GY Assurance Fuel Max Fail

I realize there are countless tire threads already, and some concerning this specific tire. But I'm wondering about my experience.

I just traded in a 2008 Prius. Around 22k miles, I purchased GY Assurance Fuel Max tires at Discount Tire. I traded the Prius for a Gen III Prius Three yesterday and kept the rims (with the tires).

However, the tires are already bad. (I just wanted to keep my rims, but now I need new tires for the new car). They only have 25k miles on them, and the front tires sound like a truck. I just had one rear tire replaced because the belt was beginning to separate.

Ok, now for an admission ... I never rotated the tires. [Gulp]

I've had cars in the past where I didn't rotate the tires, and yet, the tires lasted much longer than 25k miles and did not sound like a truck. I chose not to rotate the tires this time because I find these tire shops (and dealers) scratch up my rims. I've even found ratchet marks on my other car's rims, so I know they are simply not careful with other people's property (along with the grease on the inside cloth).

So -- my question is -- are these tires really that bad, or was the 2008 Prius hard on tires, or can tires really go bad that quickly if you don't rotate them. (BTW -- I never rotated the original Integrities when I bought the new tires at 22K, and they weren't nearly in this bad of shape).

Should I switch to the Bridgestone Ecopia EP100s or Michelin Energy Savor (AS) [Expensive!] tires instead? The GY Assurance Fuel Max tires are rated pretty highly, and get good reviews. But I want as quiet a tire as possible with good handling, fuel efficiency, traction in all-weather, etc (I don't live in a deep-snow area).

Or -- is it just the fact that YMMV no matter what tire you buy depending on x number of factors?? Sure makes it hard to know what to get.

 

I've kept them around 45psi because they're rated max is 51. That was per posts I've read on Prius Chat to keep more air pressure in the tires for better fuel economy. I know that could wear the tires down a little more -- but that is their rating. Then again, maybe that just doesn't mesh with the Prius very well? Regardless, I'm still a bit frustrated that the front tires are so noisy. Maybe I just need to try a different tire.

One other question I left out in my OP -- is it possible that Discount Tire sells tires that have been sitting on the shelf for some time? I've had quite a few problems with tires there, and I almost wonder if they sell substandard tires or something, like a one-off irregular sale on clothes. But I hate to blame them if that's not really the case.

 

Are the Michelin Fuel Savers the same as the Michelin Energy Saver (AS)?

If so, I could also get those at Discount Tire -- but I just don't know if I trust their tires.

I also put a set of GY Assurance Fuel Max on my Nissan Altima, and they aren't very noisy at all (though I haven't had them on as long). But I bought those at Sears just to see if maybe DT was the problem (although it could have been the Prius). I seem to have had problems so many times at DT that I'm thinking it may be their tires, so I'm concerned about getting even the Michelin's there. I purchased a "free tire replacement" coupon for each tire at DT, and they only replaced one because the belt was separating. But they won't replace the ones that are just "noisy." And, well, if they think the car is the problem, I suppose I could see why. Maybe it was the Prius. I don't corner that hard, but I do a lot of highway driving for my commute. Maybe the extended highway miles puts wear on the tires?

I guess I could try one more time now that I have an entirely different car. I have one brand new tire, so I would only need to buy 3 more.

 

That's definitely an option. I've purchased tires at DT for several reasons. First, I have bought several rim/tire packages from them. Plus, they are local to both my home and my work -- very easily accessable, quick, etc.

Another question that I just thought of is -- I've heard some say that certain shops don't balance tires well. Could that also cause this problem? I would think with the machines it wouldn't require much skill.

 

Well, I'm glad to say that the new set of Fuel Max tires are quiet. I just had them put on today. I'm going to try having them rotated as recommended to see if that helps. These rims haven't been scratched like my other ones, fortunately -- maybe since these are aluminum vs the others were powder-coated. Not sure how much difference that makes. Or it could be because I didn't have them rotated before.

 

Ok, that was a long-winded reply, so I deleted it... Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

 

Well, it turns out that once I drove on the new tires for awhile, I began to notice at higher speeds that the driver's side front wheel seemed to make a low rumbling noise, like something wasn't right about it. I went back to Discount Tire today and had the DT manager drive the car -- and IF they rotated the front and back tires like they said they did, it made absolutely no difference. Which means -- my Prius might be at fault.

Before I take it in for service, is this unusual? Has anyone noticed that the left front wheel seems to make more noise than the others (like a low rumbling noise, esp at higher speeds: 45-70 and around curves)? I've ridden on the passenger side and that side as well as the rear of the car all sound smooth and quiet.

I drive the car very gently, by the way... I'm not rough with cars at all.

 

Ok -- I just paid a dealer to check my wheels with the brand new Fuel Max Tires. They heard the noise and said it was definitely a noisy tire. They drove the car, and even ran it again up on the lift. SOOO -- once again I purchased a new set of GY Assurance Fuel Max tires and one was noisy (perhaps defective, but you usually don't know until the belts begin to separate later on). This also proves that not all new tires are quiet -- I've had several of these now that were not.

As of now, I could not personally recommend purchasing these tires.

(BTW: It also shows that Discount Tire did not rotate them as claimed).

 

Not here, though. My car is garage-kept, and I park in a large, level parking lot at work. Plus, the tire w/the belt separation was a little noisy from the beginning (like the new one I have now). All I do is commute back and forth, 35 miles each way, on smooth highways at ~65-70mph. The one thing I did neglect was rotating the tires, however, for 24k miles. Still doesn't seem like enough to damage the tire to belt separation under normal circumstances.

On my first set of tires, one was so noisy I had it immediately replaced. So the one with the eventual belt separation (that wasn't nearly as bad at first) made 2 defective tires that I received from that one set. Now on my second set there is one.

That said, it seems to be hit-or-miss with many tires. I Googled the Fuel Max and some said it was smooth, quiet and long-lasting while others said it was very noisy and didn't last long. On top of that, I'm sure different factors weigh in: some tires are really better / worse than others, people have different sensitivies and driving habits, and tires ride / wear differently on different vehicles. But in my case, I am *sure* without a doubt that I've gotten 3 less-than-good Fuel Max tires straight off the shelf, so to speak. I guess that's why people say YMMV.

That said, one tire I saw on the Discount Tire website where everyone unanimously rated it 5 stars (and very quiet) was the Michelin Primacy MXM4. But it doesn't appear to be a low-rolling resistance tire, of course -- realizing LRR tires tend to be a little noisier.