Tire woes. Two flats in 4500 miles.

Was the tpms sensor covered by warranty or insurance?
if not how much was it to get it replaced?

 

For this reason, I took off the Dunlaps and put on a set of the Bridgestone Driveguards. At least if my wife gets a flat she can drive to a local garage (we don't live in the sticks) and get it fixed. Not worried if the MPG went down. Rather have my wife and kids get somewhere safe and get a little less MPG then sitting on the side of the road and brag how great the MPG is. I also bought a portable air pump that plugs into the lighter. If she gets a flat she can air the tire up and go. Though she hasn't ever used it for herself, she has used it for a few co-workers.

BTW, nails/screws don't discriminate between old or new tires. If it's sticking up and you hit it just right, it's going into your tire. Don't care if you have expensive Michelin's or some cheap Chinese tire.

 

I had two flats on my first prius c also. They were Goodyears, however. Once they were repaired I went forty thousand with no additional problems. I then replaced with Michelin which I liked better. I put about 15,000 on them before trading in for a new prius. I now have the Bridgestone and actually like them better than the other two brands. But I admit it has only been 5,000 miles so far.

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Which Michelin's and which Bridgestones?

 

I had a similar issue. 2016, Prius 3. Toyo Tires. Dealer, where I purchased the car new, six weeks before - We don't stock that tire. Neither does anyone in the state of Utah. REALLY! They ordered one but I insisted they put at least a decent full sized spare on it until the replacement arrived. Ridiculous.

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The 2013 Prius C came with Goodyear Assure Fuel Max. I replaced with Michelin Energy Saver. The 2016 Prius C came with Bridgestone Turanza EL400. I live in MN and enjoy a performance ride and luxury ride. I only want the performance in snow and/or ice when necessary. The Bridgestones are doing that for me in the last couple of months. I did a road trip to Chicago (400 miles each way) in clear weather and it was about as smooth as the Michelins. Out of fairness, the 2016 would be expected to have nicer handling than the 2013 (although no major differences between the two on paper).

 

...but this answers a new question I had. My mileage has not been as good as with the 2013 and I could not figure out why. Now I know...the tires are not what should be on this car (if Bridgestone, it should be the Ecopia instead). Oh, well. The mileage is not that much worse (4-5 mpg). But I will be going back to the Michelin when replacing. Strange this was outfitted with these tires from the factory.

 

Are you sure it was from the factory? I have seen a couple cars where the tire on the car didn't match what anyone else I talked to had gotten on that car. I asked a dealership once about such things and a salesman said once in a while a tire will come in punctured during the shipping process and they replace the set at the dock. You can sometimes get tires that are not what the factory intended to be on the car that way. I don't know if this is true, since anything you hear from a sales person should be taken with extreme care, but it at least makes a level of sense. I was mostly asking since my truck seemed to have an off brand set of tires but later I found out that it was a series of trucks that were made with that set not just mine, so seemed that the manufacturer got some deal from a tire company and decided to move over or maybe couldn't source the original tires for a period.

 

Unfortunately our limited experience spanning 27 years with Bridgestone tires has not been good. In line with a multitude of consumer complaints and that big recall their quality control is spotty at best. If I bought a car with them on it they had a much higher statistical failure rate from potholes when partially to nearly completely worn out tread wise than any others we ever had. Thus is usually an indicator of either substandard engineering and or combination of production process control / quality control or assurance. It is typical of a unhealthy work environment where pay and reqards are based on quantity and quality is not a priority. This trend returning if verified not punctures post recall buyout and black eye for them is serious and could be fatal or near fatal to them. I have always disliked Bridgestone as my father did. They were always tempting on price point being one of the cheapest recognisable brands probably due to cutting corners better not ever cut. I will not ever by them.

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Original tires vary. Often by region, sometimes even within a region.

Regarding the OP's dilemma, my policy is always: no spare? No sale.

Someone will always counter, with: rarity of flats, prevalence of cell phones, AAA at your beck-and-call. Tell me I'm a dinosaur..., don't much care.

 

My Ecopia 422+'s are the best tires I've ever had, and I haven't had a single problem with them or the two sets of 422's I had before them.

 

I was just looking at Bridgestone Driveguard and I wonder if the 195/60s would fit on the Prime. It claims you need the 195/65 but those aren't eco model. Not sure I want to jump on that ship yet though but run flat would be a nice to have if it means really not needing a spare to get to a shop. Perhaps they will release a real tire matched to this model though so since I am not in the market for new tires today I will likely wait to see what happens a couple years down the road for what I pick next.

 

Here's a rambling anecdote....

Not to upset Bridgestone Tire Owners who may love them. I never have owned a set of Bridgestone so I can't really comment on that specific.

But I can say...
I owned two 1990's New Nissan Pick-Ups...with OEM Tires. Years apart....did this with both....first one was the learning experience.
And they were so crappy. I can't remember what brand they were. But even though the tread was good...nearly new...and the tires were not worn at all, they were like flat magnets. Seemed like if they got near ANYTHING that could possibly cause a flat, they would pick it up and puncture.
Since they were so new, and because I had just invested into buying a New Vehicle, I tried to make them work. But after about the 3rd or 4th nail, puncture...I finally gave up.
I remember the "Tire Guy" telling me my tires were fine and trying to actually talk me out of buying new tires. I told him I didn't care.
I do remember I bought a set of relatively expensive Michelin Tires.
Then magically...the flats stopped.

So anyway...I think sometimes tires can be of such poor quality that they will have the propensity to fail...more often.
In that case? I do recommend investing into quality replacement. Which can be hard to do....when you know the mileage isn't high, and the tires look good. But in my experience....it can be worth it in terms of both safety and convenience.

 

I got charged $100 for a replacement goop bottle by Toyota in Dublin, CA, which I find outrageous. But once you used that stuff, they pretty much have you by the balls.

 

Good for many, many repairs:



Passenger Vehicle Repair Kits - BlackJack Tire Repair

 

Besides, some of us still travel frequently through dinosaur territory, i.e. areas with no cell service. Even the two majors -- Verizon and ATT in the U.S. -- still have significant areas of whitespace on their coverage maps. And for cost reasons, many urban customers buy service from minor carriers (e.g. T-Mobile, Sprint) with poorer coverage maps.

 

Just curious: Why the 3rd party pump? Did you have to buy the new pump to get the repair goo, or did the pump that came with the Prime (along with the bottle of Toyota goo) stop working? I've never used repair goo before, I'm assuming one repair per bottle?

 

I believe the OEM pump will only work with the goo. Which means it can't be used to pump up low tires, nor fill one repaired with a plug kit. It might also be seen as having a short life.

Which raises a question, if you got an empty goo bottle, can the pump be used like a normal pump.

 

Yes, it can. Did that to check the tire pressure the day after I used the goop.
It's bulky to store it in the car with the bottle attached tho.