Tire and Traction Question

If the car has under 15k miles, you probably can get away with buying 1 new tire.

Most cities will pay for pot hole damages, you can submit a claim to them for payment (if your rim is damaged too)

 

Assuming that you have a full-size spare, I would use it to replace the damaged tyre. Alternatively, just buy a matching tyre. 15K is almost new, so I wouldn't worry about mixing completely-new with almost-new.

 

If you just buy 1 make sure you get the same tire as the rest.

 

Beginning with the Gen 2 Prius, the ABS has been twitchy when running over bumps, etc. The bouncing causes weight to come off the tires simulating loss of traction. So your experience sounds normal. I recommend testing the traction/ABS on snow/ice under safe conditions just to convince yourself it will work when needed. Regarding replacing your busted tire, you should always match (manufacturer/model) the tires on a single axle. So fronts should match, as well as rears. Sizes need to match front to rear also. A tire shop will measure the tread depth and recommend if you need to replace both fronts or just one, keeping the "good" one with 15K miles. As far as "warranty" from Toyota. They don't warranty tires ever. Tire are only warranted from the manufacturer. And unless you had road hazard coverage (unlikely on a new car) you won't get any coverage even from the tire manufacturer.

 

A dealer may not have that tire. It's probably better going to a national tire chain, they will have it or will be able to order it.

 

What's the tire? If it's Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus, the ones that came with the car very like are made in Japan, and have a moderately different tread pattern (and wear index) than the US and Mex version. The latter two are different than each other as well. If this is your case I'd try to stick to the made in Japan version.

And a to Bridgestone for this mess.

 

The tires are generally not covered by the car warranty, but are separate.

And factory tire warranties generally do not cover road hazards. BTDT.

 

No, any tire shop is good. Ensure they check the rim too, if it's bent then it's back to the dealership parts department. As fuzzy noted: road hazard isn't warrantied. Maybe the city though.

 

You might find the cost of one rim at a dealer is close to the cost of 2 rims and 2 tires at a national shop.

 

A while back I purchased 4 gently used PIP rims for $400 (US) (including shipping, from Southern California to BC). Earlier, I'd checked with a local dealership parts department, their best price: $495 (Canadian) apiece.

I kind of miss the old days, when stamped steel rims were silver painted, had a chromed centre cap and looked half-decent, and expectations were lower: they're just wheels afterall. They're cheaper/easier to make, comparable in weight.

 

The ring of MagAlloy bling! . Aluminium is costly to mine, to recover and ultimately to purchase as a wheel. Sure, they will have advantages over steel, but at such a high cost! Meh!