I was at the Toyota dealership this morning for my free service which included tire rotation. The service advisor recommended two new rear tires. The car has 19k miles. I am not an aggressive driver and according to my service documents, the tires were rotated at 5k miles, 10k miles, 15k miles and now 19k miles. I have owned several cars in the past and typically when rotating the tires regularly, the tires all need to be replaced at the same time. Since the rear tires were rotated today, I am going to assume they were in the front before rotation. is anyone else experiencing tire wear so quickly in the front tires?
Did she mention; Why??? Are they wearing unevenly or just bald? If your inexperienced in this; take it to any chain tire store for a free inspection - second opinion. Hope this helps.....
Repeating the question of did they say the exact issue? From a thread on alignment, the factory spec allows a negative camber of two degrees on the rear wheels. That will result in faster wear of the inside edge of the tread. Regular rotation with fronts without negative camber should even out the wear. Since it is just the rears, I think it is safe to say the fronts don't have a negative setting there. Which raises a question about the tire rotations. Was this actually done? Did you have a way of checking if it was? Heard many stories of people marking a tire to check, and catching the rotation having not been performed.
You do need a specific reason the tires need replacing. Sometimes it can be a single tire manufacturing defect or more likely, a sidewall cut. It is recommended to change two tires at a time even if one is damaged. Most tire manufacturers want you to run the new tires on the rear axle even if the bad one was in front. If it is excessive tire wear, then I would not blame poor rotations as a cause at 19,000. A good tire would last longer than 19k even without rotations.
Yea... Your car is old enough for them to start lying about things that need fixing because Toyota Stealerships are really good at that routine. If I were you I'd laugh in the person's face and tell them you're there for the free stuff and they won't ever get a single penny out of you because you aren't as dumb as all the good people they scam every day. Then I might ask them if their mother knows how dishonest they are for a living?
Don't buy the skepticism above until you know the reason for the tire recommendation. A cut sidewalk can happen to a new tire and could ruin your day or someone's life if it blows.
Post some tread depths measurements! Worse case, their inspection papers should have it! I'm at 30k miles with about 4/32 left. The tires don't seem to last too long. 19k sounds surprising though.
Tire pressure and tread depth gauges will help you see for yourself where your tires are at. That and visual inspection, ideally with the wheel off the car. no need to splurge or get fancy:
What I learned when I changed the tires at 50,000 miles on my 2024 Prius just recently, is that the 'treadwear' number on the sidewall is an indication of the miles you can expect on your tires. The OEM tires have a treadwear of 300 which I was told means 30,000 miles on average. Like I said, I got 50,000 out of mine and just changed them for the Michelin Primacy A/S which has a treadwear of 540. I used Discount Tire, the only place I could easily find other than the dealer that carries the odd 195/50 R19 19" size. List price was cheaper than the dealer and they also had a sale going so it was good deal. Ordered and scheduled online and they were available next day - I'm in Jacksonvile FL. I had amazing service at Discount Tire, and I agree with the advice to take your car there or similar to have them assess your tires.
Those numbers are based upon the company's formula. Higher does mean longer mileage life, and you can use it to compare between tire models of that brand, but not between different brands.
If you buy 4 different cheap tube type tire pressure gauge pictured in your comment and use them you will get 4 different pressure readings.
Run your tires at over 40 psi. They will not only last a lot longer but you will also get much higher mpg. I run them at 43/42 psi front/rear, respectively. They are at 40,000 miles and still like new.
