Tire wear

Hi,

I have 2 different opinions about condition of tires on my 2001 Forester:

  1. Dealer says that I still have 7/32th left (they measured ~3 months ago).
  2. Tire shop says that I only have 4/32th left (they measured now) - and advises to replace the tires now.

The tires are Goodyear Assurance Comforthread (with expected lifetime of

80,000 miles). Were installed in 2006, have 43,000 miles on them. I tried measuring thread wear myself (using penny and quarter coins - as per TireRack's description) - the tread wear seems non-uniform: threads that are closer to the center of tires have > 4/32th left but threads closer to sides of tires have about 4/32th.

I'll be driving in snow and ice - should I replace the tires now?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Boris

Reply to
bd
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For Norwegian conditions snow (and rain), Yes. AU

Reply to
Asbjørn

With winter driving coming up, I'd replace them. Not sure whether it is worth trying to cash in warranty as while you might have only gotten expected mileage, they may prorate based on tread wear.

I've never seen uniform wear on my Forester's tires. Bought new ones last year and will stick to rotation schedule, maintain inflation and check alignment every other rotation.

Reply to
Frank

Yes replace them, ...but if you want to save a bit money, I think you could probably wait. Until you see snow and ice actually on the road (you never know what kind of winter will be coming, maybe very mild?), and since relatively good thread is still there.

If you have some exceptional deal/coupon/rebate etc., on specific tires that you want then don't wait. Same if it is a hassle in your location to have new tires purchased and installed.

That's my 3 cents, Boris.

Basia

Reply to
abjjkst

In other words, Boris, there are no shortages of tires in America :))) and purchasing and installing new ones takes only about an hour, on average, so very little need to plan much ahead. One can afford to behave 100% adaptively, as current conditions dictate.

That is my take on it!

By the way, last week I replaced my Michelin Pilot Exalto's on Impreza L 2000 Coupe with Michelin Primacy MXV4. I got only 37,000 miles out of the excellent Exalto's, and had about 3/32 thread left (similarly to you somewhat more thread left in the middle of tire). The Primacy's are almost as good as the Exalto's, but quieter. Both get my recommendation.

My driving is mostly high speed, highway, frequently over mountainous passes I-80 (Donners, Reno to San Francisco), often encountering wet, or slush conditions.

Basia

Reply to
abjjkst

That kind of wear is usually indicative of driving with underinflated tires, or bad wheel alignment. Does this ring any bell?

Reply to
Cameo

In my case, for somewhat more wear on the sides I blame high speed aggressive cornering. For shorter tire life in general I blame my driving fast on uphills.

The reason I buy good performance tires, is to have enogh grip so I can go through sharp mountainous highway turns without slowing down much :-O I almost always negotiate uphills as fast as I can, which frequently if not always means strongly accelerating uphill - its a terrible habit for fuel efficiency, and tire wear, but fantastic for saving time, and avoiding economizing on speeding ticket fines. Have yet to see a highway cop position himself on any incline. I travel over the Sierras, Reno-SF-Reno regularly.

Basia

Reply to
abjjkst

Barb, you must be a wild one! If you keep it up like that, you might end up in a ravine somewhere. I would hate to see your name in the obituaries.

Reply to
Cameo

It's not as bad as it sounds.

I do it very methodically, and as responsibly as I can. That means taking excellent care of car mechanicals, and pushing it only when the traffic and weather conditions permit. I also know the road very well.

Puts some added stress on the car, especially the accelerating uphill part, ...but I think it can be a safer driving style than what 99% of people do which is speed up on down hills where safe braking distance can quickly become problematic.

Basia

Reply to
abjjkst

Thanks a lot for all replies/advice. I had the tires replaced today - tire shop gave me $50 discount per tire (they said that my old tires didn't meet manufacturer's claim of life-expectancy) - so all four of them cost me $405 (including labor, taxes, everything). I was hesitant at first because the car is 10 years old - but even if I buy a new car soon, it will be easier to sell the old one having new tires. Most likely, I won't buy another Subaru - my 2001 Forester has 5.5" ground clearance but the new Forester model has it at ~9" - this is more suitable for Australian outback than for Bay Area driving (I want a car with good handling that can drive around obstacles in case of an emergency and isn't prone to rollover).

Boris

Reply to
bd

So why not buy a Legacy or Impreza?

Reply to
Cameo

So why not buy a Legacy or Impreza?

If there was Legacy wagon in US, I would have bought it. Impreza is a bit too small for me.

Boris

Reply to
bd

That is if you know where the tire model that you want is sold. which bring us to

which means you have to get what the tire dealer offers you which limits you to what they have in stock which in turn typically means you'd get

  1. not what you wanted
  2. pay more (on average)

that's my experience in the bang per buck tire department

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