Prius Fast Tirewear - Important Update

I agree with everyone about you having a great dealer. Knowing the service people really helps me. I get great service and great prices on my cars. I have 4 Toyota's.

 

It is too early to tell on my Integrities. Currently at 10K+ miles and tire pressure at 40F - 38R. I will have to add another 7K or so miles and I will be able to assess the damage.

Nice to know on the decreased tire life of our OEM tires. In about three months, I will take my Prius to the dealership for a complete 4 wheel alignment check before my alignment warranty runs out.

 

This early tread wear issue is probably the biggest Negative of the Prius for me.
From what I've read the results are a very mixed bag. Good for all of you that squeezed 50k plus out of your stock tires. There is a very good cross-section showing an equal number of failures as there are successes. This early tread wear failure is a very real problem. The original posters Dealer even acknowledged that. And please Peeps, don't make pointed (punkish) statements that this is somehow our fault because we're "hard on any tire"....save that for your gaming community threads.
My stock Goodyear Integrities were almost bald at 26k miles. It's obviously dangerous to run around with no tread left so I had no choice at that point and shelled out $500 for a set of new tires (Kuhmo Power stars). And yes....i rotated every 5k miles and yes I ran 42/40 psi. I was hopeful that Toyota or Goodyear as a whole would publicly acknowledge this so I could be reimburse partially for my disappointing tires. As far as I'm concerned I'm 3.5 years into my car loan and still paying for my stock tires I purchased.

 

we took good care of ours and their life was disappointing too- they lived 28k miles or around 2 years, i think. but i'm dumbfounded at this part of your argument.

you paid for the car at the time of purchase. the fact that you chose to pay through a loan at the bank, and pay the bank back in installments over a certain time period is irrelevant.

that's like saying that you're still paying for your house, there's no way you should have to have any part of it replaced before your 30 year mortgage is up because you're still paying for the original components. i just don't get it.

 

galaxee......my MAIN point is....the tires I paid for when I purchased my car were of a very inferior quality and I am disappointed. I did not get what I paid for.

 

*edit*

 

not bitching....just discussing...!
My apologies and I've retracted my comment.

 

It's all good man. I edited my post after I saw you erased part of your original post.

On Topic:

I am pretty hard on my Intergitys on some parts of my commute (whenever there are lots of corners ) and they are wearing well. I wonder if those who are having major wear issues have tires that were manufactured at an ealier date than those who have no wear issues? Or could there have been some manufacturing changes and at some point afew batches were inferior? I kinda like the Integritys but to avoid the whole mess I'll swap to a different tire once these are worn out. Nokian here I come!

 

Hey, bshef & F8L,

Galaxee's point is that your car's tires are an item that is expected to wear as you own your car (just like your windshield wipers, fan belts, brakes, & light bulbs do). Same as a water heater or toilet guts or door locks or water faucets or light bulbs in your house that may fail while you're still pay'g your mortgage. If you have a problem with any item that fails prematurely & there is a warranty on that item, then it would be fair to say then that the early failure be addressed to the installer (Toyota in this case) or manufacturer (Goodyear in this case) of said item to see what the cause is & what remedy and/or reimbursement can be offered.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

the msrp includes the cheap nice person tires. if they were to put nicer tires on it, the price of the car would go up. so that is indeed what you paid for.

as i said, i am disappointed too. we were still managing car payments among other bullshit at the time that our tires passed the safe-to-drive threshold. but we sucked it up and paid several hundred for some nice new tires. now if THOSE go to crap at low mileage (currently fine with 25k on them) i WILL be pissed off because we specifically chose and paid for nice tires. and then i will have the right to be.

time, and whether or not you are still paying on your choice of terms on a car loan, just has absolutely nothing to do with this. that was my point.

 

Ken, I totally understood her point, and I agree with it. I erased my post that detailed such a conclusion as there were elements that pertained to Galaxee that were irrelevent after bshef edited his post. We're all in sync now. *group hug*

I'm out of here to go steam clean my Prius now.

 

Update, 13,000 miles and we have a new set of tires, all 4. N/C

The dealer (Russ Darrow)was very good, no quibble

 

Good. Now up with the inflation pressure! The pressure listed by Toyota is too low.

 

After reading this thread, I went to my dealer, as they had been telling me since early 20s that my tires were wearing on the edges and needed to be replaced. I was told one time that tires weren't covered. When I went in with a copy of this thread, they faxed Toyota and a week later I got my tires replaced free, but I had to pay for alignment. I had a choice of Yokohamas or Goodyears for replacement. I grabbed the yoko's. The Integrity's are junk. At 29000 the Integrity's were shot. I ran 40-42 Lbs pressure and was told that they looked like they were run under-inflated. Also rotated every 5000. Whoever gets high mileage out of an Integrity is in the minority. Tire Rack's ratings were LOTS better for the Yokohama Avid's in mileage, traction, snow.... every catagory, I guess I will find out

 

We have an '06 and have just replaced the Integrities at about 44,000 miles and 4/32nds tread left. That wear seems reasonable for oem tires. Goodyear Assurance Comfortreads replaced them and should give us 55-60,000 miles. Tires were rotated each 10,000 miles or so and alighment has not been checked. Pressures are 42 Front and 40 rear. We are happy.

 

Greetings Gang!

Update on my saga. (excessive shoulder wear on all 4 of my Michelin Hydro Edge Tires after only ~38k miles. This started much earlier, but was under the impression that it was "normal")

Took my 05 Prius to Mossy in San Diego. Pretty much what I expected: "Wear is due to low inflation, would you like to buy 4 new tires and an alignment for about $600.00"? "Well, thank you for your 'generous' offer, but no thanks." I replied. I indicated that this was not a safe condition to even drive home on, but I did. Carefully. They cared not. How irresponsible. But they did give it several hours of time and reported no mechanical issues at all. Ahh, the corporate line...

I will reiterate here that I, like so many of you, take great pride in how I maintain my vehicle. I swear on my Mother and Father's grave that have NEVER run my tires under-inflated. So there.

I took the advice of a fellow PC'er and called Hollywood Toyota in (yup) Hollywood. What a world of difference in concern. Regardless of the outcome, I give Randy two thumbs up so far. He actually seemed to care!

He asked me to send pictures of my tires instead of driving on them the 90 miles or so to LA. He indicated that he would take this issue personally to the District rep (don't quote me on that title) tomorrow when he visits his store.

I sincerely hope we reach a positive resolution tomorrow. If not, I'm afraid it will be up to the lawyers. And the media. I'm a member in good standing with the SC Press Association. I have no problem turning this over to a fellow "Problem Solver". I hope this hand is not forced by Toyota or Michelin.

I have a theory on what is going on (yup. I'm a retired engineer, too).

Given: The HEs are directional type tires. I always rotate them front to back and back to front as expected.

There is a camber spec that is incorrect on the front and back wheels. This easily explains the inward and outward shoulder wear in that one set is too positive, the other too negative.

OK. Maybe I've over simplified this issue. But it does make perfect sense. To me, anyway . OK I'm a EE, not an ME .

I'd surely hate to see anyone get hurt due to a tire failure traceable to this.

I will update all when I learn more.

like we say "stay tuna'd"

 

What are their pressures now?

 

Exactly what the door jamb sticker states. I Have run them @42/40. If Toyo wants them run that high, they might oughta state it in writing. If they have, I've never seen it....

It appears that even at higher psi's, they can and will wear the shoulders. Furthermore, I won't put any new tires on it until the wear issue is resolved. It is a waste of time, energy and effort, not to mention putting good tires in the landfill and wasting all the associated hydrocarbons. Plus a waste of what little $$ I have.

That's my story and I'm riding my bike until it is resolved. I will not buy another Prius if this is "just the way they are". Nor will I recommend same. Bitter? yup. But I'm capable of change. But is Toyota?

Here's some irony for ya: I just this past weekend put a set of new Michelins on my bike. (Citys). Gotta luv it!

 

The pressure on the door pillar assumes the original Goodyear Integrity tires. (Say it with me now: Your Mileage May Vary.) What is the maximum allowable cold pressure stated on the sidewalls of your current tires?

Be patient with me: how often do you check tire pressure?

 

I'm wondering if you've checked the calibration on your tire pressure guage.