Need to replace tires at only 17,000 miles !!!! HELP!

Hey all.

I just found out today that my 2002 needs four new tires and I only have 17000 miles on it. Am i crazy or does this seem nuts? I know these tires don't last as long as normal tires, but 17000? I've checked the archives and found some info but no one else with specifically this low mileage (I also have a new baby so I apologize if I missed a few). Anyway, has anyone had any success with Toyota on these matters? And what should I replace the tires with? I'm sort of reluctant to shell out $400 to Toyota for what I consider to be substandard tires. Help.

dave

You have just found the Classic Prius tire "problem" go to John's site and look for Classic tire recommendations.
http:john1701a.com

hmmm dont we have some people here closing in on that mileage? if anyone sees this with say 15,000 miles, how are your tires looking? that is if you still have the stock tires on the car.

It's on a 2002 Dave. I've read that those tires started shredding around 15-20k miles. Shouldn't be any issues with the 04 tires though.

Wouldn't have thought anyone with a 2 year old car would have under 20k...
Wow...

ya i know... at the rate im going, i ll have 17,000 miles in one year.

I hear ya - 15k in 7 months time for me, so I'm probably looking to be closer to 20k when my one year anniv rolls around.

-m.

My current car has 23k on it. Its a tad over 3yrs old but when I get my prius I plan on driving the wheels off of it

With my commute I'll probably be hitting 25K miles per year. With the "newness" of the prius, I eventually talked myself into buying the 7 year, 100K platinum warrantee. It's a shame that at this rate it will only last me 4 years!!

Thanks for all the good words folks. I'm going to go take it up with the dealership today. I'll let you know if anyhting comes of it. As for the 17,000 miles, it is a bit low, but that's only because my bike and my feet get better MPG than my Prius does.

Cheers

Dave

Unless the tires are specifically warranted for more than 17K, I wouldn't bother going to the dealer. Tires are wear items and they aren't going to give you anything. Take Frank's advice and go to John's website and read up on tire options.

those tires almost seem to be a contradiction.

they are supposed to be low rolling resistance tires to increase mpgs but they wear out at a much faster pace suggesting higher than normal wear or heat generated causing the rapid wear.

or is it just real cheap rubber?

That rubber on the OEM tires for the Classic Prius was awful. With a treadwear rating of only 160, that so dang soft that you could leave marks on the road simply by making a sharp turn at a slow speed (like when parking).

http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-album22.htm ...shows photos of those tires after 20,000 miles of use.

http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-album50.htm ...shows photos of the alternate tires I selected after 20,000 miles of use. Clearly, the 560 treadwear rating on those proved much better of a choice than the OEM tires. When I traded the 2001 for the 2004, the alternates still looked great with 30,000 miles on them. And MPG didn't even take a hit (for me) either.

The 2004 is a totally different situation. Those tires have a treadwear rating of 460. So they will obviously last longer. However, we do have some recommendations for better ones already. I ran over a tool and punched an unrepairable hole through one. So I am already 4,200 miles into reaching high-traction tires with a treadwear rating of 760.

http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-album79.htm ...shows photos of those alternate tires I selected for my 2004 Prius.

great info john and some nic pics too!

have you gathered enough data to make a mileage comparison with the Michilins?

The MPG hit with those high-traction tires is interesting. At first it is nasty, but then after about 1,500 miles it settles down to about 1.5 MPG lower than with the OEM tires (for me anyway).

And then when you rotate the tires, you take another minor MPG hit again. Just yesterday I did that. And having the 4,100 mile tires moved from the back to the front clearly introduced a drag that my +80,000 miles of Prius driving experience could detect. My hypothesis after 100 miles of observation is that will cause about 1 MPG loss for about 500 miles.

hmmm, that is interesting that you get an mpg hit just by rotating your tires. i noticed you did get the 4 wheel alignment done, but i wonder if your alignment is still good?

didnt you say you hit an animal that caused minor damage to your car or was that someone else?

if your car isnt properly aligned, then wear patterns will be more pronounced in the tire. the mileage hit may happen until the wear pattern can be re-established. i know in a regular car, this is not a factor (actually maybe it is, but there is no accurate method of tracking it like in a Prius)

my brother was the manager at a major tire store in the Pac Northwest and he says that alignments every 6 months are recommended in severe circumstances when poor road conditions exist. you say that you have lots of pot holes? maybe you should be having the alignment checked more often?

either way, a >3% mileage hit is more than acceptable for peace of mind and a nearly 400% increase in tire life.

Sorry, but you've got events mixed up. No, I didn't have an accident. No, I didn't have an alignment during the rotation. No, I don't have major potholes to deal with (compared to many places, just the seasonal kind here). Yes, I have already documented the fact with other tires on my other Prius that the very first time you rotate new tires you'll take another MPG hit.

Just looking at any tires at their first-time rotation, it's pretty obvious that the ones that started on back are still nearly new. The ones started on front are broken-in more, since the act of turning them accelerates wear.

No matter. The return of higher MPG afterward pretty much paints the picture all by itself and you'd be able to confirm even wear across the width of the tire.

John, that link on your web page says the Michelins have a max rating of 44 psi. So do you still run them at 42/40, or is that getting a bit too close to the max rating for comfort, in case a sudden temperature change causes the pressure to rise?

I don't put a lot of miles on. I was at 4,100 miles at my 6-month oil change, and that included two road trips of around 1200 and 600 miles respectively. Now my dilemma is, do I trade in nearly-new tires this fall for better winter handling, or stick with the OEMs until they actually wear down.

Do the Michelins solve the crosswind problem? I think I'd switch if they do. I don't like the feel of the car in strong crosswind.

Rick, the reason to do a 4 wheel is to make sure that all the suspension components are ok and to make sure that car is "square". In the old days you could get the best alignment and still have the car "dog track" which takes extra horse power to move it down the road. When they put the guages on your car they are making sure that you haven't pounded one corner back by nursing the car hard into a curb or a bad pot hole. The alignment tech doesn't know anything about your car and is only making sure that some thing less than obvious has not caused a the car to go out of square. There are still a lot of shops that don't put the quages on all 4. The rears are less likely to get knocked out of alignment for sure and a lot of tech's will still bend a trailing beam if it needs to be brougt into spec.