Cough

Yes I did see the damage. Not major to my mind but certainly noticeable in terms of lines internally in the tire in the direction of rotation. So I dont think Costco is scamming me - maybe just being overconservative -and were so busy I actually think they were just trying to get rid of me rather than upselling. And several of the comments and links here would seem to support their position that I should replace all four tires.

Unfortunately all the input on Tire Rack is no good for me becasue I am in Canada.

Further I just know I am going to have issues with Michelin since the car was built in Canada, purchased in the US, and now back in Canada. Canadian tire warranties are worded a little differently to US. For example I found this in the Canadian warranty for Latitude Tour HP:

And I measured my tread depth today and looks like around 5/32" remaining which would say I have used up 62.5% or my tire life at 20,000 miles - full life only 32,000 miles?? What kind of tires are these??

Cough

Thanks That was the conclusion I am coming to as well. But I dont understand how I could have lost so much life in 1 year and 20,000 miles. I guess I will just try and see how generous Michelin might be tomorrow.

dentate

Tirerack will deliver to Canada and will give you a price that includes everything--may be to your advantage especially if they have a sale on...I investiagted buying 4 Michelin Lattidude tires from them because my Japanese built 2010 came with the Dunlops that I hate since mine is an ultra premium...I spoke with the sales rep at Lexus Canada and persuaded them to change them for me to Michelins (by the way Michelins are wear rated to last 2X as long as the Dunflops). Give Tirerack a call --for me it was still going to be $400 less than buying them here - sales tax, freight, customs, etc included!

dentate
near Toronto, ON

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I thought about this topic just now, so I thought I would share my thoughts.

If you have 5/32" left, that means you used up 50% of your tire, since new tires come with 10/32". Now let's say you replaced that one tire with a new one. The difference in their Radii would be 5/32", or 10/32" for the Diameters. Now 10/32" doesn't sound like much, since it's only about .3 of an inch. But plugging these tire sizes (185/60/14 vs 195/55/14), as an example, into a tire calculator give similar differences in the diameters. And according to that tool, the bigger diameter tire will have 12 more revolutions per mile. I don't know about you, but that sound pretty significant to me.

If I were you, I would replace just two tires for now.

Btw, 40,000 for these tires is more on the aggressive side, but it's nothing to worry about. I think you can get about 60-70k if you drove smoother. You could also check your front brake pads, that would give a good indication of your driving style.

JimH2

Since the wear indicators are at 2/32, there is only 3/32 of useful tread life remaining (or 37.5 % left). Believe that Cough's estimate of 32,000 mile total life in these tires is correct (i.e., 20000/0.625 = 32,000).

stw2046

+1 ICENUTZ. Tires on a vehicle are rotating at different rates everyday under normal driving(during turns, and especially in high speed). So, are we all damaging our vehicles just by doing that?? They are totally BSing or lacking knowledge. That said, I do not recommend anyone using different rated tires on one car.(but that's another issue, even tho I had done it on my old begone long time Audi TT with no problem.)
Anyway, like the other OP said...just buy the tire and have it installed somewhere else.
Man! It makes me mad just hearing how much BS these people can come up with..Good Luck!

Cough

So I got to speak to Lexus today

My local Lexus dealer service manager said there really shouldnt be an issue with a new tire at 10/32 and a used tire at 5/32 as long as they were the same tread pattern (ie same brand, type) But for additional safety margin he did suggest putting two new tires on the front. But certainly he said it would be a waste of money to replace all four,

Lexus US customer service was essentially useless. After a couple of long calls the guy said it deepended on what state I was in. I said my question has nothing to do with the criteria for rejecting used tires (2/32 wear bar) Then he actuially had the gall to ask me "where in the owners handbok does it talk about not wanting different tread pattersn and depths?" After I helped him thorugh the manual, he went back into Lexus oblivion for a couple more hours and then came back and said "he didnt know the answer to what differential in tread depth was acceptable" but had talked to an expert in Lexus and "there would be no issue for the transfer case even if one tire was sat 10/32 and the other was at 2/32"

So i think I am going to go with 2 new tires - oine with some prorated help from Michelin and the other I will get some prorated IF it shows some internal damge when they take it off.

MEP7557

I would go with the 2 new front tires. Regardless of what type of drive system on a vehicle I would make sure that each 'axle' would have matched tires.

I have the Michelin's, I was hoping they would last a little longer than 20-30K.

At 6K I lost one of my front tires from freeway debris and had to get a new tire. I have had no problems so far.

Good Luck

PS I am hoping the other front tire suffers the same fate soon to match them up. I have a tire warranty and it completely paid for the new one. 5 years.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

What do you mean when you say that the tires are rotating at a different rate at high speed? And you obviously don't constantly turn, so the differential is not constantly engaged.

Anyways, OP just buy the two tires and be done with it. 20k is not that bad, for some people that's two years of driving!

afpj

Having all 4 tires close to the same tread depth ( and pattern/brand etc) is more important on the older RX's with "true" AWD. The 2010 RX's only engage the rear wheels when significant slippage is felt, and I doubt 4-5/32 inch difference will be detected as such. Keeping the same tread depth for the front drive wheels is much more important in this vehicle as others have stated.

Barrington

First off we bought a 2011 RX350 loaded with 19" wheels and so far so good.
I was reading in the Lexus sales brochure on the last page fine print item#20
that "18 and 19" perfomance tires are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 15000 miles, depending on driving conditions".

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Tire wear depends more on your driving style and rubber compound. Summer tires are softer than all-season, so they wear out faster. Also the initial tread depth matter as well. I think they put 15,000 just so people don't panic in the future.

tim5055

Costco doesn't have a dog in this fight, they just identified the problem. I have always had good luck with Costco, but like every other company I'm sure they have their share of "bad" employees (if thst is the case here). As others have pointed out I'm sure they have been sued before and have policies in place to protect themselves.

I am a fleet manager with 300 cars/trucks that I am responsible for. We put single tires on cars all day long. But, with that said we have had issues with AWD/4X4 vehicles in the past. If the "old" tires have too much wear when you put a single tire on the ABS system notices the speed difference and starts throwing mechanical codes. Change out the second tire on the same axle and all is good in the world.

I would agree with you that 2 tires is probably the best course of action. Sorry to hear Lexus customer service was not up to par. I would put it in writing to Lexus customer service, in CA IIRC.