radman07

Hey all,

I am approaching the end of year 2 on my 3-yr lease of my GS 350 (AWD). So far I have about 23k miles and my tires are wearing quickly. My guess is that in the spring (if I am lucky) I will have to put new tires on. Is anybody else seeing this kind of wear? Is this normal for a car that is not driven like a race car?

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

Post some pics

SW17LS

What tires do you have? Mine is a luxury on the Michelin Primacy MXM4 with 16k and my tires have very little wear, surprisingly little to me actually.

If you have the Dunlops or Bridgestones that doesn't surprise me. In any event, 30k is good life for a low profile tire. Hell, I'd be happy with 25k.

radman07

I believe I have the Michelin's....In fact my configuration is the same as yours....When I looked up the tires I believe they have something like a 55k milage warranty. So how are these wearing out at 23k? Do I have a chance of invoking a warranty claim with Michelin for the milage?

SW17LS

Are you sure you have the Michelins? They could be Dunlops.

I don't believe the mileage warranty applies to OEM tires, only tires purchased directly from Michelin. Do you keep them aired properly, rotated properly?

radman07

Very interesting comment.....But I do maintain my car and follow the recommended service intervals. At the 20 k service I was told that my tires were wearing a little unevenly. I asked to see the issue and the tires were a little wavy on the outer edge. So I had them do an alignment. Seems a little crazy to have to replace tires during a lease....

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Sometimes it depends on your driving style and tire pressure you keep even if you have Michelins. I have the Primacy MXM4 on my Fsport and I put more than 12k miles on it and I have still have 8/10th thread depth left.

NYKnick101

IDK if it applies to the GS as well but the IS awd, the way that the cars were designed, the tires wear ALOT quicker than standard manufacturer ratings. Projected tire life for the IS is around 15k which is really short IMO

SW17LS

The only reason why the tires would wear unevenly is if they were:

1. Under or over inflated
2. Out of balance
3. Vehicle's alignment is out of spec

The type of wear you're talking about is referred to as "scalloping". Scalloping is not caused by alignment issues, its caused by tires being out of balance or some sort of wear within the suspension of the car. Since the car is new, my money is on balancing. Have you ever had any vibrations or shimmies when driving at speed?

How much tread depth do you have left? How much room until the wear bars?

I've leased a lot of cars and I've never leased a car I haven't wound up having to replace the tires on. I usually do it early if the tires that come on the car are crappy so I can enjoy the good tires...

radman07

Based on the depth gauge I believe I have about 4-5 mm left. When the did the alignment it was out of spec. The car has alway driven like a dream...that is why I like it so much.

Secondary question...has anybody ever bought a car off lease? I am considering buying my GS350 after my lease expires it but after looking at some of the new lease deals it might actually pay to lease the car as opposed to buying it. Thoughts?

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

i have also considered buying my GS350 F-Sport after lease expires but the newer GS leases are much better so I am not sure yet. I still have 15 months left on the lease.

Trek

Should I start worrying about the tires on my Lexus? I have the 4GS without the Luxury package but with the Cold Package and bigger tires. I have Michelin Primacy on all four wheels.

By the way, I don't think Bridgestones are fast-wearing. That's all I've ever had on my Acura RDX since it came from the factory in 2008. I've replaced them twice, each time at between 45K and 48K miles of driving.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

No. No need to worry about the thread wear on the MXM4 if you keep proper cold pressure and alignment check yearly and balance the wheel/tires routinely every 10-15 miles. The bridgestones on this GS are crap and are the worst of the category and will wear fast. Most Bridgestone OEM tires that come standard on cars are poor thread wear. You probably had a good SUV tire instead.

Lusien89

Next car you lease get wheel and tire insurance (covers unlimited) , its cheap and worth it. I paid for my wheel and tire insurance $350 from a leasing company in New York!

SW17LS

You can't make a blanket statement about a certain brand being fast wearing or not. It depends on the model tire. Bridgestone makes some very good tires...the EL400 which comes on the GS F Sport is just a terrible tire...fast wearing, gets loud when it wears, flat spots...on top of that its not a sporty tire at all...has no business on a GS F Sport. That tire came OE on my ES. It comes on the Toyota Prius and minivans.

The Michelin and Dunlop tires are at least high performance tires...but why do they only come on the Premium and Luxury and not the F Sport? No sense.

The Michelins are the better tire by far...but even they aren't going to be long lived in this low profile application.