garsarno

My second set of Michelin OEM type tires have worn out again, this time in 12,700 miles. The initial set wore out at 8,964 miles. Michelin was kind enough to credit out the first set and four new replacements cost me $245 with tax and installation. Went back to the local Michelin dealer and this time they would go for 25% discount for two. The other two were deemed okay / no discount. Total cost for four would have been $742+ tax including installation. I decided to buy four Kumho Solus KH16 tires. Tire Rack had a cost of $109 per tire / local dealer was at $99 per tire. In comparing the tires, the Michelins have a tread depth of 9/32" versus the Kumho of 10/32".
There is no mileage warranty on the Michelins / warranty on the Kumho. The ride is just a little stiffer that the Michelins but my garage guy says "New cheap tires ride better than worn out expensive tires". But at $99 per tire, if they only last 12,000 miles, I would be okay with it. Taking a trip to Cleveland today / will evaluate the ride / noise etc and report. The tread pattern is not aggressive and have been quiet as I drove locally today.

PaJaHa1

It's hard to believe you're getting such poor mileage on those tires! Are you racing that thing?? Even most low-profile tires on the market are good for 12-15k, and clearly the OEM on the ES350 are not in that category.

Druha

yeah...not that I don't trust you, something sounds very wrong, unless you are racing/ lighting up your front wheels a lot. I remember a set of 40 profile kumhos not lasting very long on my old car, but they are definitely cheap in price so it ends up being worth it I think.

maybe check your alignment/camber.

oldcajun

I just turned 18000 miles with my OEM Michelin tires and they still have almost 50% tread left. There must be something wrong with your alignment to wear out at such low mileage.
Steve

garsarno

First set wore out / never any burnouts at all on both sets. 90% city / suburb driving. Michelin dealer told me Lexus specs out softer Mihelins to enchance the ride. Second set had 3/32" on rears / 3-4/32" on fronts. Put on 330 miles to Cleveland last night in major snow squalls on Interstate 80. Excellent traction / ride is very good. Rotated the second set at around 4,300 miles / second rotation at aroubd 7,800 miles. Third rotation was due at next oil change in 2,000 miles.

kewl

I agree with the others, check your driving style. My 07 has 20k on first set and still going strong.

ArmyofOne

There may not be anything wrong with his car, sometimes companies have QA/QC issues. It happens.

Define "Worn-out" though. Were they bald? did the tread wear evenly or were they more worn on the inside than the outside of the tire/vice versa? were there lumps/bubbles in the tires? All of these an be indicators of some pretty serious issues.

terrypm

Every tire manufactuer has a bad batch of tires from time to time. Thats why they gave him the warranty adjustment on the first set and 2 of the 2nd set.
Remember the Flinestone tire debate on the Ford Explorers several years ago. It almost ruined the Flinestone name.

kanu

I believe you, but my experience has been very different. At 35K miles on my 2007 ES350, the OEM Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 tires are a little more than half worn out, with 5/32 remaining from the original 9/32 depth. I do a 5-tire rotation, so that's really only 28K on each tire.

My driving is primarily highway at 70 mph in Florida.

jagtoes

What kind of wear are you getting. Do we assume that you rotate the tires every 5K or at least 10K miles. Also do they wear on the front edges or do they wear in the center. Do we assume you have the correct tire pressure. Uusally a defective batch of tires will delaminate or blow out and will noy be a wear problem. Do we also assume that the overall wheels are aligned and balanced correctly (4 wheel alignment). You should be getting a min of 20K to 35K miles on a set of OEM tires. So if you are getting only 8-12K on a set then the problem is the driver.

YotaCarFan

What exactly is considered "worn out"? For example, my ES350 has Bridgestone OEM tires, and they have three deep circumferential grooves near the center of the tire, and a shallow thin circumferential groove near each edge of the tire. The treadwear bars are only in the three deep grooves. Does this mean the tires aren't worn out until the wear bars are hit? In my case, the tires wore evenly across, and the shallow grooves are gone at 29K miles. The deep grooves still have 2-3mm before the wear bars are hit. I drive assertively, but not aggressively, mostly in heavy traffic. I'm interested in how the Kumhos work out -- I'm not looking forward to spending a grand on a new set of name brand tires soon.

garsarno

The tires were worn evenly on both sets. I put about 800 miles on the Kumho tires back and forth and around Cleveland. No noise / excellent traction in the snow storm encountered on Thursday night. I am only saying: for the money, the Kumho tires are an excellent lower cost replacement tire over the Michelins. The tread is not aggressive so they are quite and good riding. Keep in mind: there is no mileage warranty on the OEM Michelins, just workmanship /defect. On the Kumho tires, there is a mileage warranty so long as you rotate / prove that you did every 5,000 miles. They have a treadwear warranty on 440. If I only get 12,000 miles on these (and I really think I will get much more), then I can't complain on the price, which was $99 including mounting and balancing. Did see the bill for the tires from the distributor - cost them $65 per tire wholesale.

sirCharles

really should these be getting more miles on these tires.

I am getting 20-25K on low profile tires for my IS350...very aggresive driving, ride many curves. DO the alignment everytime and rotate every 5K if possible.

codex57

Might be a bad batch. I'm at around 19,000 miles. Hardly look worn at all.

AmberPearl

Repalced my OEM Bridgestone tires after 22K miles. Probably could have got 25-30K but the tires were very worn from toe-in. Rotated and balanced religiously. Replaced with Toyo Versada tires which have been highly touted as made for Lexus, Infinity, etc. Price was about $175/tire out the door. Tires ride as smooth, handle much better and much better wet traction. Very quiet. Manufacturer recommends 35 psi.

Lexus dealer and tire dealer said that the ES350 average is about 25K on OEM tires maybe a little more with Michelins.

Amber Pearl