Any experience with Cooper / El Dorado Tires? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 05-10-2002, 11:28 PM

Ok, here's the drill: I find a guy selling 4 new 195/70/14 tires on ebay starting at 100.00. I call him to find if they are speed-rated.
They are El Dorado Legend touring tires. He tells me that they are 80k tires, M+S rated and are extremely quiet. They are S rated. These are new, not irregulars or blems, and are not closeouts. Fully guaranteed. I ask him how much for 4 shipped to me in Wild-sconsin. He says $51.00. Per tire? NO- THE SET OF FOUR!

I'm tempted to order just for the heck of it.
He says this is a family business, "good guys tires" and they've been around for 30 years but are new to on-line business and ebay. I asked him for a business reference and he did not hesitate to give me a name and telephone #.
SO...anybody have experience with these tires? He swears they are the best touring tire he's ever sold.

Ken300D · #2 05-11-2002, 12:46 AM

Can't vouch for this particular seller, but you can do some research on the tire and brand at:

http://www.coopertire.com/tire/

I have used Cooper Cobra G/T and Cooper Classic II with good results.

Can't find the specific tire you are talking about under any of the Cooper brand names, however, they make tires for other people. For example, some of the Sears Guardsman tires are made by Cooper.

I found a reference to your tire on the USA DOT Web site:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/UTQG/table_4.htm#Brand:%20EL%20DORADO

Then I found this web site for the brand of ElDorado tires:
http://www.eldoradotire.com/

If you click on the "Company Profile" link, they discuss who supplies their tires now - Cooper Tire.

The Eldorado Legend specs are at:
http://www.eldoradotire.com/prodinf.asp?name=legend

Personally, I would be a little nervous putting these on the big body W126 Mercedes cars like the 300SD. But I would put the tire on my lighter 300D car. Most tire shops would not put this tire on any Mercedes - they always want to sell you a higher-rated tire. Usually they want to sell an H-rated tire with a higher load rating - stiffer sidewalls.

I assume he is selling you four tires, shipped, for $151? Sears routinely sells their cheapest tires for $100 for a set of four.

Ken300D

#3 05-11-2002, 01:19 AM

No, he's literally quoting me Fifty-One dollars, shipped to me...that's what makes it so incredible!

Ken300D · #4 05-11-2002, 01:37 AM

I'd be worried that he's clearing old stock that's on its way to being dry cracked or something.

Shipping four tires has got to run at least $25. Nobody can sell new tires for $5-$6 each. He can't be doing that as a routine matter of business.

I can understand lowballing the price just to get started on EBay and get some free advertising, but your deal seems to be entirely offline - except for posting here of course which I guess you haven't mentioned to him.

If you decide to go through with the deal, first tell him you're a member of ShopForum that has over 5,000 online members, and that you are posting the details of the transaction. If he gets a little squirrelly, then you have your answer.

I recently got a positive resolution of a small overcharge situation from Performance Products by complaining and sending a link to the thread here detailing my complaint. One person's complaint x 5,000 potential viewers gets their attention rather quickly.

Ken300D

unkl300d · #5 05-14-2002, 11:16 PM

Indeed, the w123 is spec'ed for HR rated tires.

Well, for $51 you can always sell them for that much at a garage sale in the event you are not satisfied.

#6 05-15-2002, 08:32 AM

Well you didn't ask for it, but then again, you sort of did, so here's my tire lecture. Ready?

Most tires are made with clamshell molds. If you look at most new tires, before they have been driven on, you will see the mold marks around the center of the tread all the way around the tire. This is a clamshell mold. If you look at any Michelin tire you will see the mold marks radially like pieces of pie.

The "pieces of pie" molding brings the mold section in from the outside which allows for much more consistent belt placement. A tire made with this construction method is naturally much more consistently balanced and more importantly has more consistent road force. Tires made in a clamshell mold will have more road force variation (stiff spots.)

The long and short of this is that a tire made in a "pieces of pie" mold takes less lead weight when balancing, and again, more importantly does not have those stiff spots like the clamshell molded tires.

What this does for the "pieces of pie" molded tire is provide a tire that can be balanced properly and does not have stiff spots when rolling down the road.

Every Michelin tire I've ever seen has these radial, "pieces of pie," mold marks. Every Continental I've seen in the last number of years has radial mold marks. The other two brands that I've seen with radial mold marks are Pirelli and Yokohama, but I don't know if all Pirellis and Yokohamas are made this way, only a few that I've seen.

Yes, you can find cheap tires. You can also find expensive tires that are clamshell molded. Regardless of what you pay for a clamshell molded tire, you will not have a well balanced, round, smooth running tire like you would have if you were to buy a pieces of pie molded tire instead.

A round, smooth, well balanced tire will last much longer and provide more pleasant driving in the process. Additionally due to the fact that few tire stores balance your tires with any care at all, with clamshell tires you are less likely to get a properly balanced tire on your car. Imbalanced tires cost you even more in the form of worn out suspension components, and maybe even cupping of the tires which, of course, will lead to early replacement.

End of lecture. Summary: spend the money for "pieces of pie" molded tires. The best bet for longevity are Michelins or Continentals.

Best of luck,

unkl300d · #7 05-16-2002, 01:02 AM

Larry, poetry in motion!

Take home message: Don't mess with Mom's Apple Pie.

That's why our country is so pleasant!

Thanks for the lecture.:p