URGENT: Replacing 1 tire on new set with different brand/model?
 

4 week old new vehicle came with a set of factory 18's. I drove up onto what I thought was an entry point of a parking lot, but realized it was still elevated too late and ended up damaging one of my front tires going up on the curb. It will have to be replaced most likely tomorrow.

I haven't been able to find an OEM replacement online at the local shop websites, so I may have to go to the dealership and be gouged for a single replacement. ($300+?)

The other option is to buy a replacement tire of a different brand/model but same size to replace that one tire ($150-175?). Wear of the other tires should be negligible as the car only has 1200kms on it. Would this be a good idea?

The car is FWD, so if I do the mismatched tires, does it matter if I put it on the front or back? I assume eventually i'll be rotating the tires so it will be mismatched up front one day anyways.

Any advice ASAP would be greatly appreciated!

The OEM tires in question are Nexen CP662 tires - 225/45/18

nexen's never came OEM on any car.

what you are stating is that the ORIGINAL TIRE that came with the set of rims was nexens, you dont want to pay the $$$$ for a new nexen, you can get a different brand tire for cheaper.

my suggestion, go to any of the sponsors, and ask for the pricing on a nexen. NEXEN tires is not OEM, its aftersales aftermarket. any sponsor that deals with tires CAN get nexen's.

it is not suggested to run different brand tires, but if must, run them in pairs, front pair or rear pair. if 1 tire is below, id say 6mm of tread left, id suggest replacing both front or rear pairs.

it's a 2011 Kia Soul 4u, and they are definitely Nexens...

I'm going to call around in the morning to see if anyone can get me the CP662's, but from looking around online noone seems to carry it... This particular model may be made for the car companies specifically from what I'm reading online... Also, it seems even these Nexens will run about 300+ at the dealer, but I'll have to call tomorrow to check. I just wanted to collect all the information I should have before searching and calling around tomorrow as I don't have alot of time before I have to go to work to get this done.

Check out SORAT in the RS sponsor section, they carry a bunch of nexen's.

yeah sorats pricing is pretty dope

Kia's come stock with Nexen tires? No wonder they're so cheap..

It doesn't matter as long as you match the wear ratings etc.

Nexen is a Korean brand (not to be confused with our petrochemical co with the same name).. it makes sense for Korean car manufacturers to partner with indigenous manufacturers?

You'll be fine going with a tire of a different brand, especially since you have such low km's on the car. Stick with the same size and speed rating and you're good to go. Had your car been older, had more km's and more worn tires, you would probably replace a pair. As far as front or rear, it doesn't really matter - like you said, you will be rotating the tires at some point anyways.

It wouldn't matter TOO much, but I still wouldn't run different tires. Same size or not.

I tried it once in the past to save a few bucks, and it ended up causing more headache than if I had just bought an extra damn tire. Never doing it again. The treading on the tires put pressure on your drive certain way, and if you run different ones, you might get uneven wear.. And one of the mismatched tires can get worn out faster.

They're just like shoes.. get them in matching pairs. You might be able to get away with it, since the other 3 tires are new. But over time they're going to wear out at different rates.. that's when the headache comes in.
At very least, I'd run matching fronts and matching rears.

do you have a full size spare? some cars do......you never know what you find in the trunk.

lol Nexens arent that bad......korean tires on a korean car.

Just a heads up Volco Tires & Wheels Deal of the Day | Groupon Vancouver

$135 for $300 worth of tires or wheels is a good deal IMO

Oh my goodness this thread is terrible.

DO NOT REPLACE ONE TIRE. And if you do don't drive anywhere near me in rain, snow, sleet or hell even dry weather. At min. replace two tires on the same axle. NEXXENS are dirt cheap. Just pony up and buy one.

walmart also has nexen. i bought my tires for cheap from there.

How bad is the tire? is it shredded or punctured?
If its just a simple puncture I know someone that might be able to fix...pm me

Also +1 to checking out Walmart it carries Nexens (saw them there today)

So I got it fixed the next day because I needed to do a long highway drive, and needed a functioning tire... the tire was semi shredded/punctured... i.e. there was like a bit of a flap on the side wall coming off and it was leaking air...

Dealership wanted $250 plus install $20 and tax is about $300 as originally predicted..

called around a bunch of places and they weren't really able to get that exact model in fast enough for me to get it replaced right away... Luckily Jim(?) from Overseas Auto kindly pointed me to another place that might have some in stock, and sure enough they did and I was able to get it replaced right away, for about $191 after install and everything.

Thanks to everyone for contributing to the thread, and thanks again to Overseas Auto for helping me out with the info!

The OP wrecked his new, OE spec tires for a commuter class car, which in all likelihood to have high wear ratings.

Unlike you, not everyone on the road drives with F1 spec tires that crumble and grain after 100km.

Melodramatic much?

lol, have fun crashing.

Aaron's point has nothing to do with WEAR, it has to do with tread design. In the dry, they likely will work relatively similarly since the tread design plays a relatively minor role to how the car handles. However, the problem comes to play in any situation where you use the tread - specifically rain or snow. What happens is the tread design and depth is the primary contributor to how well your tire evacuates water - simply put, this is how well your tire "cuts' through puddles or water on the surface.

If you have two different designs with different capabilities of evacuating water, one side will effectively grip better, which will manifest itself as very weird steering on the highway, even to the point of a bad pull to the grippier side if the difference is great enough. Also, since your Soul doesnt have an LSD, you will only be able to accelerate to the capacity of the worst tire.

I think it's unlikely you are going to crash and die automatically because you are driving with two different tires but it really is not a great idea and for the difference in price between a cheaper tire and a Nexen (seriously?), it just seems like a poor idea. If you do decide to ignore our advice, make sure it goes on the back. Your best two tires should be on the front of your FWD.

Mark

Edit - typo

I did end up finding the same type of tire, so all is well.

I had the same sort of concerns about different potentials of the tires in terms of grip or lack thereof. Even though tread depth is about the same, the compounds and capabilities would indeed be different.

couldnt believe it, looked into it, sure enough, nexens are stock on that car!

some come with Hankooks oem... it's one or the other for the soul. Hankooks or nexens

hankook's, and kumho's i can believe, nexens, thats was a far stretch