Excessive Tire Wear

My '08 has 17K miles, and bald fronts, like-new rears. They have not been rotated, but have been maintained at 42/40.

Am I too late for an alignment under warranty? This vehicle has always gotten poor mileage compared to my '06. (45mpg average instead of 52mpg average)

The '06 had similar mileage when it was totaled, and negligible wear, but the tires were rotated at 10K.

 

I think I remember a policy of one comp alignment within the first 20K miles, but not sure if it applies to all model years. Call them and check. My '07 required a cam bolt to fix the front alignment but I had to have that done by a tire place.

- D

 

I have a 2005 Prius pk#2 with just over 193k miles on it. My current tires are the Michelin Hydroedge with about 90k miles on them and they are 2 years old. I will admit that I am not the best at getting them rotated as often as I should. When I finally made it to the Costco to have them rotated. They noticed some uneven "flat" wear on the tires that were on the rear. They told me that my shocks might be bad. I want to believe that it's just me not getting them rotated like I should in addition to the fact that they are 2 years old with 90k miles on them. The car drives prefectly straight and when I asked Toyota at my last oil change (unknowing the wear pattern) they didn't seem to think that I should need a new alignment. Thoughts?

 

1. Given that your car has logged 193K miles, if the struts and shocks are original equipment then I would say that there is a 95% chance that they need to be replaced.

2. Since your tires have logged 90K miles, what tread depth remains on them? Do you notice unusual noise or handling problems?

 

I have blessed with few problems with my Prius. The struts and shocks are original. I noticed the noise from them about two months ago and knew right away that they were my tires. I wanted to get the Hydroedge tires again , but they have been nationally back ordered. So, last night I went ahead and ordered new tires from Costco. The tread depth is pretty good for the age and miles on them. Also, the car still handles well and drives straight too.

New question(s)... How much do you think that should cost? And any warnings as far as to what not to pay for if they tried to take avantage of me? I have had a mix bag from pretty much the only dealer in this area.

 

If you lived on either coast, I would say that it would be likely that you would be charged $2K or more at your friendly local Toyota service dept, to replace the front struts and rear shocks. Perhaps the cost will be less in KC, you'll find out soon enough.

You may also want to call around to see whether you can find an independent service shop specializing in Toyotas. If so perhaps that shop will be willing to replace those suspension parts at a more moderate price.

(Replacement of those parts does not require much hybrid-specific knowledge. However, since the rear shock top mounting hardware is located very close to the traction battery case, that may freak out the uninitiated.)