tire question

Hey my girlfriend has a '01 Grand AM SE 4dr sedan with the 16" stock rims. Well she needs new tires, and apparently it's an odd size or something. They are 225/50R16s...we went to a local place to get new tires for her and they didn't have any and said it was a special order. Then I checked tirerack.com and they had a decent amount, but they all seemed a bit expensive...the cheapest all-season tires they had were like $67 and that was the cheapest...I would have assumed they would have had a few cheaper than that...we are kind of on a fixed budget, and she doesn't drive fast or speed or anything. But we are going to get alot of snow this winter, so they need to be all-season or something that can handle the snow fairly well. I mean, I get 18" ultra performance Sumitomos for my vr4 on tirerack for $130 a piece and they retail for over $200...we would like to find something of a similar deal relevant for her car.
Have you guys switched tire size? If so what to? If not, do you know anywhere else we could find reasonable tires? Thanks in advance.

That tire size is an factory/dealer upgrade on the se (for the 4banger anyway, not sure on the 6). The 4cyl comes standard with 215/60r 15's, and even those aren't that cheap. The lowest price I found here when I put new all-seasons on was C$125ea. After tax/install was 600 bucks. And all these tires are good for are keeping the rims from sitting on concrete! And yes, I shopped around.


Marc

I just put new tires on my G/A GT same size tires, costed me a little over $600. I put on BfGoodrich, I opted for a better tire though, which make a big difference on how the car rides and handles. If you are looking for cheap tires, go to your local tire store/ automotive store and have them price them out, The lowest you will most likely find will be about 50-70$'s but they probably have only a 30,000 mile warrenty, and may not be that good in snow or rain... THe BFGoodrichs were $109 on tire rack and $119 at the place got them installed. PLus it has good ratings and a 60,000 mile warranty

I know the 16s were an option...but we got the car used, so they were already on the car...we don't have any other wheels and need new tires...I am aware of the added benefits of better tires...I go all out on my car...but that is because I'm driving over 100mph quite often. Her car is just a daily driver that is lucky to hit 75mph. We just want something that isn't going to cost $600. If I can get amazing tires for my car at $520, then we should logically be able to find tires for her...much cheaper. My question is, have any of you switched to 215/60s on your 16" wheels? or possibly another size, 225/55s, 215/65s...anybody ever stray away from factory spec tires?