My griend bought a 2006 Hyundai elantra with 50 miles from a dealer.She babies it, never drives hard or bounces over stuff, but is on her third pair of tires in 40,00 miles. She has the alignment and balancing done at Sears on a very regular (about every 3 months)basis and runs Sears best tires. I wonder if the car isn’t twisted.
Some clarifying questions:
Was it only the front tires that were worn out? On FWD, the front tires wear 2 1/2 times faster than the rears.
How many miles per year does she drive. Based on 40K miles and 3 years ownership, she’s driving about 13K a year - near the average.
Does she drive in the city, making a lot of turns - as opposed to driving in the country where the turns are few and far between. Most tire wear occurs in the cornering mode, and city driving will wear tires out fairly quickly.
Are the tires evenly worn when removed? If not, there is an alignment problem with the vehicle in spite of the frequent alignments reported.
Another question:
Has she ever had anyone other than Sears check the wheel alignment?
No all of the tires were being worn on the outer edge.
She put on more mileage on this summer than in past years. 10 of the 40 on this summer alone. The average is 10-12 a year.
It’s both city and highway driving, mostly all straight. Only live about 5 miles or less from work and there are 4 to 5 turns one way.
all 4 tires are shot, this is the 3rd set since purchasing the vehicle. The tires were wearing right after it was purchased and the dealer balanced the wheels, they never found anything wrong with the alignment. The dealer continued balancing the wheels when it was taken back: the wheel was pulling and the steering wheel was shaking. The Manager said the alignment was fine, but couldn’t explain why the tires were worn out in less than a year with normal or more than normal rotation.
No, just the dealer and
Sears. I suggested she take it to a Michelin dealership I deal with.
Time to dig out the telephone directory. Look for a shop in your area that specializes in wheel alignment.
Not Sears and not an auto dealer. Alignment is just a side line for them. You want someone who does alignment for a living.
When you find such a place, take the car to them for a thorough examination.