I try to be way ahead of the seasons when it comes to tire shopping, because deals are better and selection is better. With my E46 I was able to put wheels and tires on it for almost a decade without buying new* (I think I bought new once) because Craigslist was prodigious not only in E46-compatible wheels, but the common 205-55-16 tire size. I have NOT had the same luck with our 2012 Volvo, since I don’t want 19" wheels for snow tires, and also because TPMS.
So I’ve been watching for deals, and on TireRack today I found these that will fit my factory 16" wheels:
That’s $354.52 BEFORE the $80 rebate, so it’s $274.52 but then call it +$100 for mount/balance at my local shop so ~$375 all in, using existing TPMS. That’s quite good, for tires that I’ve heard are excellent.
So the factory wheels will become my winters and I’ll get a set of 17's for summer from... somewhere. It’s really hard to beat TireRack when it comes to having to deal with TPMS. I can maybe pick up a $200 set of wheels from Craigslist but I need to spend at least another $300 on TPMS, maybe more. Then I still need tires for those “cheap” wheels. On TireRack they’ll put in TPMS for $264 total for all four, which is hard to beat when they include mounting/balancing and shipping to my door.
Sad to say, my all-in cost for a set of used wheels off CL could be really close to a new set from TireRack. Or maybe that’s good, because it lets me justify getting whatever wheels I want!
Or
OR RALLY WAGON
mmmm
Meanwhile I’ll keep looking at CL for someone ditching a “perfectly good set” of factory Volvo wheels for under $1000 with good tires and TPMS that will work with my car. HA! When they do appear they’ll be 150 miles away.