Car Parts Faqs

I got a nail in one of my car tires and I need to replace one tire. Do I need to get the same model?

I need to replace a tire on my car because it cannot be patched apparently (too close to the side wall). Tires were new in April so I do not want to buy four new ones. The tire that I buy as a replacement, is it okay to buy a similar tire as opposed to an exact match, because the tires that are on there were pretty expensive when I looked for them on the web and I would rather not spend in that range right now. If it is possible to just buy a similar tire, which specs would I definitely want to make sure were exactly the same and which ones would I have a little bit of leeway with? Thanks to anyone for their help!

Public Comments

1. It's a good idea. The tires work best if all are the same.
2. It is best to get the same brand, type and size, but if it is fixable just get it fixed, if it must be replaced with a new one I would get two new ones so they have the same wear on both sides.
3. You would want to replace it with the same tire. You don't want to mix/match brands of tires, even if they are the same size. You should have bought the road hazard coverage and you would be getting a replacement tire for free.
4. You can mix the brands but you generally want to keep all four tires of the same size. Meaning if you have a P205 70 R15 on three of your wheels, you'd want to get a replacement of that size for the tire you are replacing.
5. as long as they are the same size it doesn't matter. the tread on most car tires is pretty much the same anyway. when you look at the tire it will have a set of numbers like so: 265/75/R16 this number coincides with the tire width, height, and rim size...as long as you get a tire with the same numbers on it you will be fine.
6. You can have them install in inner tube, trick is finding the right size. If you don't want to go with the inner tube you'd probably want to get the same model tire, different type tread patterns on the same axle might affect the car's handling.
7. what matters is the SIZE of the tire----if you look VERY closely at the sidewall of your tires, you will see a number that might start with PR . If that number exactly matches the same number on a different tire (meaning the size, and width of tire are identical, then YES you can purchase a less expensive tire------it might say PR-78-14 which means it's a 14 INCH TIRE... you can't put different SIZES of tires on the same axle (two front tires have to be exact size matches, two BACK tires have to be exact size matches)....if you don't have exact matches on the front axle and the back axle, you risk screwing up the axle and causing SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE to your car and POSSIBLY to anyone riding IN the car....
8. it has to be the same size and speed rating if you have to go with a different tire and it would be best to keep it on the back so you wont have any alignment problems
9. Matching tire size, tread width is sufficient.
10. You can get a different tire but why. If you plan to replace it get the same tire. i would plug the tire myself. The kit at the autoparts store is less than 10 dollars. If it is just a punture it should be fine. legally shops wont do it for liability but the plugs work great and you don't have to take the tire off the wheel. Oh all the numbers on the tire should be the same but you can just get a cheaper brand.
11. If you bought them in april,did you get a warranty that you can fall back on at all? If not you should have matching tires but you can put another brand on if its the same size, but put the matching tires on the front of car, you want matching tires(treads) on the front so you don't have one tire working against the other causing stress on the front linkages and excessive wear on them and the best steering abilities.
12. you dont need to get the same model even though it would give you better traction but i had four different tires on my first car and it was fine