You are right! Our minds seem to have travelled along the same highway. I always second guess my acquisitions and their departures. But, of the things I still remember, the LS 460 came closest to “no regrets”. I always looked forward to driving it, and often did so with no destination just because it felt right. If it weren’t for the melting upholstery, I would still own it. They would have buried me in it. Lexus went way beyond what could be expected by replacing all 4 door panels, the glove box, and the dashboard. I felt guilty for letting it go after Lexus had tried so hard to make it right. Unfortunately, there were still areas of the interior that melted and got sticky when hot, or felt “clammy” when cold. When I lived in Colorado, the weather usually cool and/or dry enough that it didn’t bother me much. But then, I moved to Florida.

Maybe it doesn’t make sense to you. I’ve owned four vehicles with a power sunroof & this is the only one that has leaked into the passenger compartment. I had one that the foam seal began to fall apart, but it never leaked inside the car. I had the seal replaced & I was good for another few years. Lexus Service told me there is an issue on the driver’s side leaking into the microphone & the Japanese made sunroof was the fix for that problem.

Now, onto Bridgestone OEM tire warranty. I called Bridgestone’s warranty center & I was told specifically that Lexus specked out these Ecopia & they are NOT the same as over-the-counter tires from a tire store. Tire store tires carry a mileage warranty, but all OEM, regardless of brand, do not carry a mileage warranty. She was not surprised that I only got 22,000 miles out of them. In order to obtain any compensation, Lexus must contact Bridgestone for compensation, IF there is any at all to be had. So I stand by my comment that Lexus is using JUNK on many of their new vehicles. This also explains why I saw so many complaints about the Michelin OEM tires. They may or may not be better, but there were tons of comments about people only getting 20,000 miles or so out of the OEM tires. Bridgestone also told me DO NOT buy ANY tires from a car dealer as the have nothing but the manufacturer spec OEM tires WITHOUT a mileage warranty.

I’m not talking about snow tires, I’m talking about tires installed at the Lexus factory. Road Hazard warranty is completely different from a mileage warranty.

No, you are completely upside down & sideways on this. Road Hazard warranty has ZERO to do with a mileage warranty. Look in your owners manual. There is nothing that guarantees you will get X number of miles out of the factory installed tires. It’s possible that the USA gets different tires than Canada. Your theory A is mostly correct. Toyota/Lexus (or GM, Ford, FCA, etc.) all sit down & spec out what they want in their tires. They cut corners because there is no mileage warranty. So we, the customers, get a different Bridgestone tire than what you would get if you bought the same brand/model tire at a Firestone store or Discount Tire or Canadian Tire, etc. There are numerous Bridgestone Ecopia 422 tires that have different sizes, treadwear, traction and/or temperature ratings, because they go on different cars. I found complaints about Nisan Leaf cars having the same issues I’m having with Bridgestone Ecopia 422 tires. I also found the same complaints on Michelin Premier tires on various vehicles (some wearing out in as little as 15,000 miles). There are differences in the coding of these tires - they may look exactly the same as the better quality tires, except the code letters & numbers will be different, indicating they are OEM issue. There is no “buying a mileage warranty” from a car dealer. The Bridgestone advisor also stressed the following: DO NOT BUY TIRES FROM A CAR DEALER! You will not get the full warranty & quality tire as you would if you bought from an authorized tire retailer. Does that make sense? This is pure auto manufacturer profit, so yes, Lexus cut corners on their tires & sold junk so they could make more money.

I agree with Consumer Reports findings, but they are looking at tires purchased at a tire retailer & not OEM tires. OEM tires don’t get a warranty because they are an inferior grade of tire.

Of course Discount Tire will sell you better tires. OEM tires are the poor quality tires.

.Shaking my head. Do you really think I’m making this crap up?! Do you really think that a huge company like Toyota/Lexus wouldn’t cut quality to make a buck?! This is about making as much money as possible, not about making making things right for the customers. Lexus does come up with a spec with tire companies that don’t wear as long as tires purchased from a tire retailer. Tires are coded at the tire factories according to who is going to get them. Then the consumer grade tires go to tire distribution warehouses where they are sold to places like Discount Tire, Canadian Tire, Joe Schmoe Tire, or Firestone retail stores. Auto manufacturers get their cheaper cost tires that go to the assembly plants. Those tires either have a special number or letter or they are missing a letter or number that designates them as lower quality OEM tires, hence the no mileage warranty clauses. Lexus might pay $100-$150 per tire for OEM & we as customers, go to Discount Tire or a Firestone store & we pay $200-$225 for a longer lasting tire that looks nearly the same as the OEM tires. You then get more warranty (for whatever that’s worth).

I didn’t mix anything up. I have visited a Firestone store & I called Bridgestone (from the tire packet in the owner’s manual). Why can’t you understand these differences or why Bridgestone told me not to buy tires from a car dealer? A car dealer is NOT considered to be retail. They are OEM & represent the car factory. I’m not saying car dealer OEM tires are going to blow out & cause you to wreck, I’m just saying they are missing compounds that will make tires wear longer & they get them for a cheaper price because they won’t last as long. Why do suppose the US DOT came up with the Uniform Tire Grading System? It’s because all tires with the same name are not the same. What still baffles me is how OEM tires are marked say a 600 Treadwear & a customer gets an average of 20,000-30,000 miles out of them, yet a non-OEM tire is marked a 640 & customers get 50,000-60,000 miles out of them. The ratio of the numbers doesn’t add up. I’m trying to learn as much as I can about this as I was like you & didn’t know any of this. Many are years ago, I had my OEM Goodyear tires recalled. I didn’t have any problems, but I was able to upgrade to much better tires. The only other tire issues I’ve had are the junk Toyos that Toyota had on my Tundra. I replaced them with non-OEM Yokahama tires & they lasted 60,000 miles. The Toyos would have maybe lasted 15,000 if the belts hadn’t been separated inside them. They were absolute junk. I took them to two Toyota dealers & a tire shop & they all agreed they were crap.

So if you don’t believe me, call the number in your book. Go to your local Bridgestone or Michelin dealer & ask them to show you the differences. That’s what I did. Firestone showed me the coding on their non-OEM tires vs. my loaner’s lack of a code on the same brand tire. I’m not perfect & I make mistakes, but I assure you I’m not making this stuff up. I was a quality manager for many years & I knew what grades of product I could get in bulk vs. buying straight from a retail outlet.