Which tires...Grandma Edition

My M-I-L, Grammy, needs new tires on her 2013 Ford Escape SEL 235/50-18 The car currently has 36k miles (yeah she doesn't drive much) but the factory mounted Continentals are worn to the wear bars. Reviews are pretty bad on these 60k rated ContiContactPro tires.

I am leaning toward General RT43's (65k rating). Via tirebuyer.com I can get a set of 4, delivered and with tax for $561.56. Add about $80 to get them mounted and I am $641.56 out the door.

Does anyone have any tips, tricks or leads to a better deal?

Will I be happy with the RT43's?

Is there any recourse to a Continental Tire warranty claim considering these OEMs lasted only a little better than half of the tread rating?

Price is not the only consideration here. I'm happy to spend more to get better. Also, convenience is a deciding factor so I am not interested in driving 3 hours each way to the Tirerack warehouse to get a better price or similar.

We have run the RT43's on a few vehicles and found them to be perfectly passable normal-people tires. They're quiet, they're plenty good in the wet (both grip and hydroplaning resistance), they don't wear excessively fast, they will not kill you in winter any more than any other non-snow tire, etc.

I buy often from tire rack but for cheap DD tires like the Generals, if you don't need them TOMROROW, DiscountTireDirect usually has better prices with shipping included and at least a $30 rebate if you have their credit card.

I came here to recommend the RT43

The RT43 is a good tire, Grandma probably won't care but I recommend the H speed rated version whenever available.

One other tire that I have personal experience with that is available in that size that I'd recommend is the Firestone Firehawk AS.

I'll throw in my vote for the Firestone Destination LE2. Had a set installed on my wife's Acadia to replace the Goodyear Eagle RS-A that was OEM (and total crap, IMO), and couldn't have been happier with them. I'm confident that they would have lasted the entirety of the 60,000 treadwear warranty, if we hadn't traded the vehicle in.

I'll 4th the RT43. Best ordinary tire I've had on a car.

I have the RT43H. Perfect tire for the Fiesta. I can attest to the excellent wet traction.

I've been really pleased and surprised at the capability of T-speed rated RT43s on my wife's Hyundai Accent. I recommend them without reservation. Both dry and wet performance is quite good for what they are. If you do a bit of correlation between various tire rack tests, objectively they seem to be an good choice.