Audi care covered 2013 and winter tire question?
 

About to take delivery on my cuvee silver 2013 3.0T with the s-line package, which also has the upgraded 20" 5 arm star design rims. I also opted for audi care , which gives me up to 2 claims for rim repair during the 3 year lease program.

Ive never gone for the care package and now has me thinking of just buying the 20" winter tires, and maintaing the OEM look, year round, since i dont care about rim damage. It will save a few bucks for tires only, but not much over a 18" rim and tire package.

My question to you guys , is a 20" winter tire going to float too much on snow? Second, play devils advocate with me, what am i not considering here in doing a full rim and tire package?

Thanks ahead of time!

Audi Care include regularly scheduled maintenance. It does not include rim repair

Sorry, you are correct, i have the audi care and the audi after care 'wear and protection package' as well.

I can't comment on the 20s in the snow. I've done it with 19" rims and it worked great. However I was at the dealership and the service manager said that it's not a good idea to pull and install tires on a rim multiple times - it can damage the tires. Plus it's less expensive to swap rims and tires than just tires. This year I bought a set of used winter tires and rims.

I think he's selling you a hill of beans :-)

We'll replace motorcycle tires multiple times a race weekend without issue. Sometimes a rim might get nicked if the installer isn't concentrating, but overall, no one has 'damaged' a tire from installation.

And we put a wee bit more stress on tires than 4 wheel passenger cars.


But speaking form someone who has swapped out winter tires on my SUV: he's right that the installation costs can equal a set of tires over a few years. It does add up.


Unless someone at the service desk shows you a document from Audi, I would always double check their advice. Remember, the service desk IS the profit center of a dealership. Tires and rims are by far the most profitable item they sell.

I don't think he meant damaged in the sense of nic or tears - more that pulling and installing them multiple times over time degrades the sidewalls. Yeah - you have to consider the source and tires and rims are a very expensive option from the dealer.