I think it matters. The Uniroyal Tiger Paw Winter 3 is a sub-par, Chinese tire. It's fine if somebody wants to buy cheap tires for a cheap car, but if you're spending premium prices on a winter tire package for a nice vehicle you'd better get a premium tire.
Anyway, I sent her some reviews and comparos showing the Uniroyal tire at the bottom of the lists. I guess that spooked her into calling me after work, and we had a conversation.
Among other things the VW dealership told her, was that she HAD to use alloys on her Atlas, because steel wheels aren't strong enough. I told her that's a load of crap. If she wants to use steel wheels, that's up to her, but Alloys have the advantage of looking good. She'll go with alloys for that reason, and it's crappy that the dealer tried upselling her with a lie rather than let her choose.
Another piece of information they omitted was when she asked about TPMS sensors. She asked if she would need TPMS sensors, and the dealership told her the price of the sensors was included into their price. They're not actually wrong, but technically, the Atlas doesn't use TPMS modules in the tires. It uses the wheel speed sensors to determine if a tire is low on air. She wouldn't need to pay extra for sensors regardless of where she buys tires from.
Anyway, She mentioned she was also shopping OK Tire, and that they were around $1700 for a Blizzak DM-V2 tire package with alloy winter wheels. Somehow she let the dealership convince her to place an order with them. She's going to call the dealership tomorrow and cancel the order with them (she didn't put money down or anything), and she'll get a firm quote from OK tire. I told her that she can get a similar package from Costco for $1700 installed (she has no interest in going to Costco for some reason), and to use that as a reference to gauge if the price from OK tire is fair.
This is why dealerships suck. They take advantage of people who don't necessarily know any better.
