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Yes another tire post, but wait!

13K views 21 replies 8 participants last post by  MichaelB451 
#1 ·
Looking for new shoes for our 2017 EXL. Stock Conn's are pretty much toast at 42,000 miles. I've researched this forum and narrowed it down to either Bridgestone Alenza Plus, Michelin Defender LTX, or Goodyear Assurance ComfortTred. HOWEVER, went to my local Costco and they have the Defender's on sale out the door for $740, or they priced out another Michelin tire called X LT A/S. The tire guy said there's literally no difference between the Defender and the X LT AS, but the X LT is made for Costco and Sams Club and slightly cheaper (about $30-$40 on the whole set.)

Anyone have the X LT A/S? Thoughts? Am I better off paying $40 more for the Defender? THe X LT A/S were about $708 out the door with tax.
 
#2 ·
Hello!. Have a 2015 EXL and changed to the Michelin XLT tires from Costco last fall. I don't recall exactly how much, but it was during their monthly Michelin sale. They are quiet and seem to be good in the rain/cold (we didn't have a lot of snow last winter). I just had them rotated at 6000 miles, and the they looked fine. Not sure about the "no difference" story your tire guy mentioned, but I did notice a very slight difference in the tread when compared to the Defender LTX on the shelf, but deduced we wouldn't notice any difference -- neem happy with the purchase so far. In comparison, I had 2 sets of Defender LTX on my previous minivan - a very good tire and provided good light snow traction for several seasons before losing its snow bite. Don't think you will be disappointed with either.
 
#3 ·
Thanks very much! This is helpful. One question, did you have any balancing issues? When I switched factory tires on my 2008 EXL Ody it had a terrible steering wheel shimmy that never went away until I paid $70 to have a high end tire store road force balance them.

I looked at both up close, but didn't see a difference. They are $110 off at my local Costco, so getting either set under $750 including tax is a great deal. Most tire shops here want about $900 out the door.
 
#5 ·
Looking for new shoes for our 2017 EXL. Stock Conn's are pretty much toast at 42,000 miles. I've researched this forum and narrowed it down to either Bridgestone Alenza Plus, Michelin Defender LTX, or Goodyear Assurance ComfortTred. HOWEVER, went to my local Costco and they have the Defender's on sale out the door for $740, or they priced out another Michelin tire called X LT A/S. The tire guy said there's literally no difference between the Defender and the X LT AS, but the X LT is made for Costco and Sams Club and slightly cheaper (about $30-$40 on the whole set.)

Anyone have the X LT A/S? Thoughts? Am I better off paying $40 more for the Defender? THe X LT A/S were about $708 out the door with tax.
If the X LT A/S tire is the same as what TireRack calls the LTX A/S, then I don't think the words "literally no difference" is the proper phrase. By definition "Literally means word for word and means in an exact sense. It should not be used loosely as an intensifier."

The following links will take you to Tire Rack's specs pages for the LTX A/S and the Defender.

To be fair, you should start by comparing the same size tires, which means that you have to look at the specs for a 275/65R18 since that is the only LTX A/S tire Tire Rack carries. In that comparison the Defender has deeper thread, a higher treadware rating (almost double!) and a higher temperature rating.

Then, if you look at the Defender specs for a 235/65R17 (your tire) those ratings are the same as for the larger size Defender, meaning that it is still a better tire - assuming that the specs don't suddenly improve for the LTX A/S in the smaller size (I seriously doubt they do, but you'd have to check elsewhere to be sure)

I'd go back to Costco and ask why they use the words "literally no difference" when comparing these two tires. Maybe the X LT A/S is a different tire than the LTX A/S. In any case, ask for the specs to be sure.

LTX A/S



Defender LTX M/S

 
#8 ·
If the X LT A/S tire is the same as what TireRack calls the LTX A/S, then I don't think the words "literally no difference" is the proper phrase. By definition "Literally means word for word and means in an exact sense. It should not be used loosely as an intensifier."

The following links will take you to Tire Rack's specs pages for the LTX A/S and the Defender.

To be fair, you should start by comparing the same size tires, which means that you have to look at the specs for a 275/65R18 since that is the only LTX A/S tire Tire Rack carries. In that comparison the Defender has deeper thread, a higher treadware rating (almost double!) and a higher temperature rating.

Then, if you look at the Defender specs for a 235/65R17 (your tire) those ratings are the same as for the larger size Defender, meaning that it is still a better tire - assuming that the specs don't suddenly improve for the LTX A/S in the smaller size (I seriously doubt they do, but you'd have to check elsewhere to be sure)

I'd go back to Costco and ask why they use the words "literally no difference" when comparing these two tires. Maybe the X LT A/S is a different tire than the LTX A/S. In any case, ask for the specs to be sure.

LTX A/S



Defender LTX M/S

Not the LTX, but Michelin branded a tire for Costco and Sams Club called the X LT A/S. They said it's the same tire as the Defender LTX M/S, just branded a different name and slightly cheaper. I did verify this with the Michelin chat rep today.
 
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#6 ·
I'm a big believer in Continental. Not just any Continental, but the Continental True Contact Turing. The old True Contact was a fantastic tire, even in the snow! And they last a very long time, easily 65,000 miles.
 
#7 ·
Not mine! They came stock on our van. Only got 43,000 miles and I'm at 3/32nd. We rotated every 5,000-6,000 when we changed the oil.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the link.

It's interesting that when I mentioned Defender in my chat session, the agent came back with "Defender T&H". She never mentioned the Defender LTX M+S.

T&H vs LTX M+S
LTX A/S vs X LT A/S
Canadian equivalents of US models
Canadian models that are sold in the US

No wonder we're all confused. ?
 
#15 ·
I just started another chat. Different person:

Tchacona M (9/5/2019, 12:42:07 PM): Hello, I'm Tchacona How Can I help you?
null (9/5/2019, 12:42:14 PM): Hi -
null (9/5/2019, 12:42:25 PM): I was quoted a tire 235/65r/17
null (9/5/2019, 12:42:30 PM): it's the X LT A/S
null (9/5/2019, 12:42:41 PM): i can't find it anywhere on your website
Tchacona M (9/5/2019, 12:43:51 PM): Unfortunately that is because it is only made for club stores
Tchacona M (9/5/2019, 12:44:24 PM): It is only available at Sam's, Costco or bj's
null (9/5/2019, 12:45:10 PM): OK, so does that mean it's an inferior tire to the normal Michelin's I would buy from a dealer?
Tchacona M (9/5/2019, 12:46:33 PM): No it does not, Michelin just decided to make tires for only club stores as well . It is still the same quality as normal Michelin tires.
null (9/5/2019, 12:47:17 PM): What is the comparable Michelin tire for this model so I can research it and read reviews
null (9/5/2019, 12:51:00 PM): Hello, are you there?
Tchacona M (9/5/2019, 12:52:03 PM): Bare with me one second.
null (9/5/2019, 12:52:37 PM): ok thank you
Tchacona M (9/5/2019, 1:01:15 PM): Thank you for being patient with me. The defender Ltx M/s
null (9/5/2019, 1:01:30 PM): OK thank you very much for your help!
Tchacona M (9/5/2019, 1:01:39 PM): No problem, is there anything else I can help you with?
null (9/5/2019, 1:01:46 PM): that will be it!
 
#16 ·
So it sounds like we now have the same answer from two different people as far as the equivalent tire. I guess that's the answer we should run with.

That sure was a lot of work for a $32 (4.3%) savings on the Defender LTX. ?
 
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#17 ·
I just purchased this set of Goodyear Maxlifes for the van last month, and haven't put them on yet as I will be waiting until spring after the winter tires come off. The set was $612 plus tax, but my local Sams Club was running $140 off a set of 4 of them, so I reached out to DTD and they beat that price, with a total of $500.62, including tax. Then Goodyear had a $60 rebate, DTD had $60, and DTD also had another $50 for using their card. So grand total, shipped including tax was $330.62 out the door. They are supposed to be Goodyear's longest wearing tires, so time will tell.
 
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