This is where the rubber meets the road.

We are getting ready for a road trip soon.  Over the course of about two weeks we’ll put roughly 4000 kms on our 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe.  The vehicle was recently safety inspected and passed with flying colours.  Unfortunately, one of those colours was yellow.  Yep… the tires passed, but just barely. 

The dealer told us that the tires will soon need to be replaced.  They are right.  In fact, I was surprised that the tires didn’t fail.  The tread is getting very shallow.  So, now I want to replace the tires before my road trip.  It would suck to get this pseudo warning, ignore it, and then regret it.

I knew when I bought a vehicle with 18 inch rims that I might be in for a slightly more expensive tire when the time came to replace them.  I jumped on the Canadian Tire website to check out some prices.  They have this nice handy dandy questionnaire that helps narrow down your search.  Plug in your Year, Make, Model, Engine size, and Sub Model information and Voila! you know how much money they are going to screw you out of.

The cheapest tire they had for my vehicle was $210.  That’s each, my friends…. each.  The most expensive tire was $410.

Fourhundredandtendollarsandseventyfivecents each! 

Holy crap!  What are these tires made of?  The hooves of the Alpine Ibex culled from the 15,000 foot mark of the Swiss alps, ground and blended with extracted silk of the Golden Orb spider does increase the traction properties of the rubber used in these friggin’ tires…  It’s expensive, yes, but isn’t the safety of your family worth it?

Sigh.