This is my wife’s car. It has only 31,000 miles after 6 years. And yet, Toyota told me that the car needs new tires. I verified it with my penny test. The car had Michelin tires P205/65R16, Premier A/S. How come that they were worn out after 31,000 miles ? Even the cheapest Michelin tires are guaranteed up to 60,000 miles !
The dealer is doing what they should do. Your tires are 6 years old so even if they still have tread they are due for replacement just by age .
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Yeah, well you just discovered that the OEM tire is not the same as those they sell in the aftermarket. I just replaced the tires on my 2012 Odyssey. They were Continentals and had all of 26k on them and were well beyond needing to be replaced. The same thing happened on my Camry. They cheap out on the OEM tires, saves them a little money…
BTW- those tires are not guaranteed for 60k miles. That is a comparative value to all other tires tested under the same controlled conditions. It’s a means to evaluate wear rates for tires but is not a guaranteed number. Because much depends on your driving style, environment etc.
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31k miles out of the OEM tires is actually pretty reasonable. As others have pointed out the OEM MIchelin Premier A/S’s that came on your car are the not the same as the ones you buy from a tire shop or warehouse club ,even though they are branded as the same tire. The OEM Pirelli’s that came on my Mustang barely made it 11k miles, if that makes you feel any better.
+1
The OEM Bridgestones on my friend’s Rav-4 needed to be replaced at ~25k miles.
The OEM Continentals that came on my Outback probably would have lasted longer, but they were so incredibly bad that I opted to replace them at ~30k miles.
And, this is certainly not a new phenomenon. The OEM BF Goodrich tires on my father’s '66 Ford Galaxie were “done” by 18k miles.
A friend of mine (who shouldn’t even own a car…) recently replaced the OEM Goodyears on his Scion because they were dry-rotted after 7 years, even though the car has less than 8k on the odometer.
I just replaced a set of 65000 mile aftermarket Firestones after 31000 miles/5 years. There was a bit less than 1/8" tread left but we’re talking about 5 year old tires so I had them replaced on principle. IMHO you’ve gotten reasonable service out of your Michelins.
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Now’s your chance to choose tires that will make your car perform more the way you want it to. Use Consumer Reports and/or tirerack.com tire test data and get the combination of attributes that fit your driving conditions and preferences.
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I’ve just recently replaced “eco-tires” on my 14-years old Prius with performance all-season tires (AKA “not eco-friendly”)
my MPG dropped from 47.5 to 46.5
for that tiny difference, I better have a good grip in wet weather 
maybe tell your wife that you care deeply about her and her safety, and so want to replace the 6 year old tires, which have hardened rubber and so decreased performance – especially with winter coming up
you might even be a hero from this!
[edit: as for cost, don’t presume that only Michelins are good tires there are good tires from other manufacturers that cost less – General and Continental are examples]
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+1 for Generals, every time I bought a set it was great on performance and quality
I was lesser happy with Contis last time I bought a set, their uniformity was questionable.
The last set I’ve got for Prius was Kumho Solus TA11, very inexpensive with quite good grip and rolling resistance (thus MPG) is not much worse than prior set, at expense of some numbness around the center, they are not for “sporty spirited” drive, which comes with driving hybrids anyways
Here’s a good read on the subject,
courtesy of our resident tire expert: CapriRacer
My Corolla – purchased new – only got 35 k miles on its original tires. The set after that, over 100K. The manufacturer’s have little incentive to install long-lasting tires on their new cars. The tires are an expense, not a profit center, so.they typically install a version with good handling characteristics that has a tread-life of about 3 years of normal driving. I expect your next set will give you a lot more miles. Best of luck.
the civic i leased had tires with poor winter traction so i got a 2nd set of used rims/snow tires and it was much better driving. that let me put the 1st set on the shelf for 1/2 the yr. they were at minimum tread when 4yr lease ended. i figure they had 35k miles. than i sold the snow tires for more than i paid.
I’m going to throw this out here – but will start a new thread if needed:
anyone have input on whether higher rated tires, like H and V, wear faster than lower rated counterparts?
I ran across this idea recently and am wondering how real it might be
I got 60,000 miles on the OEM tires on my Avalon (Dunlops) . I replaced them with another set of Dunlops (Signature).
I’m due for tires now. Dunlop doesn’t make 205/65 for 15 inch rims, so I’ll be looking at MIchelins.
Would the type of driving you do matter? Constant local driving where one is making right turns, braking, etc affect mileage, as opposed to highway driving like I do? (numerous trips between New England and Long Island)
The OEM tires that came with my 1982 Cressida didn’t even have a name on the sidewall. They were junk, and lasted 25,000 miles. Oh and there was no full size spare, just a “doughnut”
The more turning that you have to do, the faster your tires will wear.
Long highway runs on essentially straight roads are the best thing for your tires…
as long as they are properly-inflated.
On my Camry, the OEM Continentals lasted 18k miles. The replacement Yokohamas went 75k miles on the same commute.