webeinky

My wife took our 2007 ES-350 with only 21,000 miles on it in for service yesterday and they told her the car needed new tires. (The dealership said that the tires were only rated for 20,000 miles) I didn't believe her until I got home and looked for myself and sure enough the car does need tires. How can this be? A car that cost $40,000.00+ has tires that don't last over 20,000 miles? They are worn evenly and have been rotated every other oil change.

So what kind of mileage did you get out of you set that came with your car?

NJLEXES

Which tires were on the car?
My 07 ES350 came with the Michelin MXV S8
I regularly rotated the tires (every 5k), but they were down to approx 3/32 at around 23500 miles, so I replaced them (not with Michelins)
Have seen similar reports on some other Es350 owners and Avalons with the same tires who reported poor wear also.

oldcajun

My 08 ES has Michelin MXV S8 tires also and at 30,000 miles, one of the tires was at 3/32 and the others were at 4/32 tread depth or better. I think the 30,000 miles was pretty good mileage for OEM tires. My G35 coupe came with Goodyear RSA's and needed tires at 15,000 miles.
Steve

Dave Mac

I only got about 25,000 miles out of my OEM Michelin MXV S8 tires. I was able to get a new set (4) of take-offs for just $200 so I will get through my lease period pretty cheaply. My leasae calls for all 5 tires matching and with 4/32 of tread left and actually I kept the tires I took off in case one of my new tires failed early. If I would have had to buy tires I believe I would have gone with Michelin Primacy tires instead. They wear much better and may even ride better but they have a lower speed rating although it is more than adequate for the ES. I haven't heard of anyone who got very good life out of the OEM Michelins. I like Michelins but 20-25,000 miles at $200+ a tire is pretty expensive.

Dave Mac

garsarno

My first set of Michelins lasted around 12,000 miles. Michelin did an adjustment so I got 4 new Michelins (the $200 tire) installed for around $400 or so. They lasted for the same mileage as the first so right now I have a third set of tires, Kumho Solus that I paid $109 per tire for and they have 12,000 miles on them and look very good. I think they should go for 20,000 - 25,000 miles easily. But... the price per mile is a lot better than a third set of $200+ Michelins. Was told by the Michelin dealer that Lexus specs out a soft tire for the ride enchancement.

SteadyEddy

iTrader: (1)

I have a 07 ES350 and have 29,200+ miles and they are just about done. I have rotated them every oil change. Always kept them inflated. I'm going to have to replace them before winter, even through I don't drive that much in the snow, but they have lost a lot of traction in the wet. I have the Bridgestone Turanza EL 400 on now. They have been quiet all the way. I've had other tires that (BF Goodridge TA's on a ES 300 02) that were really noisey when they were about halfway wore out. One of the reasons we traded for the 07 was to get the quiet ride back. I'm thinking Michelin Primacy MXV4, Bridgestone Turanza Serenitys or now with the recommendation of Kumbo Solus from garsarno I might look into those.

Anyone else have any suggestions on tires for the ES? Mileage, quiet and of course price are all factors in my choice.

tromly

Wow, this says a lot about Michelin's reputation for long wear

garsarno

I was surprised at the Michelin longevity in relationship to the $200 price per tire. The Kumho Solus are on sale for $99 at Tire Rack. I cannot tell the difference in the ride at 35,000 miles. The Kumho tires ride quiet and no problems in handling.

garsarno

Did some quick research on the Tire rack web site:

OEM Michelin $183 / 440 treadlife rating / no mileage warranty
OEM Bridgestone $152 / 260 treadlife rating / no mileage warranty
Kumho Solus $99 / 440 treadlife rating / 60,000 mileage warranty
Kumho Ecsta $91 / 420 treadlife warranty / 30,000 mileage warranty
Kumho Ecsta Platinum $121 / 600 treadlife warranty / 60,000 mileage warranty

I have the Kumho Ecsta Platinum tire on my 2007 Impala SS with 29,000 miles on these tires. Tread is at 3-4/32" now. The only downside is that Kumho wants you to wear the tires down to 2/32" and then they will do the treadwear warranty, which in my case, would amount to 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost adjustment. Should be down to 2/32" by 12/1/09. They ride nice and had good snow / rain traction.

pestleman0

Around 32,000 on Michelin Energy MX4 with 2/32 left. Bought Michelin PRIMACY MX4 at SAMS. Top rated with consumer reports. Excellent tire so far at 34,000.

lgb0250

Don't know about the ES350 yet. Haven't owned it that long but I can tell you I got 57K with the MXV4 on my Avalon before changing them out.

JRey350hou

I put michelin primacy on and have 35000 with plenty of life left...rated at 60k...ben extremly pleased with them. bottomline the OEM that are put on... just a cost cutting method....dealer will actually give you credit for existing oem's when you purchase new vehicle if you want to purchase upgraded tires from them.

savon

I have 42k miles on my ES350 Michelin MXV4 S8. I still can drive another 8k easily. From what I have read and told OEM tires actually last longer than their replacement. I am sure if I replace my tires they wont last more than 30k miles. I dont know why some people have had a bad experience with these OEM Michelin tires. I think Michelin tires are much more better than Dunlap and Bridgestone all season tires that I have had on my previous cars. I think checking tire pressure at least once a month (I do every 2 weeks) and following car manufacturer recommended tire pressure are more important than rotating the tires. A lot of people ignore these.

garsarno

I think CA and TX road surfaces / quality are a whole lot better than PA roads. That too plays a part in it. A long time ago, someone somewhere told me that OEM tires are justa little thinner in tread thickness so as to save some money for the tire manufacturer, who has to bend his pricing a lot in order to receive the bid to supply tires to the car manufacturers. Hence, a 1/32" here and there and you have a price concession for their business.

zhivuyatut

Just bought a used 2007 ES with a little over 19k miles and the stock tires were pretty much bald.
Got a set of Michelin Primacy MXV4, will see how long they would last.