Need new tires, help please.

hi..

l got 97 formula.. (l know l post many threats lately, but dealer told a lot of problems which l didnt know, so l need your helps)

anyway.. l need to change my four tires. dealer said, that l am driving car hard, so l need soft rubber performance tires and they are asking $250.00 per tire (goodyear)

which kind of tire should l get? my tires are wide permormance tires now and l need the same size. also if l get new four tires from ebay, anyone would install them and for how much?

dealer says, including installing the price is $1100.00

we today l already spent $1500.00 on water pump, heater hose and transmission mount. l have no money left.

thank you..

You got taken on the water pump and parts.

Tires....I paid $800 to tread the T/A with Kumho's top of the line at the time.
You have to be selective with what you hear from the dealer. They WILL take you if they can.
Go to discount tires/Big O tires....they can help you tread your car for $600-700.

thank you Mr.Luos.

yeah l just replaced water pump, heater hose and transmission mount. (l really do not know which tranny) l will ask them. and including labor they asked 1500 bucks. well, my wife paid. l called autozone and they said they would do the same work for 450 bucks. my wife didnt listen to me, she said dealer does better job and original parts and lifetime warranty so we made them to fix it.. ( l cannot believe l just spent 1500 buck on this f***ng car..

l hate firebirds anymore.. l didnt even paid 3rd payment yet, l already spent 2000 bucks on this and l still have to replace tires, power windows, fix the A/C and my right exhaust pipe is loose and l gottoa change the pipes. oh god, l could have bought another car with this money. l wish l would get a japanese car.

anyway.. thanks for help.

thank you Mr.Luos.

yeah l just replaced water pump, heater hose and transmission mount. (l really do not know which tranny) l will ask them. and including labor they asked 1500 bucks. well, my wife paid. l called autozone and they said they would do the same work for 450 bucks. my wife didnt listen to me, she said dealer does better job and original parts and lifetime warranty so we made them to fix it.. ( l cannot believe l just spent 1500 buck on this f***ng car..

l hate firebirds anymore.. l didnt even paid 3rd payment yet, l already spent 2000 bucks on this and l still have to replace tires, power windows, fix the A/C and my right exhaust pipe is loose and l gottoa change the pipes. oh god, l could have bought another car with this money. l wish l would get a japanese car.

anyway.. thanks for help.
go to either www.tirerack.com or www.discounttire.com the tires are cheep on there and are good tires. STOP GOING TO THE DEALER!!! they will rip you OFF. If you get the tires on one of the web sites just have a local garage put them on. They will do all 4 balance and every thing for under $50.

To put them on can be a up to like 100 dollars but will usually be 80 and under and I agree completely with what 97cavalier posted. Those are two great sites for tires and you may also want to check www.summitracing.com (http://www.summitracing.com) . They carry alot of tires as well and will price match and on some of there tires they offer free shipping. Good luck

Nebraska tire has closeout deals if theyve got ur size theyll be cheap. These are not generic were talkin bout goodyear and bf.g

You got taken on the water pump and parts.


Agreed!!!!

I have BFG g-Force KDWS's and they're a great all around tire. I don't care what you say about they're "all season" tires...they do well with everything. I think they're 108/tire on tirerack.com or elsewhere. Screw the stealerships...err...I mean dealerships.

thank you Mr.Luos.
spent 2000 bucks on this and l still have to replace tires, power windows, fix the A/C and my right exhaust pipe is loose and l gottoa change the pipes. oh god, l could have bought another car with this money. l wish l would get a japanese car.

anyway.. thanks for help.

okay, dont mean to sound rude or anything, but these guys have been telling you all along that dealers screw u every chance they get, so 1. do the work urself or 2. find a regular shop mechanic, he/she will charge much less than a dealer.

Tires, i got cooper cobra gts installed for 450 dollars, nice z rated tires and fit the stock 16" firebird rims. has nice grip and mileage for the price.
exhaust, new pipes shouldnt cost me that 125 dollars if thats all u need. much more than that and ppl r screwing u.
window motors run 50 apiece at autozone plus installation(not a dealerships!) and to fix the motors from going out, do not let the motor bring ur driver side window all the way down. Instead stop it before it goes all the way down, if you rely on the automatic window relay to stop it, you will burn out the motor over time because the relay kicks in way to late and its a pos.

gl with everything.

thank you matt..

first when l went to dealer, dealer gave prices for brake pads and rotors and l asked here and guys told me dealer isnt tricking you, they gave you normal price and l made them fix. this time, l told my wife, lets not to fix this car hhere, they are asking so much but she didnt listen. she said she wanted to pay and dealer makes better job and original parts and life time warranty. and we did that. but l dont regret anyore. because l had 5 year engine and transmission warranty from autosave. and l just saw that water pump is covered and we called and they said, send us the proof and this repairs and that time we will let you know what is gonna happen. ?( do you thin are we gonna get that money? it was 770 bucks)

about windows, thank you man. l got repair manual and l asked a huge toolbox from my grandfather as a christmas gift, he is so rich, so l thought he would get the best one:)
my tires are 17'' and they are real wide high performance tires and l want the same actually. l will try to get cheap ones for winter, for summer l will get real wide and high performance and quality tires. also, l decided to get a small normal car for daily and not to use my bird always, just sometimes for joy. l will slowly but surely modifie my car. first thing l will do is change my color to black and than add a turbocharger. l will not sell the car, l will garage the car. because if l sell, it is not gonna worth to much so, l decided to garage it and slowly modifie it. l will get a normal daily small cheap car. (honda civic or something)

thank you..

thank you matt..

first when l went to dealer, dealer gave prices for brake pads and rotors and l asked here and guys told me dealer isnt tricking you, they gave you normal price and l made them fix. this time, l told my wife, lets not to fix this car hhere, they are asking so much but she didnt listen. she said she wanted to pay and dealer makes better job and original parts and life time warranty. and we did that. but l dont regret anyore. because l had 5 year engine and transmission warranty from autosave. and l just saw that water pump is covered and we called and they said, send us the proof and this repairs and that time we will let you know what is gonna happen. ?( do you thin are we gonna get that money? it was 770 bucks)

about windows, thank you man. l got repair manual and l asked a huge toolbox from my grandfather as a christmas gift, he is so rich, so l thought he would get the best one:)
my tires are 17'' and they are real wide high performance tires and l want the same actually. l will try to get cheap ones for winter, for summer l will get real wide and high performance and quality tires. also, l decided to get a small normal car for daily and not to use my bird always, just sometimes for joy. l will slowly but surely modifie my car. first thing l will do is change my color to black and than add a turbocharger. l will not sell the car, l will garage the car. because if l sell, it is not gonna worth to much so, l decided to garage it and slowly modifie it. l will get a normal daily small cheap car. (honda civic or something)

thank you..
770 for a waterpump :falls over dead: GEEZE. Waterpump was 120 if I remember and all of 6 bolts holds it on. I did mine in 1 hr.

If you need brake pad/rotors taken care of and are in CT or near Lancaster/Reading/Harrisburg PA, I can do them for you. Just get the parts and it will take 2 hrs tops to do all 4 corners. If you're near OKC, give Extreme Performance a call.

The window motor, I don't have a drill(needed to get that last rivet out) so I took the door apart all the way until the last thing was the motor, took it to the local dealership and told them "I'll buy the motor off of you and all you have to do it swap it out. It still rolls down so it will only take you 1/2 hr to do so. If you are willing to charge me the 150.00 for the motor(it's around that much at the dealer vs autozone) and 1/2 hr charger for labor, all you hve to do is swap the motor, I'll put the rest back together." They actually did it..I couldn't believe it.

As far as tires, I go to my Father's best friend for that. You, I'd go to Tirerack and get a good set. Don't get one set for winter when you're going to use them a few months and get new "summer tires". Especially when you are thinking of getting another car.

Do not rule out other small cars, I have a 91 Escort for a daily driver. Its trouble free. Pretty fun to drive since its a 1.9 with a 5 speed(not fast, but you can throw it into turns since its so lite). Its very cheap to maintain too.

Hope you get your stuff taken care off.

$770 included labor Im sure. I used to work at a dealership and the reason so many people think they are getting ripped off is because they drive a car into the ground and back, never maintain it, and then bring it in with serious problems and wonder why the dealer gives them an estimate for $2000. At the same time, the dealership charges for their knowledge of that specific car. It takes them less time to do the job and they do use GM parts with warranties on the work. The down side is they charge a book rate no matter how short a time it takes so thats what the customer is forced to pay. The flip side to that is unless you find a good independent mechanic, theyre gonna take you to the cleaners too if you don't know crap about cars. Its all about finding a good mechanic...regardless of where it is.

$770 included labor Im sure. I used to work at a dealership and the reason so many people think they are getting ripped off is because they drive a car into the ground and back, never maintain it, and then bring it in with serious problems and wonder why the dealer gives them an estimate for $2000. At the same time, the dealership charges for their knowledge of that specific car. It takes them less time to do the job and they do use GM parts with warranties on the work. The down side is they charge a book rate no matter how short a time it takes so thats what the customer is forced to pay. The flip side to that is unless you find a good independent mechanic, theyre gonna take you to the cleaners too if you don't know crap about cars. Its all about finding a good mechanic...regardless of where it is.


I have no issues paying for quality parts. But you can't tell me that you're going to want me to pay 80/hr for labor on something that takes 1 hr and you're going to charge me 3. Like when I bent a pushrod, I tore the entire top of the engine apart and took them out. Put the new ones back in and put everything back together. Took me less then 4hrs with hand tools and making sure everyhting was torque'd to spec.

That's why that if anyone works on my car that isn't me, its either Extreme or my Dad's friend, but I have done most of the work myself.

thats great man.. you re totally right...

l wish l could fix my car by myself too but l dont understand.

but l got my repair manual and l will slowly start to do something.. also you guys are helping.. thank you..