needed 4 new tires after 20,000 miles

The stock tires are nothing to write home about. Low PSI and lots of turning while not rolling will accelerate the wear... as you seem to have discovered.

Most of us end up upgrading to dramatically better tires. Many choose to keep PSI above the minimum too.

The USER-GUIDE is a good place to begin your research.

I absolutely love my upgrades. Traction is much improved and they still have a decent amount of tread after 47,700 miles.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't look at the OEM tires wearing out at 20k miles as a necessarily bad thing. It appears that there are very few (if any) Prius owners who, after getting replacement tires, have anything good to say about the original Goodyear Integritys. It would seem that the OEM tires were chosen for just two reasons: fuel mileage and low cost. Although the replacement tires that most seem to be using (Michelin Hydroedges or Goodyear Comfortreds) will sacrifice a small amount of fuel mileage, the trade-off in comfort/performance appears to be well worth it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jlondon @ Nov 2 2006, 09:09 PM) [snapback]342959[/snapback]</div>

It is a 2900 lb car, not that heavy, these days... By comparison, a RAV4 is 3500 lb, and a Corolla is 2600 lb. I have a little over 16K on the original tires, and they seem to have lots of tread left, and have kept the f/r pressures at 38/35 since I bought the car. To the wear bars in 20K seems very premature for these tires to me, but I'd hope your next set should do much better, assuming you choose wisely and are not driving it like it's stolen or something. Might want to have the alignment checked, too.

 

I wish my Integrities wore out faster. I am itching for an upgrade, but am not going to throw out perfectly good tires. At the 25,000 service and inspection, the tire thread averaged 7-8 mm all around.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jlondon @ Nov 2 2006, 06:09 PM) [snapback]342959[/snapback]</div>

You did not mention the pressure you have been running or whether you have regularly rotated the tires. Both are factors that will contribute to unusual wear as well as the type of driving you do.

take a look at this recent poll on OEM tires.
http://priuschat.com/Goodyear-Integrity-Mileage-t25712.html
I was in the over 40K group. Your tire wear is unusual.

 

Have a 4 wheel alignment done, a lot of Toyotas arrive with alignment problems. Toyota will give you a free alignment during the first year and even though you are at 20K miles and 1 year of ownership you may be able to talk them into it. Call Toyota and see what they have to say, the OEM tires should go at least 40K miles under normal conditions.

However, as others have said, you must keep the tire pressures up to get good tire wear. Most people here have good luck with pressures of 40 lbs or higher, not to exceed 44 lbs cold.

Also you might consider finding a dealer that won't try to mislead you, the Prius is not a heavy car. As Beryl said it weighs about 2900 lbs, my old Accord which was about the same size weighed over 3200. Full sized SUVs such as the Suburban typically weigh over 6000 lbs and even the Highlander, one of the smaller ones, weighs well over 4000.

 

It seems that stock tires in genral are of low quality. My wife gas a Ford Focus with just over 25.000 miles on it and she had to replace all four tires as well. I susptect car manufacturers try to save a buck or two on the tires as they aren't really a big argument from people buying a new car.

The Prius is NOT a HEAVY car, that batteries don't weigh that much and a lot of weight reduction in other places has been done.

I think that if you go to a better set of tires (see comments above) and increase your tire pressure slightly that you will be abel to keep the tires a lot longer.

 

Worn out at 20K.... This does sound unusual, even for the Integreties. At 20K miles my original Integrities aren't NEW, but look like they have good miles remaining which will be enjoyed by its new owner... since...

I'm 'trading up' to a 2007 Touring Edition which includes Bridgestone Turanza 195/55R16 86V tires - 70,000 mile prorated tread-wear after 3 year "Platinum" warranty. With the "Touring Edition" premium over the standard Prius on a Package 6 Prius being only $270, I believe the tires and improved suspension are well worth the difference.

 

we just passed 20k on our car and while tire wear is far from optimal, they still have tread on them. we considered junking the tires at 20k but we've got tread on these and can't justify getting rid of them yet.

 

I just traded my 05 in for an 07, and it had the original tires on it with 35000 miles on them. The outside tread row was pretty thin, but the rest of the tire tread had at least another 5000 miles on it. I like to take turns a bit faster than you average Prius driver (part of why I upgraded to an 07 Touring) and I'm sure thats why the outside edge if the tires wore early. Like it was said earlier, if you didn't have the tire rotated your front tires would probably be worn out by 20,000 and the rears would look nearly new.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Nov 2 2006, 10:29 PM) [snapback]342988[/snapback]</div>

By comparison, most Corollas (LE and S trim) use slightly larger 195/65R15 tires, with a heavier load rating and more tread.

I'm glad that I replaced our OEM tires at 20 miles on the odometer. I predict that after you replace your tires, you won't regret the short life of the OEM tires. There are many superior tires out there including the ContiProContact, Dunlop SP Sport, Michelin Pilot Exalto AS, Falken Ziex ZE-512, and Sumitomo HTR 200.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(theorist @ Nov 4 2006, 12:51 AM) [snapback]343686[/snapback]</div>

May I add to that list Toyo Praxis, with the understanding that I have no experience with them. On 2001 Prius I have been very satisfied with Nokian i3, as have been some drivers of the newer model vahicle.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jlondon @ Nov 2 2006, 10:09 PM) [snapback]342959[/snapback]</div>

ALL FOUR? Can you substantiate that? Where are the tires worn, the edges or the center? One thing I don't miss from Pennsylvania is crooked inspection stations. Its the same thing with brake lining. Then, when you confront them on it, they change their story and say "Oh, they're fine now, but you won't make it another year".
My tires have 14,000 on them, and still look almost new. Have them point out to you on each tire where it is down to the wear bars. B)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ Nov 3 2006, 12:32 PM) [snapback]343239[/snapback]</div>

I have not found this to be the case, on our Honda Element they were great tires that lasted 40k and on my base Mustang they were Goodyear Eagles that retailed for over $200 each and lasted 45k. Experience with Dodge Caravans was similar, though they were under $100 tires.

 

I'm at 22,000 and the tire wear is not optimal, but nothing to worry about yet. I keep mine at 40/38 and 38/36 in the summer. I've driven on 35/33 as per Toyota but the mpg change is drastic (2-5 mpg for 2 psi). Make sure you keep a 2 psi difference beteen the front and the back tires.

I believe there is a 35K miles warranty on your tires. Check the manuals you got when you bought your car. Call Toyota and make them replace your tires and do a free alignment for you.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jlondon @ Nov 8 2006, 02:19 PM) [snapback]345680[/snapback]</div>

I thought there was a separate tire warranty that should have been included in your vehicle, and as someone pointed out above, you may want to check the tread depth yourself, perhaps the inspection station may have been trying to sell you tires you don't need.

There's the penny test to see if tread is deeper than 1/16", If part of Lincoln's head is always covered by the tread, you have more than 1/16".



Or you can look for the wear bars yourself. If the tread has worn down to these, then you need new tires.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Nov 8 2006, 03:02 PM) [snapback]345721[/snapback]</div>

You only need 2/32" of tread remaining to pass inspection. You need more than that for optimal hydroplaning resistance and snow traction. Some will replace their tires going into a rainy or snow season if they have less than 6/32" of tread. Of course that can double the rate at which they go through tires. Some will take their chances and drive very carefully on shallow tread in rain or snow. Besides tire cost, other advantages to using the full tread life of tires is reducing landfill from disposal of old tires, reduced resource consumption and polution from tire production, and increased fuel economy. (Tires' rolling resistance falls and fuel efficiency rises as the tire tread becomes shallower.) Shallow tread also offers the best traction on dry roads. Some of us in cold climates will use winter tires to enable us to use tires with deep tread in winter months and use the remaining shallow tread in warmer months. (Sometimes I entertain the thought of sending old tires with less tread to family and friends in Phoenix.

If you want much longer tread life, don't replace your tires with Integrities. Consider tires with high UTQG treadlife ratings, Consumer Reports treadlife test performance, and/or prorated treadlife warranties. Some that come to mind are the Bridgeston Turanza LS-T, Yokohama TRZ, Michelin X-Radial and Hydroedge, and Goodyear TripleTred and ComforTred. Keep in mind that you may give up some traction for the longest treadlife. Sadly the Integrity offers neither.