Tire recommendation for 2007 Toyota Prius

It seems like every time I buy a Prius with the Sumitomo LS T's they are scalloped and and extremely noisy. If you wan't a budget tire, I like the Kumho KR21 (85K warranty and 680 treadwear rating). If you can afford a little more and plan on keeping the car for the next 50k go for the Bridgestone Ecopias.

 

Make sure you look into the Michelin Energy Saver A/S for your Gen II.

I just sold a 2009 Gen II that was running those tires. Very good LRR tire. Slightly better than the Ecopia as far as life expectancy is concerned. Excellent ride, very quiet, good traction, and a definite improvement in MPG. I actually saw a 5 MPG difference as per my fuelly records. I ran them at 42F, 40R for best MPG but even at factory settings they still delivered great MPG. If you ran the 35F 33R that Toyota specifies, the Prius rides like a dream. Ours had 79K on the clock when we sold it. Tires had about 15K on them and still rode like a new car, and that was with all the original struts and shocks.

The only folks who won't like these are those who live where the snow flies or those who have the touring model. Hard to find one to fit the touring. For your car and your location, these will be great tires! And NO, I don't work for Michelin.

P185/65R15 I was running the 88H Series. They come in two different speed and weight rating for the Prius.

Pictured below is the actual tires mounted on our old Prius. Plus the prices from Tirerack last May in 2013 when they were purchased. Your price may vary. Last pic is one of the best tanks with the new tires last summer. They are expensive, but well worth the extra money in my opinion.




Hope this helps you in your quest for the tires. Best of luck to you!

Ron (dorunron)

 

I don't have any experience with tire warranties. They only apply to the original owner with proof of purchase. I am just reporting what I have found. I have tried to read through tire warranties occasionally and they look like a convention of lawyers put them together. I would buy based on reviews and hope you don't need to use the warranty. If you search this forum there are numerous threads on tires. There are no shortages of opinions.

 

Old and dated material here, but very good source of info on tires for the Prius!

Low Rolling Resistance replacement tires: Current List | PriusChat

 

1. If the TPMS light was on BEFORE you had any work done I would say that either the tires were low on air and or the sensors were broken. Yes, they have batteries inside that I don't think can be replaced or recharged. My understanding is you have to replace the sensor when the battery dies. Now, lets look at a little different scenario. If the TPMS light was OFF BEFORE you had any work done and the mechanic shows you two sensors that are broken after the work is done, in my opinion the mechanic broke them and should be responsible for the replacement of them including parts and labor.

Also note that if you run standard stems the TPMS light will be ON until you install new sensors and reprogram the Prius with the sensor codes.

2. Prices vary on these things. Check online, Toyota, Ebay, Amazon, ETC. I would go to your local Toyota Parts Department, give them the info on your car and ask how much they are and at the same time GET THE PART #.

3. Well, that's a loaded question. Things like that happen from time to time. Yes, it would be nice if you had dates like 0314 or 0114, but life is not always a bed of roses. As long as those tires will stored properly I would think one year would be okay. Much more than that is where red flags MIGHT be raised. Remember I said this is a loaded question and I have no doubt you will get plenty of different opinions on this one.

FWIW, I think you made a good choice on the brand of tires you got. Don't forget to have them use "stick on weights". The weights you hammer on will corrode the alloy wheels over time.

Let us know what you finally do concerning the TPMS situation. You will get tired of seeing the light after a while.

Best of luck to you,
Ron (dorunron)

 

Unless you see physical damage on the old TPMS sensors it would be hard to claim the repair shop caused the problem. The sensors are 7 years old, after all. If the tire shop is willing to install the new sensors at no additional charge, that seems like a reasonable outcome.

The fact that the tires are one year old is a bit more irritating IMO but I guess they could tell you that is why the tires were on sale.

 

I would focus on what Patrick Wong referred to as far as physical damage to the sensors themselves. Even then, trying to prove your case in court might be difficult.

I would further "consider" taking the vendor up on the "free replacement" if you bring the part in IF they are capable of doing it correctly AND properly record the codes for each sensor in the Prius. The recording involves using a tool that interfaces with the OBD port and connects to the appropriate ECU on the car. The Prius allows for four codes to be registered in the proper place. This can be done with Techstream (Used by Toyota) along with other various hardware programmed to do this sort of work.



If you don't feel comfortable with "free replacement" at this time and have a good trustworthy mechanic I would consult him/her. Otherwise a trip to your local Toyota dealer should resolve the issue once and for all.

Best of luck to you,
Ron (dorunron)