Tires

Wow, catastrophic tire failure.

No warning from TPMS prior to failure? The only thing I can think of, other than a manufacturing defect, is low tire pressure leading to overheating and subsequent failure of the sidewall.

 

What was your cold pressure/ I would never go below 36PSI and recommend 40-42. 42 is the answer to everything in the universe.


Actually bought sets for my 2009 Touring and 2009 Grand Caravan Touring. Got both sets at Sams. They seem to be doing fine at 42PSI.

 

Thanks, Mendel. After reading the reviews on TireRack, these tires receive terrible ratings. My wife is now very nervous about driving her brand new car!! I watch my tire pressure religiously and these were at 38 psi cold. No warnings. Today I talk to the dealer (manager is calling me) to see what they will do.

 

We've just gone over 48,000 on the Goodyear Assurance 15s that came with the car in July 2014 and I'm down to 4/32nds. Most of the miles are at highway speeds between 73 and 83 mph on freeways between here and the Savannah GA and Green Bay WI areas. I didn't expect more mileage, so I'm not disappointed. The dealer (Larry H Miller in Peoria) is having a sale right now (buy 3 get 1 for $1) for $519.31 (before a $40 mail-in rebate). The sheet says the tires are warrantied for 65k. They also have Michelin Defenders for $578.23 without a rebate and those are warrantied for 90k.

They also recommend an alignment for $90 that I'm not sure is needed. Is that normal whe getting new tires on the Prius?

I haven't checked Costco or Discount Tires yet, but wanted to see what folks thought. Every time I read about tires here I get more confused. I wanted Michelin Energy Saver A/S, but last time I checked they told me they were changing that design and I don't know if the new ones are available yet.

 

So this needs to be a watch item and a new sticky thread. Most of us have these tires on the Four Touring and no spare.

Hope it was just a tire pressure or one time issue and not the whole fleet. Getting incredible MPG with these.Did the tread separate?Were you towed?No spare?Was the repair kit of any value?Never mind. It wasn't a Prius. However is it the same tire?

Yep, my second choice if the EP20s are not an option for your vehicle. They seems to be good tires so far.

 

Prius is a 422 45/215/17

 

I've since checked Costco and he can get me Michelin Premier A/S for $545 before a $70 discount that's coming next week or the following week. Surprisingly, the same tire at Discount was $722.77. Michelin Energy Savers at Costco would be $623 and he said he could get the Defenders, but he's had a lot of people return them because of the mpg hit. Neither Costco nor Discount said anything about an alignment. I understand they don't do them, but Discount here has an agreement with an alignment shop, so I think he'd have suggested it if it weren't just money in the bank for the dealership. If tires show no abnormal wear, why spend $90 on an alignment? Costco also said the Premiers might cost 1 mpg, but since we travel all over in different weather, I'm leaning toward them unless someone gives me a reason not to. I was more than pleased with the Michelins we had on our van. Oh, and it didn't need an alignment for over 15 years.

 

A quick follow up: The service manager of the very large dealership where I bought the car only offered to replace the tire at his cost with no install charges, but the service manager of the dealership where I go for service gave me a free replacement tire with no charges at all as a courtesy. Super nice guy and will continue to have my business!

 

I got the Ecopia EP422 Plus from the Costco on 99th & McDowell about a month and a half ago. Out the door price was $651.11 with the discount, disposal fees and installation. It's the first set I've put on my 2012 Prius five (bought it in August). I replaced Toyo's that I think were the originals. The ride got a lot quieter and the mpg has been basically the same. I haven't driven in any rain with them yet though.

 

I take it you didn't get an alignment done and that reinforces my belief that the dealer is just trying to make a buck.

Did they recommend the EP422 (I'm looking for 195-65R15's) or is that what you were looking for? I'm not overly concerned about rain, I think any of the tires I mentioned will perform well enough. I just looked online though and see they also offer the Michelin Energe Saver A/S. The EP422 has $70 off a set of 4 right now, but Michelin's will have that same discount the following week. The Premier A/S (60k) is $121.99 (same price I was quoted) and the Energy Saver A/S (65k) is $114.99, so the EP422 (70k) at $98.99 is the cheapest of the 3 with the longest warranty. Adding the $15 install fee, $2.99 TPMS fee and $2.00 state fee and I come up with $567.92, $539.92 and $475.92 respectively and I'm not sure the $15 install package doesn't already include the other 2 fees. And then there's the 8-9% sales tax. $651 is a lot highed and I didn't know 17's were that much more than 15's. I've never used Bridgestone, so I'm leaning toward Michelin and the Energy Saver A/S, if they are actually available. I got over 90k on my van with Michelin's, so I'm surprised the tires for the Prius are so much less.

 

I didn't get an alignment. I was planning on getting the EP422's. They didn't have them in stock there, but "ordered" them and had them in store the next day. I think there is also a disposal fee per tire.

Their website shows about a $200 difference between the 17" and the 15" for four tires. Almost wish I had the smaller tires based on price and mpg being a bit better! I also looked for the Energy Savers, but there wasn't any place that had them locally (that I could find) and I had some sidewall cracks that were getting a little bit scary to me.

 

Thanks. When we first got our Prius I often wondered if I should have gone for the Five, but after finding out more about the mpg hit and more costly tires, I'm actually happy with the 15's on our Four. The plan was to trade for a 2017 next year, but since we're putting so many more miles on than I expected and I didn't see anything in the 2016 we need, I've decided to stick with the Four, at least until the warranty is up. Plus, more cars are catching up to the Prius, so who knows what the future will bring?

 

I didn't really go out intending to buy a Five. The dealership right across from Larry Miller had this used Five listed as a Two. I was able to get a pretty decent deal on it. I knew that they wouldn't be able to answer any questions since they had it listed wrong, but was even more aware of their lack of attention to detail when the salesman fell asleep (2x) during the test drive. The guy in the finance department realized that it was listed wrong, but at that point they had already had me sign stuff and it was an hour after closing time. He said something to me then decided not to say anything to anyone else. I considered taking it right across the street to Larry Miller to see what they would give me for a trade in. I might have if they weren't closed! I'm glad I didn't.

 

Nice!

 

Never did get any advice, but have read 3 other tire threads since and I'm more confused than ever. Normally I just go with whatever Discount recommends and have not been disappointed in over 20 years. Then I read about people taking a 4-6 mpg hit with the Premiers and it makes me wonder. Trouble is some folks are talking about 17" tires, a different model car, etc. We drive around 25,000/yr, so a 4-6 mpg hit would mean 40-70 extra gallons.

 

If I was shopping the 15" size I'd get Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 without hesitation. With 17" size it's trickier, still not sure myself, might be the Premier A/S. Was leaning towards Ecopia EP422 Plus, but a little bewildered by their multiple iterations of this tire, don't want to buy a lemon.

It's seems as miles accumulate, even the middle of the road Rolling Resistance tires improve: our Michelin Pilots as an example. With our usage I believe it'll be spring of 2018 before I need to retire them, lol. Garage stored and carefully monitored, they don't seem to be cracking much as yet.

 

Ecopia is making the 17s for the 2016 Prius. Don't know if you can use any of those sizes. The 20s and the new ones on my 2016 and are very nice.
Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus (H- or V-Speed Rated)

Made in Japan, of course.

 

20s MIJ.
Post your size.

Bridgestone Ecopia EP20

These are the best for MPG at 40-42 PSI. However I do like my 2016 touring Four tires. Apples and oranges

Very bad personal experience with Michelins. They wore out too soon, poor MPG, and rode like steel wagon wheels at 42PSI. Never again for me. BTW always bought that brand in the past but things change and IMHO they are not the best anymore. You can do much better for tires.

Have had good results with Goodyear Fuel Max and those are easier to find at SAMS.

BTW/ I have tried to spread the word in every tire thread but missed you. Maybe. The OEMs are on your car for reason. You can do much worse than OEMs on your car. Keep you car aligned, drive like me, and keep tires above 36 PSI for best results. You will get sick of your tires before they wear out. Low pressure kills tires but not people. I need to lower my blood pressure.Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max

 

Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max