Good, better,and the oneon Jo's car.
Call with your size and Jo gives you three prices before you drive over. All three are new tires with their dates read, and they all go on the same way: by hand, in a star.
Example: 215/60R16, the size on a lot of midsize sedans. Per tire, before the $96 mount and balance.
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Good$118
A tire from a maker we'd stand behind, with nothing extra. Right for a car that mostly does town miles, or one you're selling next year.
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Better$142
Quieter on the highway, better in the wet, and a longer tread warranty. Most cars on Kenmore leave on this one.
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The one on Jo's car$171
The shortest wet stopping distance we can get in your size. If you drive 77 in February, this is the one she'll talk you toward.
The number I give you on the phone is the number on your ticket.
Read your ownsidewall.
Everything Jo asks you for on the phone is molded into the rubber. Here is that size, read left to right, and then the date.
The sidewall reads 215/60R16 95H, and further along, DOT X7 2L 4PK 3826.
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215 is the width
In millimeters, from one sidewall to the other. It has to match the other tire on the same axle.
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60 is the sidewall height
As a percentage of the width. Sixty percent of 215 is about 129 millimeters of rubber between the wheel and the road. The lower the number, the firmer the ride, and the easier a Kenmore pothole bends a wheel.
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R is for radial
The cords inside run straight across, bead to bead. Nearly every car tire made today is built this way.
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16 is the wheel
The diameter of the wheel it fits, in inches. A 16 goes on a 16 and nothing else.
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95 is the load index
How much weight the tire can carry. A 95 is good for 1,521 pounds at full pressure. We never go below what your car came with.
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H is the speed rating
Rated to 130 miles an hour. The rating also says how the tire was built, so we match it or go higher.
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3826 is the date
The last four digits after DOT: week 38 of 2026. It's on one side of the tire only, so if you can't find it, it's on the inside, facing the car. If a new tire sat more than two years before it reached us, it goes back. Once a set has been on a car six years, we'll bring it up, whatever the tread says.
We'll tell you when youdon't need tires.
A new tire starts with about ten thirty-seconds of an inch of tread. Ohio's legal minimum is two, and snow needs far more than that.
Every time your car is in, all four depths go on your ticket.
Fine for now. Before an Akron winter, this is where we'd talk. — Jo
No gauge? Put a quarter in the groove, Washington's head first. If you can see the top of his head, you're under four.
How they wore tells us why.
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Both edges
You've been running low on air.
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Down the middle
Too much air.
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One edge only
That's your alignment, and new tires won't fix it.
If they have life left, you drive home on them. We'd rather see you next year.
Things we won'tsell you.
No. We don't know what road they've been on, how they were stored or how old they really are. Every tire we mount is new, and we read you its date.
Nobody should. The sidewall flexes with every turn of the wheel, and a patch there won't hold. We'll show you the hole and price you a new tire.
A plug by itself is a roadside fix. A repair means taking the tire off the wheel, plugging and patching it from the inside, and balancing it again. That's the only flat repair we sell, and it's $35.
If two have plenty of life, you'll hear that. The new pair goes on the back, so the car stays planted in the rain. Most all-wheel-drive cars need all four to match, and we'll show you why before you pay for it.
If you're at six thirty-seconds or better, you're fine for now. We write all four depths on your ticket and tell you roughly when to come back.