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Are Bridgestone Ecopia's total crap, or what?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by jefe, Mar 3, 2014.

  1. jefe

    jefe Member

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    After reading many reviews and advice here, I purchased a set of Bridgestone Ecopias in Oct. '12.
    I went in for my second tire rotation a few days ago and the guy at Discount Tire was measuring tread depth and said "Oh looks like you are due for a new set of tires." WHAT?!?! He showed me his gauge and it was even all the way around, and all were between the yellow and red line on his meter!! Less than 15K miles on these!

    Either:
    A) These were defective tires (all 4??)
    B) These tires are way too soft
    C) I drive like a banshee (c'mon it's a Prius, I'm not burning any rubber off any lines)
    D) Discount Tire's meter is full of it and I got swindled

    So what's the deal? Other Ecopia owners have better experience? The tire is rated for 65K miles.
     
  2. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Sounds like a little fast wear...maybe you have a mechanical issue at this age of the car. I suggest go to TireRack.com and pull up this tire and you can sort out Prius owners and see what they say. The Continental ProContact eco-plus is also one with some reputation of quick wear....I have those up front. I was going to consider Ecopia but now I may go back to GY Comfortred which is a long life tire and better grip ratings than the super LRR tires.
     
  3. RobertK

    RobertK Member

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    I've got about 15K on a set of Ecopias on my Prius and they still look like they're brand new. I bought them over a set of Michelins because of a $200 price difference on the set. Did Discount Tire tell you what the actual tread depth is? Can you see any tread wear indicators?

    While anything is possible, I don't think that a mechanical problem would result in even wear on all four tires. Running the Toyota recommended air pressure on the original Goodyear tires resulted in wear that is associated with underinflated tires. I now keep my tires at 42/front 40/rear.
     
  4. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    I've got almost 21,000 on the Ecopia EP20s on my PiP and they're wearing quite nicely. I wouldn't be surprised if they go another 20-25,000 miles. I rotate them every 5,000 miles and I keep the pressure around 40psi.
     
  5. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

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    I got the stock EP20's in Oct. 2012 and they're still good at 36k miles. I don't have a gauge. They look worn but plenty of tread left.

    I would think banshees drive like they stole it. I'm guessing you define it a different way. I drive in the right lanes drafting semi's.

    I would take a penny. Stick it upside down in a groove and snap a pic for us to see. If we don't see Lincoln's head, that would confirm D.

    BTW, I've a loyal America's Tire customer. They said the same thing to me on another brand of tires. I stuck the penny in and oh my, they're telling the truth. I argued for about 10 minutes about how a tire can be worn in a year and so little miles. The guy gave me a discount on a
    new set.


    iPhone ?
     
  6. jefe

    jefe Member

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    They didn't tell me the actual depth, only showed me on the gauge. I didn't look to see at the time because I was so stunned.

    I did trade the tires in, and they gave me 75% of my original purchase price credit toward a new set. So I don't have them to measure on my own unfortunately.
     
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  7. jefe

    jefe Member

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    Maybe this is the issue. I let DT handle the inflation so that I could be sure that if anything happened they would be covered (DT had "thrown in" their damage warranty on that set), and they of course use the manufacturer's rec's.

    Those replaced a really crappy set of tires by Hankook that lasted ~40K.

    I ended up with a set of Michelins. I may try to keep these inflated slightly higher.
     
  8. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    That would be your problem right there. Believing everything people tell you. ;)
     
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  9. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

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    75% credit is pretty generous. If they did that, it doesn't seem like were trying to swindle you. It's still a mystery why it wore so fast. I ran recommended pressure on my tires and I am quite pleased at how well they've performed this far. My experience has been that they are quite hard tires and I can feel it in ride comfort.


    iPhone ?
     
  10. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Pretty good deal.

    Guess I'll have to consider Discount Tires on my next purchase. Which hopefully is at least a few years away.
     
  11. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Hmmm. I got 18/19k on the fronts using stock Bridgestones. The rears were still barely worn at that mileage.

    I don't understand how you're getting 15k unless you screech it out the junctions all the time. I used mine as a taxi in town 24/7 to get the above mileages.

    The only issue I have with the Bridgestones is that they get a little loud towards the end of their life (below 3mm). Otherwise they're a good, summer, low rolling resistance tyre.
     
  12. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    I've got about 40k miles (65k km) on my EP100's and they're just about done. I'll get another 5k miles out of them, maybe a bit more, and then I'll probably get another set the same. So 45 to 50 k-miles is looking about right for mine. I'm not sure how yours wore out in 15k miles.
     
  13. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    I found out why his tires wore out so fast. :D

     
  14. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The Ecopia EP422s on my 2004 have 50% tread left (6/32" tread depth) and have covered ~35K miles so I think they can achieve the 65K mile treadlife expectation.

    It would have been nice for you to independently verify the tread depth of the old tires, but if Discount Tire gave you a 75% credit that would be like looking a gift horse in the mouth.

    I also buy tires from Discount Tire and am satisfied with their business practices and pricing.
     
  15. jadziasman

    jadziasman Prius owner emeritus

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    After 30,000 miles, the Ecopia 422s on my Gen 2 are about halfway worn. If I get to 60K miles on them, I'll be satisfied. Sure, that's not great but still acceptable for what they cost compared to new Michelin tires. Also, they have handled this brutal winter quite well. Traction control hasn't been an issue like it had been with the Goodyear Comfortreads which almost guaranteed I'd slip from a standing start at least half the time.
     
  16. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    It's useless if you don't know the numbers. I got 47k out of mine and I could have gone another 10k or so before they were very unsafe but still not bald. I changed them out early because there is a lot of standing water here when it rains and I want to be safe.
     
  17. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Did you actually measure the pressure yourself? At any time during while you owned them? If not, that was Mistake #1.
    Mistake #2. Verify with your own gauge or eyes or coin.

    My own experience with these sorts of folks is that sometimes they are right, sometimes wrong. The later outnumber the former.
     
  18. jefe

    jefe Member

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    Of course I measure my tire pressure all of the time. But I do not ADD air, I take it to the DT which is 2 miles from my house and let them fill them.

    Again, he showed me his gauge. I did see it with my eyes. So unless he had a trick gauge, I verified that he was telling the truth about it.

    Basically they were cashing in the warranty on my tires, giving me $ credit for the life I didn't get (65K minus 15K).
    As Patrick Wong said, I couldn't turn that down. If they were just telling me I had to buy new tires full price, I would have said thanks and gone home and done my own testing/researching.
     
  19. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Yeah you got a pretty good deal jefe. It's just a bit of a mystery how you wore them out in 15k.

    BTW. What type of ecopias were they. There are several different types, EP422, EP100, EP020 etc.
     
  20. briank

    briank Solar Powered

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    Definitely not a long life tire but not awful. I just replaced my stock EP20's today (replaced them with EP422's).
    I have ~35,000 miles on them. I did rotate them each time I swapped snow tires off (so 3 times over the life).
    I didn't "drive like a banshee" but I do take the on ramps fast so the outer blocks were worn well before the others.