Pulls Left: Dealer Says Tire is to Blame; not an Alignment Problem

[a priori]

When I took my Prius in for its 10,000 mile service, I asked the dealer to check on alignment because I noticed a left drift during level driving. It wasn't a big issue, but I was uncomfortable with the idea that the car would move "uphill" by drifting up against the small curvature of the typical road surface.

The tech took the car for a drive after the oil change and tire rotation and reported no issue. I was upset with the way it was handled, but I didn't say anything more until today. The fact is, I didn't really notice the situation too much any more. This morning I took the car back to the same dealer for my 15,000 service. I explained that I had been upset by the way the tech dealt with me on the prior visit, advising the service tech my concern was that I had been ignored and my complaints dismissed (there were a couple of other, rather minor, issues as well).

When the service was completed, the tech came to give me a bit of a debrief. He said that on the road test after the oil change and tire rotation they noticed the left pull problem. Apparently, they shot the alignment and saw no problems, and they then assessed the tires and have said that the blame lies with either one or two tires. The explanation was that the problem was on a front tire or tires until the 10,000 mile rotation, then it was minimized by a transfer of the bad tire(s) to the rear. The problem now has resurfaced with the rotation of the same bad tire(s) to the front.

The service tech said he needs to wait until Monday to talk with the service manager and others. Then he will know whether this is something covered by the Toyota warranty or the Goodyear warranty.

Does this make sense to anyone out there? I would greatly appreciate some solid analysis of the issue. Lacking that, I'd be game for comments and guesses.

[Bill Merchant]

This is more from the comment and guess side. Tires, like any manufactured product, can occasionally be defective. Defective tires can cause the problem you noted. Since the tires were made by Goodyear and installed by Toyota and both sold to you as good, between them they should make sure your tires aren't defective. You did nothing to make the tires defective except drive, using some tread, but you reported the problem 5000 miles ago. I hope they give you one or more new tires.

[a priori]

Originally Posted by Bill Merchant

This is more from the comment and guess side. Tires, like any manufactured product, can occasionally be defective. Defective tires can cause the problem you noted. . .

Thank you, Bill. So at least I now know (believe?) that the dealer's explanation is plausible.

[JimboK]

I was in the retail tire business 25 years ago. I acknowledge a lot likely has changed in tire technology since then. Having said that, we would encounter from time to time a tire defect that we called (IIRC) a "radial pull." It was diagnosed by doing what your dealer did: verifying no alignment problem then rotating the tires and road testing.

So yes, the dealer's explanation is plausible. The replacement likely will be covered by the tire warranty. It's possible they may try to send you to a Goodyear dealer for replacement. That's OK (and might speed up the replacement process a bit) as long as you don't caught in the middle of the car dealer insisting it's the tire and the tire dealer saying it's the car. You might request that the car dealer contact the tire dealer to agree on the replacement first. If not that, at least have the car dealer document its diagnostic process and findings thoroughly, including the alignment settings.

[Seamus]

Yup, I owned a car that pulled consistently despite a good alignment. The problem was cured by new tires. Unfortunately, that all happened on my dime.

[a priori]

JimboK and Seamus:

Thank you for letting me know this is not one of those "out in right field" things. As I understand it from the tech, Toyota plans on working out the details for me. He said that he didn't know which warranty would cover it, but he wouldn't be surprised if Toyota made the arrangements for me to go directly to a Goodyear dealer for tire replacement.

If I go to Goodyear, my assumption is that they would have agreed there is one tire with a problem. My next assumption is that they would be willing to replace in pairs, as opposed to one tire or four tires. Is this a fair set of assumptions?

Next: Can anyone recommend a Goodyear replacement other than the Integrities? I think I may want to replace with TripleTreds. Of course, I could go outside Goodyear for Nokias or Michelin Hydroedges, but that really means all four tires on my nickel, doesn't it!

[galaxee]

they might try removing the tire and mounting the other way on the rim first to see if that fixes it. sometimes it does. otherwise, they will probably only replace the one tire if it's under warranty.

[dogfriend]

There is a TSB on this, which I found when researching alignment issues.

[Ct. Ken V]

Hi, dogfriend,

When trying to open your TSB attachment, I keep getting the message "flie not found". Can you provide a link instead?

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

[Godiva]

Originally Posted by Ct. Ken V

Hi, dogfriend,

When trying to open your TSB attachment, I keep getting the message "flie not found". Can you provide a link instead?

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

It's a pdf. You have to download it to your computer, then open it with Acrobat reader.