This isn't the first time I've been in the last year of my lease and had the tires get to the point where they really needed to be replaced. If it were June, I could probably get away with driving on worn tread, but going into the heart of winter, and with three or more hockey road trips ahead of me before the end of my lease on May 1st, I kinda want to have decent tread on the tires.

So I get to spend over $800 to buy a set of new tires that I'll only get to use for a few months before returning the car at the end of the lease. I guess I had to do the same on the first A4, but never got to that point on the second because getting two flats meant having to replace all four tires early.

Somewhat surprisingly, Maguire, the local Audi dealer, has great Pirelli tires at a better price than I could get lesser tires at the Goodyear dealer. Probably even after the $40 Goodyear rebate offer that's running right now. Thus, I've made an appointment for Thursday morning to have the tires put on. I wanted to get that done before this Friday's trip up to Colgate for hockey; even when the weather's clear here, that trip often involves a little fresh or drifting snow. New tread helps.