Why Are Tires So Hard To Replace For The Prime?

plug in had standard tyres you could buy anywhere.
toyota realized their mistake, and like the 12 volt battery, came up with oddball tyres. but even the dealers can't get them!

 

All 5th gens are in the same boat, with odd tire sizes. Too, tire diameter seems excessive for what was a relatively straightforward, fuel efficient vehicle.

 

I bought a spare for $172 free shipping from tirerack.com just for that reason.

 

it's not just plugins or even hybrids.

Lots of new cars use uncommon tire sizes, for a wide variety of reasons. Tire manufacturers don't exactly discourage this because it increases their chance of being an exclusive supplier for a given size, which translates to higher profits.

 

Not a problem for me. 225/55/17- FTW!

 

My Prime XSE has the Michelin Primacy All Season 195/50R19's. I just checked and they seem to be available, Tire Rack has them in stock and my Discount Tire store can get them in a couple of days. Pricey though, $254 each.

KH

 

I'd guess most cars with 'unique size' though are generally performance oriented cars, right? The weirdness here is our size is so 'odd', and therefore expensive, so if we end up spending 50-60 bucks more for our odd sized tires, that sort of negates the whole 'saving money on gas thing'. 150 bucks in gas or whatever is... well, a lot of gas

 

agreed. no problem getting oem's at a reasonable price for our '24 hycam

 

They do not. But the SE tires are also an odd size for now, though more available and cheaper than the XSE.

Tire Rack prices:

LE/SE (195/60-17)
Toyo Extensa - $142.50 - in stock - UTQG rating of 300 B A
Bridgestone Ecopia - $186.00 - in stock - UTQG rating of 600 A A
Michelin X-Ice Snow(winter tire) - $180.00 - in stock

XLE/LTD/XSE/XSE+ (195/50-19)
Toyo Extensa - $172.00 - currently out of stock - more arriving 8/15 - UTQG rating of 300 B B
Michelin Primacy - $255.50 - in stock - UTQG rating of 540 B A
Michelin X-Ice Snow(winter tire) - $227.65 - in stock

 

Maybe a chicken and the egg thing? For model year 2012, annual US sales of Prius were 236,655. For 2023: 35,816. Info from here:

Toyota Prius Family Sales Figures | GCBC

Too, Gen 3 and 4 had a common-as-dirt base tire (195/65R15). For 5th gen, Toyota's chosen rare-as-hen's-teeth sizes, and sales figures are barely 1/10th, of the hey day numbers.

 

Used to be true for high-performance vehicles. My point is that this is spreading into fairly ordinary cars now.

Our Prius c uses a size that was uncommon before the Prius came out, but is easy to get now. Our other car, a 2020 Mazda, uses a size that essentially didn't exist before 2019, and was only available from Falken when the car was new. Now there are 4 or 5 manufacturers who carry it- but Falken had an exclusive for the first year or two. Maybe that was worth it for them?

 

It's not just the extra cost for odd tire sizes.

• 19 inch wheels are susceptible to cracks & bends
• 19 inch tires are more susceptible to bubbles

Save money on gas but pay Toyota of North America extra money for wheel & tire parts.

 

Those are some interesting claims, but where is the science to back it up? Where is the science that says that a random unnamed wheel without specifications will be subject to cracks and bends? I've had 19 inch rims on tires for decades with nary a crack nor distortion (bend) in over 400,000 miles of driving.

The same question would apply to the "susceptible to bubbles" claim. What car in what climate was driven with what tires at what speed and what load in order to test it's longevity?

My car only has 7K miles on the tires, but they are holding up quite well, riding quieter and smoother than the smaller 15 inch rims of my previous Prius.

 

I won't argue the bubbles part, but like for like, smaller wheels/thicker sidewalls will ride better than a 'thinner'. 17" vs 19" on a Prius is pretty night and day, if you legit go from one car to another, back to back, and test.

Now, is that difference worth 1500$ or whatever in rims, and ~800 in tires? That's up for debate. But smaller=better, like for like, in terms of wheels and 'comfort'.

 

That Consumer Reports video had a test of exactly one pass through a very wide and shallow pothole with two similar tires but not necessarily the same brand tire. Neither tire suffered any damage of any kind. They did not see any damage to the rim either.

What they also skipped over was the impact of a larger diameter tire in instances where the tire does not have to bottom out on smaller depth potholes. That can result in less damage and a softer ride with better control too.

HOWEVER... they did see clear to mention that the larger tires often had a better appearance to bystanders.