard car warranty for most of his lifetime was 3 years or 36,000 miles. I honestly doubt that our family drove over 1,200 miles a year. We took a vacation once a year and went to visit grandparents two or three times a year. It was just over 350 miles to my grandparents' and it isn't that far to Colorado.
Tires have been on my mind because the General's BMW is approaching 50,000 miles. Actually, we are only 4,000 miles short of that mark and the car is in warranty for four years if we stay under 50,000. That is five months from now.
The tires on her car are showing wear. Fortunately, she has never had a flat tire. The car didn't come with a spare tire. Neither did my Miata. I can understand the issue with the Miata, but the BMW is large enough that a spare tire could have been included.
I ordered new tires for her BMW this week and almost choked when I learned the price. Run on flat tires don't come cheap. Of course, the tire people also want to sell you tire insurance, the price of the insurance is about the price of one tire.
Interestingly, the front tires of her car are not the same size as the tires in the back. With insurance, the four tires would have been around $2,800. Consequently, I'm not buying the insurance. That helps some.
Of course, there is nothing to say that the car couldn't be outfitted in regular tires inside of run on flat, but it would be my luck to spend time on the side of the road. I'm not willing to take that chance.
This morning I thought about when our parents traded in their 1950 Ford for a 1953 Chevrolet. Dad took the whole family with him to pick out the new car. At the age of six, I intuitively knew that the four-door hardtop was the only consideration. Dad thought otherwise. We got the car with the post in the middle.
Of course, he didn't cut any corners. He bought the top-of-the-line Chevrolet and throughout his life time, he never bought another Ford. The first order of business was to take the new car to have seat covers made. That really strikes me as strange, but that was standard practice back in the day. Everyone did that.
I'm telling myself that new tires are good insurance even if they do break the bank. I expected the tires to get more than 45,000 miles, but the General has a heavy foot, and she races people from one traffic light to the next. Trust me, just to get through Dripping
Springs, that is a lot of squealing tires.
George Washington would never have shared that story because he could not tell a lie. If you think the General has a heavy foot, you don't know her very well. She also drives with both hands on the steering wheel and her eyes glued to the road. However, she deserves to drive with good insurance.
All My Best!
Don
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