Tire replacement on Leased car
 

Hi All,

My 06 GS lease is about to expire in a couple of months. I was told the run-flat tires that are on it now only has 1/32 left. My questions are do I need to replace them and can I replace them with regular tires or would Lexus charge me for new run flat tires when I return it? Sorry for the newbie question but this is my first lease vehicle.

Thanks,
Mike

you should double check your document. my guess is for sure you need to replace, and probably with runflats too. in your contract it should state the tire tread requirement and also the model requirement.

when we had our sc430, i believe it say tread depths had to be at least 2-3/32, and it had to be runflat just like factory. i don't think it said anything about brand and model.

on my m3 it's very strict, it has to be the same brand and model and size, and at least 3/32

so they are all different

I am also leasing, and I asked questions about tires directly with Lexus Financial, and with a lease representative in my local dealer.

1. Yes, absolutely, you do have to replace tires unless you want to incur a high charge from Lexus Financial. The back of you leasing contract sets out the minimum tire tread depth. I believe it's 4/32.

2. NO! You do NOT need to put run-flat tires on your car. Any tires in the exact size AND Speed Rating as the original tires will do. Since you have not planned ahead, and are in the last couple of months of your lease, I would just buy used tires that have sufficient tread life left, and put them on right before turning the car in.

On a separate note: how the hell did you end up driving with 1/32 of tread left??? That's a dangerous thing to do. Tires with 2/32 of tread are considered "bald".

used tires
 

Go on eBay and you should be able to get some decent used tires cheap. I bought used PS2 for my IS and they had 95% of the tread left. It saved me big $$$ over Discount Tire and they were almost new. I'm sure you can find someting much cheaper than a PS2 with decent tread.

Thanks!
 

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

And thats why my GS came with some Kumhos:D