#040 — Car Talk: Don’t Use Your Emergency Fund To Replace Your Tires
Tire Troubles?
Our family goes through tires like nobody’s business. On my wife’s car, it seems like we’re always having trouble with the alignment. My car has high-performance tires (which can’t be replaced with normal tires) that do not qualify for warranty, and have to be replaced about every 20,000 miles!
Is It An Emergency?
By definition, emergencies are unforeseeable or unplanned event that comes up.
Maybe the first time I replaced some tires, it was an emergency. But now that I’m aware of my “high-performance” tires, it no longer is an emergency when it comes time to prematurely replacing them. I would encourage you to add a “car maintenance” fund to your budget. If you have a positive balance at the end of the month, set it aside and add it to the next month’s “car maintenance” allotment. Allow it to build so when something DOES happen to your car (and it will), you’ll have a bit of cash set aside to help cover the costs.
In our budget, we’ve added an additional $50/month or so to our car maintenance line just because I know we’ll have to replace some tires each year. It comes in handy to have an extra couple hundred dollars sitting around when you’re treading on thin ice.. or tires, as it may be.
Where To Buy Tires
We like to buy our tires at Discount Tire, also called America’s Tire in some parts of the country. They are really close to home, have many locations in our area, and most importantly, they’ve got cheap prices! Other people have loved using Wal-Mart or Costco to get their tires replaced. If you’re an online shopper, you can even try Tires-Easy.com, which appears to have pretty decent prices, and can deliver either to your residence or directly to your local tire shop where they can install them for you.
Do you have a budget line for car maintenance? Where do you shop for tires?
photo by david.nikonvscanon
Discount Tire is great, but it’s always good to call ahead and get an appointment. I’ve waited there for 2 hours before.
I do have a car maint. item in the budget. Also a ‘new to me car fund’ that I can tap for an unexpected repair in excess of normal routine stuff.
My last tires came from “BigO” tires. I think they are a regional chair similar to Discount Tire.
Just curious but what do you drive that requires new tires every 20k? I want to make sure I don’t get one…
@karla (threadbndr)
Great idea to use the “buy a car” fund to also double as a maintenance emergency fund.
@Kyle
It’s a 2000 Nissan Maxima of all cars. The tires have a “Z” tread rating or something like that, which means they are high-performance tires that wear out too quick to offer a warranty!