Winter wheels & tyres vs all season?

[TeamG]

Good afternoon all. We’ve seen many variations of this thread, but seeing as autumn is progressing it’ll be relevant again soon.

I’ve personally always been a fan of separate summer and winter tyres, but probably because I originally come from Bavaria and in the past all-season tyres were a compromise. These days, all-season may well be genuinely all-season and unless you like a summer track-day or winter ski trip, possibly a good choice to make. But I do find them a little more expensive and I don’t tend to get the same life out of them in terms of wear. I also drive defensively and within the law, so don’t need the extremes of handling.

I currently have summer tyres on my original 18” alloys on the XC-60, two original Conti’s and two budgets that came with the car (the garage gave me the cash for two new Conti’s, but I decided to use the budgets for a couple of summers first so still have £375 in a tin for the next tyres). The original Conti’s are now showing very mild cracking around the text on the sidewalls and at 4.5 years old may last another summer before needing replacement. The budgets are fine on the front and I’ve had no issues with grip or ride.

I have winter Michelin Latitude Alpines on 17” original Volvo alloys, in really good condition but now down to around 4mm tread and getting on a bit in terms of age. Given my annual miles currently, these would see me through this winter at least. They’ll probably need changing due to age rather than wear. I really do like the more comfortable ride on the 17” wheels though.

So…. Do I see out another year on these, then change the winters next autumn at £120 per corner and the summers the spring after at £110 per corner? Or do I go for crossclimates in the autumn at £145 per corner and sell the 17” alloys?

I’ve noticed that used winters and alloys have plummeted on the second hand market. Only a few years ago, they were £450-600ish but now seem to go around £150-250ish. (People often ask more, but they don’t seem to sell.)