[quote author="bltserv" date=1247001176][quote author="Daedalus" date=1246956237][quote author="ABC123" date=1246952641]The costco guy claimed it was because most of my driving is on surface streets and someone else told me it was because costco uses nitrogen and that wares them out faster. </blockquote>
There's a lot of misinformation out there. Nitrogen fills are better than air, plain and simple. No drawbacks aside from the cost, which is included in the price of the tires at Costco. Not sure what "surface streets" have to do with tire wear; perhaps he meant that stop-and-go driving behavior can wear out tires faster, which is true to a small extent.
I caution anyone against judging a tire by its lifespan or price. Both are funtions of many factors, including safety. A grippy tire will wear out faster, but also stop quicker, all else being equal. For the most part, the best thing you can do is to keep your car's alignment correct, to keep the tires properly inflated, and to buy tires that meet the manufacturer's specifications. Pay attention to all the little details, such as speed and load ratings. Tirerack.com is an excellent resource for this kind of info. The last thing you want to do is compromise safety just to save a penny or two per mile. When you consider how much you spend on gas, insurance, maintenance, etc per mile, tire costs are practically in the noise. Also, rotate rotate them per the schedule in the owner's manual and have them balanced at the same time.
I'm reading the comments and so far nothing has made me cringe yet. The last set of tires I bought for my sedan cost $1200 and they'll probably last 20,000 miles. My coupe's tires are a little cheaper, but it goes through rears every 8000 miles or so.</blockquote>
The post above is So important. Keeping up with your tires is the key to getting a longer life out of your investment. Proper inflation and rotation are well worth the effort. Checking your inflation monthly and rotating every 3000 miles is key. Helps on the gas mileage too.</blockquote>
When it comes to cars, I'm clueless. That's why I stick to japanese because so far they haven't given me any problems (except for having to replace the tires).