From: spam@nospam.com   
      
   I'm buying tires at SimpleTire and the default sort is "recommended" but   
   other options are "highest to lowest" and "lowest to highest" choices.   
      
   It got me wondering...   
   Who sorts a set of 4 tires by price high to low? Or by brand?   
      
   I'm 75 and have replaced my tires for decades where my current philosophy is   
   that (a) tires are tires, and (if you're replacing all four as a set), then   
   you (b) you buy that set by the spec and finally, (c), if the specs are   
   almost or exactly the same, then you decide by price (lower is better).   
      
   Hence I sort tires online by spec first, not by price nor by brand.   
   1. It has to fit (for example, P225/75R15 if buying for all four wheels)   
   2. It has to be right (for example, All-Season, load range 102S or better)   
   3. It has to be good (for example, TRACTION=AA TREADWEAR=500 TEMPERATURE=A)   
      
   I know people who buy by warranty, which means that what they care about   
   isn't the price performance qualities of the tire itself since warranty is   
   an artificial marketing component of the tire sale.   
      
   Others will tell you that they buy the most well advertised brand (for   
   example, Michelin or GoodYear) but they usually don't even know WHERE their   
   tires are built (Indonesia for example) before that brand is stamped on the   
   tires (the point being that multiple brands are the same exact tire in many   
   cases).   
      
   And yet, others buy by price, but from highest to lowest, and they're often   
   the same people claiming that "you get what you pay for" which is never   
   correct (you get what others set the price at which is almost always a   
   function of brand marketing and almost never of quality in tires).   
      
   In the end, the price is a function of the basics:   
   A. The cost of the tire (for example, $100/tire)   
   B. The cost of sales tax (for example 10%)   
   C. The cost of shipping (for example $15/tire)   
   D. The cost of mounting/balancing/valves/disposal (for example $20/wheel)   
      
   While any online tire seller (Tire Rack, Simple Tire, Carid, etc.) will ship   
   directly to the tire mounting shop, I mount/balance my own so I save on a   
   few things (e.g., SimpleTire doesn't charge for shipping and dynamic balance   
   DIY tests are free, or if you don't trust your own dynamic balance tests, I   
   think Costco will check the dynamic balance for $5/tire last I asked and   
   they will dispose of old tires for $1/tire plus local sales tax).   
      
   Anyway, I was just shopping for tires and wondered why the default sort   
   order is what it is, given the default should be lowest-to-highest within   
   spec, in my humble opinion.   
      
   What's your humble opinion?   
   How do YOU choose a set of new tires when you order them online?   
      
   (Maybe I can learn something from your experience and acumen.)   
   --   
   If you're replacing fewer than 4/5 tires, then of course matching the tires   
   becomes an issue that you don't have when you are replacing the entire set.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)