QuestionIn July of '08 i purchased a set of 4 of the above in teh P255/45ZR 18 99W flavor. I travel very little primarily from my home to the airport - and have put on approximately 8500 miles on the tires. While having my oil changed (Audi A8L - 2004) the gut dias - hey looks like you need a set of tires. Kinda blew me a way - cause I knew I had little mileage ont the tires. He took me back to the lift and both rear tires were really worn. I went back to Discount Tire -where I bought them, got a huge run around saying I shoudl have come in sooner for rotation (which was my next stop anyhow after my oil change). They told me there was no warranty or "expected life" - my poin tis I paid >$800. fo rhe tires, and there appears to be no buyer protection. Checked the GY site and they say rotate every 6K to 8K - so I am not "that far" out of bounds. Any suggestions????
Mike
AnswerMichael,
Tire wear is a complex issue and simple answers do not do justice to the subject, but let me give you some key points.
Most tire wear occurs in cornering, so vehicles that travel between cities will get better tire wear than vehicles that travel within cities. The difference can be orders of magnitude.
Tires on drive positions will wear the center of the tread while steer tires tend to wear the shoulders. That means RWD's will have the same wear rate front to rear, but the dominant pattern will be different, while FWD's will wear the fronts much faster than the rears (my research says 2½ times), but the pattern will be even.
Alignment can adversely affect wear rates. Toe in, in particular, is like pushing the tire sideways. Camber makes the tire wear on one side.
"Spirited" driving can also make the tires wear quickly. It tends to exaggerate any of the above wear issues.
Some tires are designed for wear, while others are designed for grip, and others are designed to reduce fuel consumption. You can't get all three!
In your case, the tires were designed for grip (The name ought to be a clue). That means the tires will not wear well and do not carry a wear warranty (another clue!)
My experience is that Discount Tire is quite generous, so I'm surprised that they would not offer some kind of concession - UNLESS there is more to this story.
Ordinarily, I would suggest you call Goodyear's 800 number, but they should refer you to the selling dealer - and you've been there.
At this point, I think it's best to get as objective as possible. What are the factors that influenced the wear? What was it that Discount Tire saw that negatively impacted their usual business practices?
Once you have the answer to those questions, then I think you can figure out how to best deal with this situation.
