Sadly thats exactly were I am driving. I picked up a S60 so the low ground clearance has me worried that I could cause some damage. Thanks for your input!
Honestly, I’m nearly 9 months in with an S60 with 19" wheels, and I’ve hit some really awful holes, and no damage yet (knock on wood). I did hit a bad one in my 2017 S60, so I paid for it separately this time, knowing the road by work have deteriorated.
Lo and behold, 4 days after I answered this, a new, massive pothole appeared on my route. It’s a one-lane road with nowhere to veer. It was somewhere around this point of the road to give you an idea:
My car started to shimmy badly, and I could fee the vibration in my seat and steering wheel. I managed to not damage the tire but after I brought my car to the dealership this morning, it was discovered that I badly bent my rim.
My wheel is $700. My tire is $300. My insurance through Volvo (premium - also covers cosmetic damage) was $699.
Those who debate buying it can do the math. If you’re in the general NYC area, I’d say it’s worth it, because the roads here are getting worse and worse by the day. You should see what I have to navigate through to and from work. If it was legal/safe to take pictures, I would. There are massive holes in the road over and over and there’s a gully running up one side of the road.
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I just cracked a wheel on a 2018 XC90. Dealer wanted $950 for the r20 wheel; $265 for the tire. Fun times!
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The set of 4 rims and tires is only an $800 upgrade when purchasing.
When I am about to lease, I always price 1 new rim and tire (3rd party / never dealer) and that’s the number I take into the box when they offer wheel & tire. 2 rims and 10 tires in 3 years on my WRX taught me well.
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I think it is worth it if you can negotiate down the price. I got the Deluxe coverage on a XC90 for $588.
Deluxe doesn’t cover cosmetic damage. In the NYC area, a pothole can chip the side of the wheel but not affect the function, and deluxe doesn’t cover it.
There’s also a lot of parallel parking and parking attendants in garages that can do a doozy on your wheels (hmm, wonder how I know that one!). The extra $100 for premium is worth it.
That doesn’t mean they’re only $800 for a set. Just $800 more than the stock wheels.
You can shop this around like anything else. Any dealer nation wide can usually sell these types of manufacturer addons.
Of course. My point being they aren’t $1000 more each or it would be loaded into the price.
New/retail/quantity of 1 I’m seeing 18” rims at $405, 19” at $380 (yes $25 cheaper), and 20” at $639 each. If you buy them from a Volvo dealer, Customer Care will send a rebate form.
Stock 18s are $202, 19s are $283 and stock 20s are $271 (shopping same source obvi can vary)
18 → 19 :: (-100)+(324) = $224 more cost in rims and tires at retail
18 → 20 :: (936)+(276) = $1212 more cost in tires and rims at retail
Assume whatever rims tires you get need tpms sensors, mount/balance. Only difference is parts cost.
While I’ve got my calculator out: if one of rims and tires costs $910, and I was hypothetically offered tire and wheel in the box for $500, I’d take it. If T&W was $1500 I’d roll the dice.
I’m actually really surprised they’re that cheap from the factory.
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I bought the equivalent of ‘premium’ for my Infiniti Q50S redsport which was like $1,500 for a 3 year lease.
I was really hesitant, but in the end (Live in NJ) I’ve gone through at least 4 tires, 1 rim replacement, and multiple rim repairs. (Thank god for run flats)
In terms of ‘cosmetic’, a ton of this has to do with if you are getting low profile tires or not:
I learned the following:
- Low profile will go flat way faster than regular due to a lack of shock absorption
- Low profile puts your rims much close to the curb than regular tires. In my sports sedan, the rim was actually out further than the tire, so the slightest touch against a curb, and you got massive rim damange.
So look at the specific wheel and tire setup you are buying. The thinner the tire and the closer the rim is to the edge of the tire (horizontally), the more likely you are going to see some serious repair costs.
And now it’s time for rim #2 to be replaced! I don’t know if this was damaged initially and missed, but I have brought the car in a few times now - not my regular dealership - and I had the rotors replaced, wheels balanced, etc., and now I need another wheel. Note that I haven’t hit a pothole or anything since the one in February. At this point, I’m up nearly $900 vs. the cost of the plan.
I’ve never needed to replace a wheel before this car, so this was a wise decision!
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You know who never posts in a thread like this? All the people who go through their entire lease without needing a wheel replacement
To be fair, I have never needed a wheel replaced before this car. I have also never had 19" wheels (last S60 had 18" wheels). But, in my defense, the roads in NY and NJ have never been worse either. The last pothole was completely unavoidable without getting killed, so not much I could do. I could have damaged the second wheel when I hit that one and it only was noticed once the vibrations got bad because it was only slight damage at first.
Just leased an XC90 2021 Inscription after coming out of 2018 lease. I live in LI, NY, “only” did 16k miles and this is what I observed:
- Had the tire and rim insurance (at that time it was $650). Had one 21” tire with a bump that needed to be replaced at around $430 so I feel okay about it.
- For some reasons my car always get scratched. Blame it on LIers or my kids, but I am concerned about my lease return fee.
Volvo offered me a $40/mo insurance (or $1,200 upfront) covering:
- Tire/rim
- keyfob replacement
- windshield (my insurance covers that also)
- small (4” or less) scratch touchups
- $1,500 end of lease damage waiver
In my opinion that’s totally worth it but it depends where you live.
Is $430 what the dealer charged? What’s Tirerack’s price for the tire?
I think I added the same
Protection on my 2018 xc90 lease back in May 2018. It’s from fortegra, or something like that. Got it from Volvo of glen cove, and at the time it was $895 spread over my 36 month lease. I liked the lease damage waiver and the lost key replacement. Had problems w those two things on prior cars.
Pirelli Scorpion 21” go for around $350 online at tirerack, etc. Add $80 for installation and dealer markup: not too bad. Those Pirelli’s are expensive.
i hope you sold your 18 to carvana or vroom.