To keep your car running smoothly, you’re going to need to stay on your toes when it comes to vehicle maintenance. Whether that’s in the form of staying on top of your engine fluids or seemingly cosmetic tasks like window tints and wiper blade replacements, your car needs a lot of attention for the sum of its parts to move from one point to another without unwanted interruptions. Tires aren’t exempt from this balancing act — they also experience wear from being your car’s only contact with the road and the friction that comes with it. When that wear shows up, you’ll need to go shopping for new ones.

Now, tire shopping isn’t as straightforward as you’d think. With household supplies, for instance, you can make arbitrary decisions: How efficient a product appears to be for your specific use case, and if fragrance is involved, whether you like the scent. Tires pose an entirely different challenge. Every detail matters to tire performance (and ultimately, your safety behind the wheel), be it speed rating, load index, or tire size.

The last thing you want is to spend hundreds of dollars on tires that don’t serve the purpose you need them for, or, even worse, ones that put you in danger. With this in mind, there are a handful of mistakes you need to watch out for when shopping for tires. We’re covering six of them — make sure to avoid them on your next trip to the tire shop.

It’s no secret that tires are expensive. Depending on brand and your performance needs, a single mid-range one can cost anywhere from $100 to $300. It gets even pricier if your car needs high-end tires — those can get as high as $1000. Couple the high costs with inflation, which sits at 3.8% at time of writing, leading two in three Americans to cut back on spending according to the  Associated Press. With this added bit of context, scrimping when it’s time to buy a set of new tires might seem understandable; you’ll be keeping more money in your wallet to settle other bills.

Unfortunately, such an approach will only end up costing you even more in the long run. There’s a reasonable price range where you expect tires to reside. When you buy tires that are on the cheaper end of the spectrum (or even outside it entirely), you’re actively choosing to compromise on quality to save a few bucks. When you do this, your new tires can wear more quickly than expected depending on your specific driving needs, which will necessitate another trip to the tire shop in short order.

This is doubly true if you’re considering used tires — those have an unknown history, have probably seen a good amount of wear, and likely have no option of warranty protection. You might luck into a quality used tire once in a while, but more often than not, you’ll end up spending more on substandard tires than you would on an expensive good one.

Every car has unique recommended tire specifications, ranging from size to other factors like load index and speed rating. It’s easy to ignore them, though — they’re usually printed in small fonts on your tire sidewall, on a sticker on the driver’s door, or in your car manual. However, ignoring these metrics and installing the wrong tire size can negatively affect your car in different ways.

Take an oversize tire, for example

The added weight forces your brakes to work harder to stop them, leading to longer stopping distances and increased wear on your braking ecosystem — and there’s also a risk of hydroplaning because of the reduced traction. The increased rolling resistance also burns more fuel, which means more stops at the gas station. There’s also another effect we consider the most dangerous: wrong speedometer readings.

Your speedometer relies on tire rotation to calculate speed. Larger tires have a larger circumference, so they take longer to complete one full rotation. That means you could be speeding without even knowing, and that’s exceedingly risky. As for tire load index, it represents the maximum weight your tire can bear while moving at its maximum allowed speed rating. If you buy just any tire without checking this metric, your tires can lose stability, wear out faster, and if they’re subjected to too much load, there’s an increased risk of a blowout. Always refer to your manufacturer’s recommendations before making a new purchase.

No two drivers act the same way behind the wheel. Some cruise around leisurely, others put more strain on their cars with heavy acceleration demands and sudden braking. In the same vein, your unique commute also has implications for your tires. If you’re a frequent off-roader, you’re going to need a different set of tires from a driver who lives in an area with wet roads more months of the year than not, and from another who regularly travels across freeways at high speeds.

If you don’t take your driving profile into account when shopping for tires, you’re bound to make some ill-advised purchases that’ll have you back in the shop for another replacement in no time. Mentally note the type of roads that dominate your daily routes. Do you climb hills or rocks? You’ll most likely want All-Terrain tires since standard ones will likely puncture under all that strain. Matching your tire choices to your regular commute needs will save you from overspending.

Likewise, note your driving style

Drivers who want more performance from their cars need specialized tires to complement that focus. Regular tires won’t cut it in such a scenario. Build a full driver profile before walking into a tire shop to make the right choices.

It’s possible for a tire to look good to the naked eye and still pose a risk to your car and the safety of you and your passengers. Cosmetic damage and manufacturer instructions aren’t the only variables to watch out for when changing your tires; tire age is an equally important one. That’s because tires are made of rubber, and when they’re exposed to oxygen, the rubber particles harden and gradually lose flexibility. With time, that hardening will cause the tire to crack — both on the surface and on the inside.

While there may not be a specific limit on tire ages in legislation, it’s generally recommended that tires older than 5 or 6 years shouldn’t be used on the roads. Michelin, for instance, suggests a yearly thorough inspection by a trained professional after 5 years of service. Tires that haven’t been used before aren’t exempt from this conventional wisdom either. Once the rubber starts to crack, the steel belts in the tread are more likely to separate from the rest of the tire.

When this happens, a blowout usually follows in short order. To avoid this, check the prospective tire’s sidewall to determine its US Department of Transportation (DOT) number. This number has four digits that represent the date it was manufactured. The first two indicate the week; the other two the year. For instance, a DOT number of 5024 says that the tire was made in the 50th week of 2024. You should skip a tire that’s older than five years, even if it has plenty of tread left.

When on the hunt for new tires, you’re likely focused on performance metrics and other intrinsic factors like those mentioned above. One variable that’s likely to slip your mind in your selection process is warranty coverage. Now, tire warranties can be a divisive topic — we even deemed it one of the new car add-ons to skip at the dealership because of how subjective its value proposition is. However, anything that can save you a few bucks down the road is worth a look at the very least.

Tire warranty coverage can come in different forms: Material defects, tread life, road hazard, uniformity, or even a “special” warranty, where you have the prerogative to return the tires for any reason and receive a full refund. Of course, this has to happen within a specified number of days. The cost of buying these warranties can be anywhere between $40 and $80 across all four tires, so the decision-making boils down to the question, “Is it worth it?”

The answer depends on statistics and the terms and conditions of the warranty you’re offered. You may not be very likely to suffer a blowout from driving over a pothole, but on the off chance it does happen, the replacement cost can be steep. Some drivers on online platforms report blowout replacements reaching $1000 before warranties stepped in and kept the costs at $150. In such a case, it’s worth it. Ultimately, you need to research the conditions you’re being offered; watch out for stuff like prorated coverage and maintenance requirements before making a final decision.

When you notice one of your tires is due for changing, there’s a tendency to think that your entire set needs replacement as well. While this might be true to some degree in certain scenarios, like with new cars where you’re sure all the tires were manufactured around the same timeframe, it’s not always the case. Tires wear differently depending on factors such as drivetrain configuration (for instance, front tires are likely to wear faster in FWD systems) and the type of roads you drive on.

Building off of this context, one or two of your tires may absolutely need a change, but it wouldn’t be financially prudent to swap out the entire set if the other tires have enough life left in them. Sure, you may save yourself the trouble of remembering <a href="https://jordangazette.com/what-is-the-30-70-rule-when-flying-a-plane/”>what pair you swapped out the last time you visited the tire shop -– especially if you don’t stick to the principle of changing rears and tire rotation. In the long run, though, you’re racking up bills you don’t need.

In a slightly different scenario, buying fewer tires than you need can save you money, but there’s always the risk that wear on the ones you left unchanged worsens. A good rule of thumb is to run individual checks on your tread depths — here’s how to check. Note the number of tires that fall below the acceptable level: If they’re above two, then you might as well change the entire set and keep a good leftover (if any) as a spare option.