Hello all: I am returning to the forum after a few years with another car maker. I had a SC 400 and first generation IS. I now have a new ES350 with Bridgestone EL400 tires and I am not too happy with those. It seems like too much road vibration is coming through and I think it is the tires. I am coming off of Michelin Pilots. Does anyone else share these qualms about the Bridgestones.

 

I don't have any specific complaints about the Bridgestones, although I had them on my last ES and don't really have anything to compare against. Bottom line for me is that I wouldn't spend the money to replace them until the wear dictates such action.

Anyway, just do a search on this forum or the 6th generation ES forum (keep it simple, use "tires" as your search clue) and you will find plenty of others that do dislike them enough to replace them early. Various opinions on this topic. Your mileage may vary...

 

Many complaints about Bridgestone (the brand) in general on the RX forum. My ES came with Michelins and they are super smooth and quiet.

 

I believe the Bridgestone EL400 is a junk tire to begin with! You're better off going Bridgestone Quiettrack, Michelin premier A/S, or Pirelli Cinturato P7 plus for a quiet tire.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=244

 

My 2019 ES 350 (leased in August) came with Michelin X Green tires on 18" noise reducing wheels. I have been very happy with them.

 

The F Sport came with Michelin Primacy MXM4 which have been pretty good, one year so far.

Are you hoping to have the dealer replace them or looking to buy new?

 

I took mine off they ride to firm and noisy for me, I don't need all that cornering
I put on Michelin premier tires and sold the Bridgstones it is much smoother softer and quieter ride and corners just fine for me

Philip
2019 ES300h ULeminent white pearl/chateau
2019 NX300h Leminent white pearl/crème
traded in sold
2016 ES300h UL eminent white pearl/parchment
2015 NX300h L atomic silver/black

 

Mine came with Bridgestones and I'm OK with them.

Is that the trade off? The Michelins are softer and quieter while the Bridgestones handle/corner better?

How do they compare on other characteristics, particularly braking, wet roads, snow covered roads, etc?

 

Noise and treadlife - I would not have taken delivery on any ES that had the Bridgestones - Michelin only. Same concerns on the RX forum. Reports of Bridgestones being trash after 15 or 20K miles.

 

So you special order your car and when it arrives 3 months later on Bridgestones you tell the dealer what? If he can’t or won’t swap the tires and wheels with another car in his inventory (and he will give you a dozen reasons why he can’t/won’t) you cancel the deal and walk? The fact is that the dealer won’t know which tires are on the car until it is delivered to his dealership. If Michelin has a contract for 80% of the models’ fitments and BS has 20%, the best he can say is that there is a 4 out of 5 chance that they will be Michelins. When I ordered my 2019 ES 300h UL last November, I negotiated an additional $ discount in the event the car arrived on BS. Enough to cover the net cost of replacing them with Michelins. The car DID arrive on BS, and my negotiated discount paid off. A little bit of a hassle such as selling the takeoffs on Craigslist, but I got the tires I wanted (at Costco; Premier A/S.)

 

I never special ordered my car - I merely made sure the one in inventory which I wanted had Michelins on there. If they were Bridgestones, I would have looked for another one in inventory.

 

Those Bridgestones are terrible tires. I've swapped them out on several Lexus models I've owned. So bad I replaced them on my LS with only 330 miles on it.

 

Widespread opinion it seems.

 

No big deal. I'll just replace them a few 1,000 miles earlier.

I spent about 15 minutes reading the last month or so of the end of the long sticky thread on the RX forum on tires. I didn't get the picture that you're painting. It looked to me like the reviews were mixed with a lot of people saying the Biridgestones are fine, which is my observation so far.

If they handle better on corners, that 's a big plus for me. However, I'm still interested in hearing how they compare with the Michelins in terms of other characteristics, particularly braking, wet roads, snow covered roads, etc.

 

I find the Michelins on the ES are terrific - quiet, smooth - decent in the snow and the tread seems to be doing just fine after 1nearly 5K miles - I had the car throughout last winter but wasn't that terrible here in the Northeast. The Michelins on the RX were also smooth and quiet but didn't wear well - in fact, I just replaced them with Goodyear Maxlife tires after 36K miles on that car.