Background
Recently purchased two NOS (new-old-stock) 2020 front tires at a bargain price for a pre-refresh Model X (see New 2020 20-inch Model X Tires). Hoped to find equivalent, matching rear tires, to build a second (back-up) 20-inch wheel-set. Wanted loose tires, since I may powder-coat some extra 20-inch staggered Slipstream rims I have before mounting the new tires.
Lesson and Observations
First looked ONLINE (e.g., Craig's List, eBay, Amazon, etc.) for bargains on new or near-new rear tires.
Recently purchased two NOS (new-old-stock) 2020 front tires at a bargain price for a pre-refresh Model X (see New 2020 20-inch Model X Tires). Hoped to find equivalent, matching rear tires, to build a second (back-up) 20-inch wheel-set. Wanted loose tires, since I may powder-coat some extra 20-inch staggered Slipstream rims I have before mounting the new tires.
Lesson and Observations
First looked ONLINE (e.g., Craig's List, eBay, Amazon, etc.) for bargains on new or near-new rear tires.
- Most low-mileage tires for sale online are part of (take-off) sets of four, and...
- most come mounted on wheels (limiting the range of a practical search--shipping is expensive).
- Sales of used-tires only (no wheels) often involve professionally-repaired tires. (I wanted to avoid those.)
- At least one new-tire seller on eBay, with several warehouses across the U.S., might have had the tire I was looking for. But buying tires sight-unseen (they could/would not send specific photos or guarantee the tire year), and their "buyer-pays-for-return-shipping" policy was, imo, too risky.
- Surprisingly, the 2020 Tesla original-equipment Continental tire I was trying to match was, on paper, unavailable. As of 09/2021 Continental lists it as "sold out:" Continental CrossContact LX Sport (03547460000)
- Local retailers (who normally could order Continental original equipment tires for Tesla cars) were unable to reliably promise a tire to meet my minimum requirements—i.e., (a) "T0" designation, “Conti Silent” version, and original CrossContact LX Sport tread pattern. One store wanted to sell me a Porsche OE tire. (“N0” designation. Not cool. There is also a Mercedes-Benz [“MO”] version. See Continental Original-Equipment Tires.)
- Although there are many retail tire sellers, most apparently get their stock from a limited number of "middle-man" distributers, so I started hearing the same thing at each retailer--not available.
- In general tire-buying can be complicated. And making sense of the writing on tires is like reading Egyptian hieroglyphics. In order not to get stuck with a poor choice pushed on you by an assertive salesperson, try to brush up on tire information before-hand. There are several good sites for interpreting tire sidewall markings (for example, see Decoding the markings on the tire sidewall). Try to know exactly what it is that you need/want before entering a tire store.
- Using the Tesla App I first scheduled convenient mobile service drop-off of two new tires. Seemingly easy and simple. But through messaging it became clear that they couldn't be sure to exactly match rear tires to my existing front NOS tires.
- Luckily, via App messaging, the friendly Tesla staff person encouraged me to stop by the closest Tesla Service Center to inspect and purchase a pair of tires in person. Problem seemingly solved. (Having used only mobile service since getting the car in March, I wasn't aware that SCs were open again, or that they had in-person service desks.)
- But sadly, once at the shiny new Sacramento facility I was told by service desk staff that Tesla does not sell loose tires over the counter--that I would have to make an appointment (for following week) to have tires mounted and balanced, and that this was true at all the nearby Service Centers. I regretfully, and somewhat skeptically, made the appointment to have two tires mounted on wheels the following week. That purchase would of course include additional costs for mounting and balancing the two new tires.
- Fortunately for me, the Sacramento area now has at least three relatively nearby Service Centers (Sacramento
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