Michelin's worth the money?

I typically buy Falken tires and have always been happy with the performance and life of the tires.  My 2015 Caravan is in need of a set of tires and the Michelin Defender T&H looks to be the best rated tire in my size. They run about $45 more a tire but are an 80k mile tire vs the Falken being a 65k mile. In the Louisville, KY area so real snow is not to big a concern, but we do typically get some mild winter weather.  Thanks for the input.

Ive never wornout a set of Michelin tires. Ever.  Usually get 50k out of falkens, and had over 100k on the Michelin on my camry when i sold it.

Your mileage may vary. 

I have owned one set. They were not worth the extra money to me as all of them failed internally. 

I have Sumitomo tires on my work truck and Falkens on my XJ. I have been happy with both of them. 

My experience with Michelins is that they are worth it depending on the car I've never had one fail. 

With that said none of my cars are running in them at the moment. 

My camper van doesn't get enough to mileage to warrant the extra expense, I hit the 7 year mark before wearing out a set.

The Santa Fe is an around town car so again we don't put enough miles on it.

The Outback isn't due for tires for a while.

The Miata and Imprezza 2.5 RS are on Yokohamas. 

My wife likes the Michelin Defenders on her Nissan Rogue.

No hydro planing, even wear, low road noise, North Carolina doesn't get much snow but my wife goes to Maryland in the winter once or twice a year and hasn't had any problems in the snow.

She has put at least 60K miles on them and is still around 5/32" - 6/32" so she will still get a bit more use before their water and snow abilities suffer.

My Michelin Energy Saver A/S on my Cobalt gets great gas mileage (+2 mpg over the Goodyears it came with) and tend to last around 60k miles vs the Goodyears that needed to be replaced before 50k miles.

I have ran two sets and I wouldn't use them in a heavy snow setting but are good in water and light snow.

They do tend to get harder and start getting minor hairline cracks in the sidewall at around the 3 year mark. This means less dry traction but it does help MPGs. I usually get a new set every 3&1/2 or 4 years so it's not a big deal for me.

My answer is generally, no. However, the last set of tires I put on the Patriot were lightly used Michelins of some sort taken off a Mazda CX-something. One of the local salvage yards sells tires off their vehicles via a monthly sheet for a pretty good price. They have worn well, maintained traction and lasted longer than the Falken/Kumho/whatever they were that I replaced last time. 

So...would I pay the extra? Probably not. Would I seek out another lightly used set and pay the same as new price for a competitor? Yeah, probably.

In reply to bigbrainonbrad :

I got my first set on a GMC Envoy I bought new.  Here in winter land going to winter tires is normal after thanksgiving.  All seasons of any brand are a joke in our winters.  

When the Michelin’s were more than 1/2 worn out  my late wife called me in a blizzard afraid to drive.  I plowed through more than bumper deep snow to retrieve her up hill and down and those 1/2 worn out tires got through stuff I couldn’t believe any tire could.  

They were fantastic in rain and quiet.  Lasted until I got rid of the Envoy at 130,000 miles.  ( but worn past legal).  

I now use Michelin’s spring, Sumer and fall. And switch to Blizzacks  in the winter.  

Ive been a Michelin fan for a while. Im 100% positive i would have had a few wrecks if my LTX M/S’s hadnt been so freakin grippy. 

That said, my last 2 sets of tires purchased were kumho’s. Im sure the michelins are nicer, guaranteed, but at more that twice the cost, its just not happening anymore. 

So despite liking them, to me they were not worth the $. 

And ive had good luck so far with the Kumhos. 

That's all I'll buy, except for my lifted jeep. They ride quieter, hold the road better, and last much longer than a comparable street tire. 

My indy swears by them, and has been trying to get me on them for years. The cost has always seemed prohibitive, though. When I'm ready for a new set of 3-season tires maybe I'll get lucky and it will coincide with a Michelin rebate they seem to offer from time to time.

My dad has a set of the LTX or whatever they are on his 1st gen Tundra that I've been quite impressed with. The best non snow tires I've driven in the winter and plenty of tread left at roughly 40k.

I’ve always really liked the Michelin’s I’ve had. Here in the desert they usually crack and dry rot before they run out of tread. I don’t recommend them locally for that reason. 

I've never been disappointed with a set of Michelins.  I'm running Conti's on my DD, but I did spring for the extra to put them on the wife's car.  Make of that what you will.

I been buying Falken Sincera 250s.  They are 75k rated and inexpensive.  Try www.tirebuyer.com  

I run them on the trucks. They're worth it to me. Great life and I've never had a problem with them. On the cars I generally have very specific tasks I'm trying to accomplish so I either go all the way to a proper sticky tire (for way less than whatever hot flavor of PSS Michelin is selling) or something cheaper because I have proper sticky tires on another set of wheels. I've never driven the "mid range" Michelin car tires. 

Not every "premium" item is worth the extra coin. I think most aren't.  But Michelin tires on the right vehicle are gold. Worth every cent. Michelin LT's on light truck or large SUVs are absolutely excellent. None better to me. And i caved and put a set of Pilot MXM...4s on the Mazda 5. Car is transformed. MUCH more quiet. No loss of cornering. Much better tread life on a car that eats tires. Fuel economy may even be better. I swear that steering feel and centering is better with Michelins. Took a hot lap of Spring Mountain in an 18 Corvette ZR1 last month and yep the cup sports were glue.  

As noted, the LTX is the go-to for trucks. I was really happy to discover they were OE fit on my Dodge 2500 after I ran them on my Tundra. I've worn out a set - towing heavy loads all the time will do that - and happily ponied up for another four. Expensive tires cost less than a cheap accident.

My opinion about Michelins is that you have to actually use them enough to wear them out for them to be worth it. If you don't put on enough miles to burn through the tread in ~5 years and then they start having age-related problems that any other tire would have had anyway but you think it's a premature failure because it still has tread on it, they're probably not for you. I've seen tons and tons of Michelins that were probably unsafe to drive but still had a lot of tread left. Therefore, my opinion is that Michelins are wonderful for people who drive a LOT and probably not worth the additional cost for someone who won't put 20k+/yr on them. 

Once you get into very high performance tires it's a different argument, and if you're putting very high performance tires on your minivan.......  

Join the club 

In reply to Vigo :

We're in the 20k a year range, maybe a little more. The idea of putting a set of tires on and being done with it for 3 to 4 years and knowing that they will be competent in any situation we are likely to encounter is really what is swaying me towards the Michelin's.  Thanks for all the input.

The only Michelins I have ever bought were a set of defenders for my minivan. They were horrible in the rain but quiet and gripped fine in the dry. They hydroplaned a lot. a lot lot. They weren't aged out. but two years in I caught a screw in a rear one and while changing that tire on the side of the road I noticed both the front tires were down to the steel belts on the front. Ball joints both were out. 

So what actually probably happened was the ball joints went out just before or just after I put the Michelins on and they were riding on the inside edge for a lot of the time causing the wet issues. I do love the yokohamas I have on there now, with good ball joints but I have to give the michelins their due. Plus my daughter has the defenders on her corolla and loved them. So yeah, go for it. 

Personally, not a fan, cost not even considered.

I sold them for several years and on the very few times I felt there was a defect, they denied the claim, so I ended up eating the replacement in the name of customer service.

I had a set on my '05 Ram from the factory and always felt like i was driving on ice anytime there was any moisture on the roads.

They do last, and if you're in a dry area of the country, they're probably a good choice. I just personally don't care for them. As always, YMMV

I know from balancing several sets that they often don’t need any weight added once mounted. 

You can actually get them for a pretty decent price if you look. We put a set of LTX-whatevers on the Expedition for under $900 out the door at Costco, and those are 20s. It came with some Hankooks, and the difference between them and the Michelins was quite striking. I'm not particularly brand loyal when it comes to tires, but I must admit I'm impressed with these.

We had a set of Michelin Defenders in our Rav4 that wore evenly, but werr less impressive than the Cooper CS4s that preceded them.  I replaced those last year with the  LT Defenders, which I love.

I dunno anything about the Defenders, but I love the Pilot Super Sports on my Audi. :)