99 V70 xc AWD tires: How many should I get?

[Chai]

Greetings,

Little old lady here. I have an unfixable flat tire. So I need tires, and I just don't know how many I need.

I recently bought a 1999 V70 XC wagon AWD. It came with 4 Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires, size 205/65R15

These were apparently not placed on the car at the same time. The previous owner bought 2 tires in September 2013. The odometer reading at that time was 168,485. Then he bought another single tire in December 2013.

My current mileage is 179,663. So the tires have less that 12K miles on them. They look ok to me, with some wear on the outer edges.

The most recent Consumers Reports on tires highly recommends the Michelin Defender all season tire, so I thought I'd get those.

The folks at Sears told be I need to buy 4 tires and suggested 4 Hankook Road Handler touring tires.

The mechanic who has serviced this car (and my previous car), but who has not looked at the tires recently says to get 2 tires and put them on the back

The Goodyear store says I should get 2 tires and suggested either the Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring or the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred All Season.

That guy also said I might be able to get away with replacing just one tire, if he looked at the tread. But then he cautioned me about mixing treads.

I don't want to mess up the car (differential etc) and I don't want to spend a fortune on tires. I live in California. I don't drive a lot, but we do have windy mountain roads here. Safety is more important than comfort.

So, how many tires do I need? Thanks!

[matthew1]

bump

[BEJinFbk]

Not everyone will agree, but if I were in
your position, I'd buy 4 new, matching tires
and sell the old ones to help cover the cost.

Best of Luck!

[scot850]

Check with a dealer. These first generation AWD Volvos are very particular with variation of tread depth. Once you know what the variation is then have your mechanic check what the current tires depths are. If within the max. allowance for variation then you are ok.

Personally, my view is for the early AWD's 4 tires of same brand, or if you have 2 tires that are fairly new with little wear, you may get away with only 2, but replace with same.

The previous owner cheaped out as he was selling the car. He didn't care and sold the car with odd tires. The AWD system is very expensive to fix if it breaks, unless you remove the prop-haft and run as a FWD. That way you only need to work about having same tread depth on 2 tires either side and at the same end.

If AWD is important to you, then you have shown you already know the answer. Tire brand and driving style is a personal choice. Most cheaper tires either have a high mileage capability at the expense of grip or they wear out quick or can be noisy. Check on Tire Rack website for tire reviews.

You have different tire choices in the US so I will let others there lend their advice. Personally I like Michelin, Toyo, and Bridgestone.

Neil

[Chai]

Thanks for the thoughts. I did call a dealer today. He said replace 1 tire with the same tire if the tread is good, or replace all four.

I haven't had much luck selling tires in the past, but I might try that. Thanks!