NEW TIRES

For a good year...maybe two...my old jeep has needed some new tires. I really didn’t want to part with the money (tightwad…as discussed before) and it's used basically as an ‘in town’ car. We take Cindy’s car on long trips so mine’s just for the short trips.

The rule of thumb I had always heard is that if you stick a penny into the tread groove on your tire and you can see the top of ‘Lincolns’ head, then there’s not enough tread on your tire. Nearly 2 years ago, I was seeing the top of Lincolns' head. I’m not saying they were bald, but much longer and they’d be down to the rims.

Well, this morning, Cindy was off to Vincennes to get her mom and bring her to our house for the holiday, and Mason had spent the night at a buddys’ house. I called a few places to get some estimates and decided to ‘just do it’.

After arriving at the store, we settled on the bottom price and I was told I should be ready to go in 45 minutes. I got my laptop out and began working on some stuff while I waited.

When I paid attention, I overheard several phone conversations between the ‘desk man’ and the callers on the phone. Most were simple calls but one was an in depth conversation, and the desk man laid it on thick. ‘The testing the tire went through…it’s flexibility…it’s response in severe weather…blah…blah…’ He gave it everything he could to make the deal. He surely gets a commission on each tire he sells because he knew his stuff…or at least tried to sound convincing enough that he did.

After about 45 minutes, I got up to see how things were going and saw my car still parked in the same spot I left it. When I asked how we were doing, of course I got the perfunctory, “you’re next.” One hour later, I drove off with my new tires.

In the end, I got a pretty good deal…I overheard more tire info than I cared to know…and my car should be much safer in getting us where we need to go...short distance or long distance.

Sometimes, tightwads have gotta part with some of their money to do the right thing.


Dan