Told I need new tires at 25K; Thinking Costco; Alignment First?

1. Costco in general is a good place to buy tires. BF Goodrich is not the first brand that I would pick, but that's just me.
2. You probably don't need a wheel alignment unless you note unusual tire wear.
3. The Goodyear original equipment tires do not have a mileage warranty. They only have a workmanship warranty.

 

It is pretty normal for Prius tires to wear more on the shoulders of the tire and less on the inside of the tread. One reason that many owners use tire inflation above the specified 35/33 psi is to encourage more even tire wear.

You can check your tires' tread depth to satisfy yourself whether the tires need replacing or not. Minimum legal depth is 2/32" or when you see horizontal bars appear across the tread. In rainy weather, I recommend 4/32" as the minimum safe depth while snowy weather requires 6/32" minimum tread.

If your tires' outside shoulders are wearing more than the inside shoulders, then you might need tire alignment. If you notice "feathering" on the tread, that would be another indicator that tire alignment is warranted.
Tire Wear

 

JoelMarcey, what's your tire pressure? IMO you should have an alignment done when buying tires. Make sure they use the flat weights. The clip-ons can scratch the wheels. I'd see the dealer for an alignment as I've read here they can do a better job than others (for some rason that escapes me at the moment).

 

I recommend looking at different tires. The ones you mentioned will likely wreck your fuel economy. Unless you live high in the foothills or the Taho area you really don't need more than a good summer tire.

I'd check out the Goodyear Fuel Max, Bridgestone Ecopia tires or Nokian i3 for use in typical CA weather.

Then I would strongly consider runing higher tire pressure to maintain near stock MPG and to reduce premature wear.

See my posts about higher pressure and tire wear.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...g/63223-20k-miles-nokian-i3-tires-50-psi.html

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...24-integritys-over-35k-miles-50-psi-pics.html

 

I odered mine from BadBoyTires.com because no one around here carries Nokians. Next time I may try the Ecopia or FuelMax tires. I had Les Schwab in Fairfield do my alignment. I usually just order my tires from TireRack or Discount Tire Direct.

 

Check these out, great tires. Good luck Hozz

Michelin - HydroEdge®

• P185/65R15 86T
• Item #: 745967
• Tire Type: All-Season
• Sidewall: Black Sidewall
• Limited 6 year manufacturer's warranty
• Limited 90,000 mile manufacturer's warranty
• Lasts Up To 33,000 Miles Longer Versus the Competition*
• The Most Fuel-Efficient Tire in the Category†
• Better Braking — Up To 14 Feet Shorter Than the Competition
• Click here for more details

 

New tires first.... purchase what ever tires you think are the best for your situation.

Then align.

I'd choose a major tire dealer to have all of the work accomplished at the same time.

You can't go wrong with Michelin...MXV4..Primacy....Harmony.

Cheers !!!

 

i have a set of michelin primacy mxv4s and at ~12k the tread depth is down to 7/32"
at least these are wearing evenly. (apparent underinflation wear on my old energy mxv4s at 42/40psi led to the stupid boys at colony tire failing to realize what kind of girl they were dealing with. g doesn't take kindly to being talked to like she is stupid.)
$#*^
at this rate we will probably be making a claim on the treadlife warranty (60k) in another 12k then. yay, less than half the marketed treadlife...

energy mxv4s ran out around 25k too, but they had no treadlife warranty.
went far too long on the oem tires- 28k, should have been replaced before 25k.
think we're just resigned to a car that eats tires at this point.

conclusion: get a tire with a long treadlife warranty. also find a LRR tire if you can.
re: alignment, it is ALWAYS a good idea to at least have your alignment checked right after you get a new set of tires.

 

Michelin x-radials were on sale at costco a few weeks ago ($70 rebate ended 6/10?). Supposed to be good tires that are only sold at costco.

 

just a quick commment:

yes its possible that 25,000 will be in line for new tires. road conditions play a huge part. on my SPM, it needs tires. now, i did an experiment which i wish i hadnt done. and stopped rotating tires. now i have front tires (that were on the back for 15,000 miles or 3 skipped rotations) that have decent tread and rears that need replacing.

so, if you have not been rotating tires every 5000 miles, your fronts probably need to be replaced. now i have 40,000 miles and to be honest with ya, the back are past the replacement point. but now that we have 2010, the SPM is pretty much only used as commuter car. in town, 35 mph top speed, 11 miles RT. so i am putting it off because i dont want to

1) replace good tires since the front can probably go another 5,000 miles easy

2) do two tires now and then do another two in 6 months... plus, i hate doing this kind of stuff in winter. want the good treads on there before rainy season

so will be getting new tires in Sept or so.

but i think with proper rotation, i should have gotten 40,000 miles without pushing the envelop. but that goes back to road conditions. i live in Olympia, the state capital and the difference in road quality here is noticeably better here than anywhere else in the state. so i think that is worth probably an extra 5,000 miles minimum

 

If you only have 25k , don't take the dealers line that they don't warrent tires, there a few on Priuschat, including me who argued with the dealer and they replaced the tires and aligned free of charge. Toyota had or still has a problem that they don't acknowledge unless you push them real hard. I took printouts from Priuschat about others that dealers gave them new tires because of this. They still did not admit a problem, BUT they changed them "as A courtesy" to a good customer. Months later, I ran into the service manager at my barber shop........ we talked a while and he admitted that Prius's DO eat tires. Mine had 30k when they changed mine, so DO NOT HESITATE to call them on this issue!

 

I did a bunch of homework at the tire rating sites (Consumer Reports, TireRack etc) before I bought tires appropriate for my location. New at the time were highly rated General Altimax. They accept high pressure, long life rated, great traction, good in snow and rain, very quiet, and not too expensive. Unless you've had one recently, I think it's also essential that you get a new computer alignment with before and after printouts, per PriusChat's exacting specifications.

25,000 miles is far too short a life for tires rated at 40,000. Toyota and Goodyear really do need to come clean on this.