Hi there. I have a 2012 Prius 4 with only 30K on it. I've had two punctures of the front, left, original Yokohama tire. The mechanic patched it both times, but recently said that all the tires were worn down and should be replaced. I've seen people on this site getting 75K on their original Yokohamas so 30k seems pretty low. I'm not very hard on them: standard, Northeast driving. How skeptical should I be? If I should replace them, are Michelin generally better? Thanks, T.
Yes, if they are worn, they are worn, and that should be something you can determine for yourself to your satisfaction. If your question is really more about how rapidly they did seem to wear? Well, yet to know with my Prius, but I've never had and OEM tire give me much more that 25,000 miles. So far so good with my Goodyears, that came on my Prius, BUT I always expect that I will have to change OEM tires if I keep the vehicle any significant amount of time. Yes, some here have reported higher mileage, I'm hoping for such. BUT...my experience with every other vehicle I've owned new...is really not to expect much more mileage than 25,000-30,000. Check the wear and tread depth yourself. You can cheaply buy a tool, or simply use a penny...or a quarter. And/or simply give your tires a good visual inspection. Wear should be fairly obvious. If the reality is you need new tires. You can then have them mounted, balanced and the alignment checked all at the same time. PS. Many threads on replacement tires right here. Just use search function. My general philosophy with tires is that you get what you pay for. Tires are something I'm willing to pay more for because they are handling and safety issues.
My 2010 Prius VI's OEM tire is a Yokohama EP20 and they are getting close to be worn out at 40k miles. I know that my tire's tread wear rating of 380 doesn't mean that it is a 38,000-mile tire but it's pretty darn close. Time for me to get started shopping for new tires soon.
I can do that, and I will. My question is this: is 30,000 miles reasonable/average for the original Yokohamas? Thanks, T.
Of course the mechanic saying "all the tires were worn down and should be replaced" can be a subjective statement. He does sell tires, right? ;o) To help us fellow Yokahama oem pre 30k mi owners (and your own curiosity ;o), yes, please do post your self measured tread wear average tread depth per tire. At what intervals were your tires actually rotated at? Do you see any uneven tread wear patterns? I don't know about brand new cars, but it is not uncommon to see the inner or outer edge of tires wear more. SO the tread depth on the 'more worn' (if applicable) portion of the tire, would be the defacto depth for that tire. We are at 20k mi. and I skipped the 15k service, so our rotations have been at 5k, 10k and 20k. PS. I will get that tool too )
The general rule of thumb is that on the vast majority of vehicles sold, manufacturers don't put the best of the best tires on them. I can't speak directly to Yokohoma's...but I can speak to my experience with all OEM tires I've had in the past, and my experience is that it is NOT unreasonable or too surprising that tires may already need replacement. I've never kept OEM tires that I thought were safe or good enough to keep much past 30,000. I expect more from the tires I buy. But it's kind of a binary situation anyway. You either need tires...or you do not. I had a Nissan Pick-Up ( 90's )...that came with terrible OEM tires. I think was forced to replace those with less than 20,000 miles on them. And actually? The tread looked good. But the tires were so cheap, they got punctured CONSTANTLY. For whatever reason, the tires seemed to pick up and get punctured by anything. As soon as I invested into a set of Michelins...then suddenly I wasn't getting punctures every 2 months. If you've already had two punctures repaired? Well...I think the first step is determining whether the tread actually IS low. Then if you think the wear was premature? I suppose you can read up on any pro-rated warranty that might apply.
I agree with you concerning OEM tires. I think you need to have the tires replaced when you buy a new car. The only exception being if it has Michelin tires on the car. I am strictly a Michelin person and with some very good reasons.
Ah c'mon: new car, swap out the tires? On levels 1 thru 4 one of the OEM tires is bridgestone Ecopia EP20. For a previous car I've bought two replacement sets of the same tire. Decent tire. On level 5 one of the OEMs, and that's what our canadian touring model came with, is Michelin Pilot HX MXM4. It's maybe not the best for RR, but it seems pretty easy rolling, quiet, very stable in cornering. Just from a conservation point of view, not to mention the expense, if my car came with half-decent tires, I'll use 'em.
Do keep in mind the tyres you get on a new car ARE NOT the same tyre you buy in North America, even if it has the same model number. I've seen this many times and there are many reasons for it. Further, "OH, what a surprise!" you can't buy those tyres from your Toyota dealer. They supply "North American" tyres, not Japanese tyres. Well, I suppose I should say that you -can- buy those tyres here, but you have to take the car attached to them with the tyres.
I suspect that may be average. The yokohamas on my 2010 were getting pretty bald at 25000, I replaced all of them when the RR failed. I dont think that is below average for the OEM tires on a 2010, as I remember many posted the same disgust that the original tires were done by less than 30,000. (This was in 2012.) I read a few this year that claim 50-60,000 miles out of Yokohama Avid S33, so maybe they have been improved. My second set of tires,(Goodyear assurance fuel max, are at 30,000 and show only slight wear
Yes. I'm halfway convinced our Michelin Pilots are a special run. The Michelin site indicates their RR as not so good, TireRack doesn't id them as LRR, but: our's roll great. There was a similar story with Bridgestone Insignia SE200. The Japanese version was an OEM tire on HCHII, had a dimunitive "02" suffix, and apparently better RR than aftermarket. I think the tires Toyota puts on will tend to be good RR choices. And if they're half-decent, it seems a waste of money (and rubber) to dismiss them out of hand.
You will get a lot of different opinions on brands of tires. Like anything else, we all have our likes and dislikes. For me nothing will do but Michelins. I think they are the best but that is my opinion.
