As most of my driving is less than 7 miles a day - just over 3 miles to and from work, I now have less than 11,000 miles on the car. However, the tread on all of the tires is really worn down. Is this a common problem with the Fit? I know there are a couple spots on the road that are slightly rough, but not that bad. I’m in New York State - annual inspections are required - even two years ago I was told by the dealer that the tires barely passed inspection, and six months ago getting an oil change, the shop (not the dealer) recommended replacing the tires. I can’t believe that this kind of wear is normal for tires that are less than 4 years old and less than 11,000 miles. And yes, the tires have been rotated but all that has really accomplished is “misery loves company.”
About all I know is that when I do end up getting new tires, I will make sure they are good winter tires and make sure there is a mileage warranty.
A lot has to do with your driving habits.
I realize that and also know that I’ve tended to always, especially in the last few years with higher gas prices, been careful about not being rough with the car, braking, accelerating, etc. Also especially since this is the first car that I’ve owned.
It does seem like your tires are wearing out too fast. Are they inflated to the recommended pressure?
If you have the performance tire and wheel option, you will see faster wear as the tires are designed to be “stickier” on the road, but as a result will wear out sooner.
Are you driving on pavement? Gravel roads can wear out street tires.
Are you parking outside all the time? The sun will cause the rubber of tires to age, become brittle and deteriorate. Since you drive so little your tires, while having only 11,000 miles on them, are still 4 years old.
You might want to look at www.tirerack.com for information about your choices in newer tires. The are a good source for information to compare tread life, winter performance, etc.
Most tire wear occurs when cornering - and you’re doing a lot of corenering compared to the distance you drive straight ahead. That’s what is making the tires appear to wear faster.
If your commute was 30 miles instead of 3 miles, you’d have about the same amount of wear, but you would have 10 times the distance - and no complaint!
Agreed with CapriRacer and a contributing factor (although it may be a touchy one to mention) is how aggressively those 3 miles are driven.
If you have the performance tire and wheel option, you will see faster wear as the tires are designed to be “stickier” on the road, but as a result will wear out sooner.
I was about to say the same thing. The OP should expect to pay a lot for replacement tires. These days, you really need to investigate the cost of replacement tires before you buy a car. I even know someone who traded in his car because of the sticker shock he got when he searched for his first set of replacement tires. It didn’t make economic sense to me, but he did it anyway.
Thanks guys. Not to say that I am completely non-aggressive, but as I said, I have tried, ever since owning the car, to be gentle with it. I think CapriRacer’s answer has a lot to be said for it. I never really thought about it, but the amount of non-straight driving that is entailed in just entering/leaving home (condo) parking lot as well as the parking lot at work is considerable and adds up. And any driving that I do when off of work tends to involve multiple side-streets and turns, despite the short distances involved. And that which Wentwest mentioned about the tires being outside probably plays a role as well, since the car is almost never parked in a garage.
Obviously, the concern over the potential cost of replacement tires is part of why I brought up the issue of tire tread wear to begin with.
Please provide a clarification for my ignorant self as to what “OP” stands for?
Have you taken a look at the tire grading information on the sidewall of those original equipment tires? The rating for wear might range anywhere from…lets say something in the “200 range”…all the way up to the “700 range”, and the higher the number the more wear you are likely to get from the tires.
I can tell you from experience that the OEM tires that come on most cars are not rated very well for wear. For instance, the ones on my friend’s RAV-4 were rated at…240, IIRC. They wore out in about 25k miles, but he does mostly highway driving and he keeps them inflated to about 3 lbs over the recommended pressure, both of which helped him to get a few more miles out of those tires.
When he recently got new tires, I guided him toward the Goodyear Fortera Triple-Tread, an expensive, very highly-rated tire with a wear rating of…something over 500 IIRC. I expect him to get at least 45-50k out of these tires. In other words, you get what you pay for, and most car manufacturers really “cheap out” on the OEM tires.
Please check the wear rating on those tires and report back to us with this number, as this could be a very good clue as to your situation. Oh, and the internet abbreviation, OP, refers to the “original poster”–YOU!
I would think that for a manufacturer to “cheap-out” on the OEM tires is practically a given. I took a look, and the treadwear rating on the tires is 320. And they are Dunlop tires. I guess a remaining issue is in terms of replacement tires - to go cheap assuming that they also probably won’t last long, or go more expensive and try to depend/hope that they won’t.
It stands for “original poster.”
To be fair, the tires I’m planning on getting for my car is not only rated better in terms of treadwear/speed rating(101V 420 A A) compared to the OEM(101H 260 A A), they’re also rated for better overall traction and are CHEAPER than OEM($157 vs $190 on tirerack)
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?tireIndex=0&autoMake=Mazda&autoYear=2010&autoModel=CX-7+s&autoModClar=Grand+Touring+AWD&width=235/&ratio=55&diameter=19&sortCode=57264&skipOver=true&minSpeedRating=H&minLoadRating=S&tab=All