Winter tire purchase in Toronto

[berj]

I know there have been various winter tire threads but I've got something more specific.

My dealer quoted me ~$3000.00 (!) for winter tires and rims. This seems a bit.. excessive to me. Does anyone have any advice for where in, or around downtown Toronto I can make a purchase that isn't quite so steep?

The dealer was selling alloy rims and I, personally, don't think this is necessary. What are my options here? I can't imagine >$700/wheel is the best I can do.

I'm not planning on driving the car every day in the winter but I want to be able to start it up and take it out every couple of weeks.

Thanks,
Berj

berj, if you are only going to drive your car a few times per month, why do you need snow tires?

Is your Boxster equiped with PSM?

Don't drive on the bad days, and put the $3K in the bank and take the fixed interest or put it in the stock market or other better investments.

[limoncello]

Check Tireracks winter wheel/tire packages, they're MUCH less than what your dealer is quoting. For more savings, given the light use, you can drop a wheel size or so - just remember to check the tire diameters in the "spec" listings and stay somewhere close to your present diameters.

[berj]

Originally Posted by bmussatti

berj, if you are only going to drive your car a few times per month, why do you need snow tires?

Is your Boxster equiped with PSM?

Don't drive on the bad days, and put the $3K in the bank and take the fixed interest or put it in the stock market or other better investments.

Heh.. true.

And yes, I've got PSM but I figure it's better to be safe than sorry. Also, I recently had a short experience dealing with my car in muddy ground and getting the car moving was quite an exercise (without spinning the wheels). I would imagine snow/ice would be worse.

Nevermind the possibility that I've taken the car somewhere when it's nice only to find that it's snowed heavily before I head home.

[berj]

Originally Posted by limoncello

Check Tireracks winter wheel/tire packages, they're MUCH less than what your dealer is quoting. For more savings, given the light use, you can drop a wheel size or so - just remember to check the tire diameters in the "spec" listings and stay somewhere close to your present diameters.

Cool, thanks for the info. I checked their site and they have only one package for my car (2005 987) but it's about 2/3 the price my dealer is quoting ($2000 Canadian).

Not bad. I've still gotta see what UPS will charge for bonding/brokerage and duties..

BTW. Where in the tire model number is the diameter listed?

[PA986S]

I went with a set of Dunlop Winter Sport M3's for my 01 986s. If you have summer tires on your car you do NOT want to use them in the winter...they are useless when the temp drops below 40F.
I kept the 205/50's in the front but went with 255/45 in the rear as opposed to 255/40 since you get better traction in the snow with a narrow tire.
As far as rim size goes it is the last number (usually after the R) ie 225/45/VR17 would be for 17 inch rims.
I put my snow tires on my stock 17's and will probably upgrade to 18's with some new wheels for summer.