Tires on New Cars: Replace After 20,000 Miles?
Expensive car, inferior tires?
I think car manufacturers and tire makers have a deal with each other. Here’s why:
I bought a 2007 Suzuki SX4 two years ago to serve as a commuter car. Today it has 22,000 miles on it, and last week I had to replace all four tires, because the front ones were nearly bald.
I figured I just had a case of bad luck and partly blamed myself, since I failed to rotate the tires on a regular basis. But the guy at the tire shop said he’s noticing a common trend: People are coming in for new tires with about 20,000 miles on the odometer.
I got home and started searching online, and sure enough I found forums where people complain that their new cars need new tires after only 14,000 to 20,000 miles. A guy here made it 18,000 miles with a 2007 Lexus ES 350. Same thing here on a Mercedes GL450.
What’s the deal? Are car companies cutting costs by putting inferior OEM tires on their vehicles?
While I don’t doubt that could be a possibility, I think the bigger picture is a lack of proper tire maintenance. The guy who sold me the new tires for my Suzuki recommended having them rotated every 5,000 to 6,000 miles; maybe if I had done that in the first place the originals would’ve gone another 10K or so.
Also, please keep an eye on your tire pressure. As temperatures rise, tires that were properly inflated in cold weather could suddenly be overinflated. Measure your tire pressure “cold.” If possible, park the car in your garage overnight, and check the pressure in the morning.
Even with proper maintenance, tire life is another thing to consider when buying a new car. Check to see if the tires come with a warranty, and if not, use it as a negotiation tool to inch your price down.
When selling a car, consider doing what the guy who traded in the car my wife bought did: He felt bad getting rid of a car with used tires, so he put on brand-new 18″ Yokohamas before getting rid of it. Sweet!
Has anyone else noticed a short life for tires on new cars? How many miles do you typically get out of a set of tires?
-tgriffith
Car Accessories, Car Minded, Car Parts, Car Safety, General Chat
I have a 2005 Volvo XC90 that I have noticed all of a sudden that my tires are nearly bald also. I have 31,000 miles on them. However, I do watch the pressure and rotate as I am supposed to. (Volvo made this easy to keep up with because of their free regular maintenance for the first 3 years). But, my tires are still bald, and I can’t find anywhere in the literature or on the web how many miles my tires were SUPPOSED to last. How do I claim anything under warranty for wear if nothing is in print?
I have a 2008 Chevy Aveo 5 w 22,000 miles on it and the tires are bald and I did rotate the tires as recommended!
I have a 2008 Chevy Aveo with 13000 miles on it. I have been complaining about the gas milage since it had 500 miles on it. the dealer kept telling me i had to put more miles on it for it to get better. i have told them that it won’t go right, it is not driving right, now the front tires are totally bald only on the outside. they never once told me to to get an alignment or to rotate the tires. they are not honoring the warrenty because it is over 7500 miles and they say now it is service and my fault. i have a complaint into chevy but they are not going to help because i did not rotate the tires…they are excesevly worn and i don’t know what to do…
@John Murphy
they are telling me that i need an alignment..and it was my responsibilty to get it done..regular maint…
@Theresa
Theresa-
I think the best thing for you to do is get the alignment and then just buy new tires. I know it hurts the pocketbook, but buy good tires and have them rotated (usually free when you return to the location where you bought them)and you should get many more miles out of the new set.
Well we have a 2009 Jetta already with a bit over 17K miles on it, tires look brand new, so i give it at least another 20K miles before they need replacement. On a related story we had a VW Touareg ate the first set of tires in less than 20K miles, however the Touareg is considered a high performance SUV equipped with high performance tires. The so called high performance cars/SUV’s eat tires and brakes for breakfast.