JspecSC3

iTrader: (4)

Did you know that when you buy a brand new Lexus from the dealer it will come equipped with tires that are expected to last only 15,000-20,000 miles??

My dad bought a 2007 IS250 last year when they first came out. We've had it for about a year. It already has about 32,000 miles on it since he does use it to travel up and down California. I took it in to my work the other day because I noticed there was a nail on one of the fronts. When we unbolted the wheels we noticed that the inner edges were chewed up pretty bad but the middle section was still at about 4/32nds of tread. I took it to the dealer to see if they can do about it. I thought it had some type of alignment issue. But they had told me that all the new Lexus vehicles have extreme caster because of their weight and handling. I also spoke with the Service adviser about the tire wear issue since the car only has about 32,000 miles. They said they were very surprised to hear that I even got that amount of miles out of those tires. He then took me to around the dealership and pointed out the stickers on every Lexus that stated that the vehicle was equipped with a high performance tire that is expected to last about 15,000-20,000 miles. Was anyone else aware of this when you first purchased your Lexus brand new from the dealer? It certainly shocked me.

RTIS250

iTrader: (9)

Count yourself lucky you got 32k out of your tires... thats pretty good.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

it's been a while, since the is300 i believe. they started putting summer tires and stated that it will last 15 to 20k miles

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

they have it stated in the "fine prints"....heh heh heh...

http://www.lexus.com/models/IS/detai...fications.html

[11]17-in tires are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 20,000 miles, depending on driving conditions. Please see your Lexus dealer for details and other information relating to tire selection.

[12]18-in tires are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 15,000 miles, depending on driving conditions. Please see your Lexus dealer for details and other information relating to tire selection.

I will be looking for a new set real soon....

JspecSC3

iTrader: (4)

Haha yeah I though it was weird how they kind of left out that important detail. All the service advisors were shocked to hear we had gotten almost 31,000 out of them. Those Bridgestone Potenzas are the worst. So I threw on the Potenza RE050AS which have a much higher tread wear rating and have a 40,000 mile warranty.

VF84

was ur original tire the turanza er33?

i'd doubt the potenza RE050A can run that long.

the last three types of bridgestone potenza's (expedia S01, S02, and S03) lasted only 10k without rotation.

STIG

You are complaining because you get 32k miles on stock 2IS tires?

Mine has 22K on them and they are out!

LexAnt

iTrader: (2)

wow, i guess it is all in how you drive or how the alignment is set. so far on my S03's i've put on 20k with plenty of tread still left. Joe at CA can attest to that when we did the alignment last week.

VF84

granted, it's for different cars (1 fwd and 1 rwd, tho all aligned within spec). but asking 40k out of the re050 seems a bit unrealistic, especially since u can't rotate them if they're directional..

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

roger:

wow! thanks for the info.......

you gotta hook me up with that....I might need that soon...?

martini3

jspec,

I did not know that and if I did, I would have changed out the Dun-flops runflats when I bought the car. By the time I put 30K on it, my inner tire wheel well were exposing the wires.

Luckily, because of this club, I was able to get the right non-runflat tires w/ way more treadwear life on them.

teeman3

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

turanza er33 sucks......

josephdoc

The UTQG (Uniform Tire Quality Grade by NHTSA) tells how much you get beat out on a tire under normal useage (about 10k miles in one year usage). The vehicle manufacturers intend to put on best tires focusing on "Riding Comfort" to stand out their vehicles when test drive.

O/E tires used by ISx50...
Bridgestone Potenza RE050, UTQG 140, no mileage warranty.
Bridgestone Turanza ER30, UTQG 140, no mileage warranty.

And my suggestion...
Briggestone Potenza RE960, UTQG 400, 40k mileage warranty (if alignment is acceptable)

These are high performance tires (Z category = W/Y/Z speed rated) and most manufacturers does not cover mileage warranty under Z category tires. Also, any o/e tire on new vehicle is not covered with any warranty.... not from car dealer, not from tire manufacturer.

Just like Mercedes and BMWs, the ISx50 has extreme caster setup even at o/e spec for better traction control, and the tires will eat up faster and unevenly. The caster get worse if lowering the vehicle or equipping with custom wide-width/off-set wheels.

Everyone has different driving preference on tires. There are the factors of traction in dry, traction in wet, heat resistance, thread wear rate, cost, look, and average noise. In general, soft tires produce less road noise but give less mileage, and long lasting tires does not have good traction.

edit
BTW, 30k miles on BRS050 is a miracle! If you see wires already that means those tires were overkilled a long time ago. So.. no miracle I guess.

JspKSoarer

he got the potenza RE050AS... those do last that long.

JspecSC3

iTrader: (4)

No one is complaining. Its just an interesting discovery that I had made. Please go back to my first post.