Hi, yesterday morning when i took my car i saw the Low pressure indicator, I was so lazy to get out and check the tires so drove the car to my office which is 3 miles far. After reaching my office only I found my rear right tire had low pressure which looked like a flat tire. So changed the spare tire and went to Toyota Service and they checked and said that someone loosen the mouth valve which caused the low pressure and since you’ve drove with this low pressure it caused a ring pattern on both the sides, so you’ve to change the tire which would cost $350. I was so pissed off and don’t want to pay that much, so i went to Firestone service center(cuz my tire is Bridgestone), there they said the same to change the tire with reduced price of $254. still i had doubt and went to America’s tire, there too they said the same and it would cost $224, I agreed and paid for the tire change, they changed my tire but they installed Michelin brand (all other tires are Bridgestone) . The thing is all these three places only salesman saw the tire and said to replace it, i didn’t consult any mechanic( who should be expert) to know the actual truth whether it’ll be safe to use the same tire. Thats the reason i came here, I’ve attached the picture of my tire, if someone could see that n tell me if it is safe, it’ll be better for me. And also please advise me that if one tire is Michelin and others are Bridgestone, will this cause any problem for any of my tires ? cuz the michelin’s pattern is not exactly same but a small minor design change at the center. rest all the patterns are same.
While it’s hard to tell from here, there’s extensive wear on the sidewall, so this tire was just about flat, which could damage it. The ‘good’ news is that it looks not too far off the wear bars, so you’ll be needing new tires soon, anyway. How many miles are on the tires?
10500 miles. I’ve already changed the tire yesterday. But They’ve installed Michelin which doesn’t have exact same pattern, but slight change in the middle design. will this be ok ?
HI Docnick. Please read my post fully. I’ve already changed the tire which cost me $224. But They’ve installed Michelin which doesn’t have exact same pattern, but slight change in the middle design. will this be ok ? my all other 3 wheels have Bridgestone tires
Looking at the tire I would say it’s damaged from driving it while underinflated and needs to be replaced. Changing the tire at the first sign of trouble might have saved you from buying a new one.
$224 is right in the ballpark for the price of a Bridgestone Turanza for your car. Personally I would have stayed with the Bridgestone and not mixed a Michelin on the car.
You say you’re new to car ownership and maintenance. If a simple flat tire makes you “pissed off” you may have more surprises in store ahead of you.
Here’s the thing, now you have one good tire and three worn tires. Maybe the mismatch won’t cause a problem unless you live in snow country, but its time to just replace the tires. So either go back and get three more that match, or else get four if you are unhappy with the new one. If you wait, then you will have one worn tire and three new tires-it’ll always be out of sync. Yeah I had to pay something like $260 plus mount and balance for a matched tire so the price is not out of line. But I’d just bite the bullet and get it all done and be done with it.
Actually even i was thinking that they’re installing the same Bridgestone tires, But because of my poor communication with the salesman i didn’t notice that he had sold the michelin to me. Its my fault that i didn’t notice at the point of sale. Next, the thing which pissed off me is my laziness and my carelessness, if i had check my tires when i started the car, i wouldn’t have paid $224 yesterday. Lesson learnt, so i will be more careful in future.
I’ve started to read articles on how to maintain our cars, but still i don’t have any clear idea, Checking air pressure regularly, washing car regularly. these two only I think i can do it. But rest like checking engine, transmission oil, checking the coolant water, lubricating joints, alignment these looks like rocket science for me. So the regular Scheduled service from Toyota will take care of these things, or should i start to learn how to do these things on my own ? Please advise, I accept that am a total noob guy in Car mechanics. :neutral:
Mr.Bing, it makes sense that i’ll be more than happy to get all three tires replaced, But now i’m out of budget. What if i wait for my three tires to get worn out, and i’ll replace all 4 tires at that time ? because even if i change it now, i don’t know what to do with my new tire, is there any place where i can trade it/sell it ? or will the dealer itself will be ready to take back the new tire and install 4 new ones with reduced cost ?
Yeah but the thing is, if you would have checked the tire, you would have paid $20-30 to have the tire repaired and then you’d have four worn tires that will need replacement soon. So you just invested the money into a new tire instead. This is how many of us just end up getting a new set of tires to be done with it.
Yep, first sit down and read the owners manual. Then just learn how to do the basics like check the oil and fluids and be aware of any changes in the car that should be looked at. You are one of those who should trade regularly though and let someone else worry about it. But still need to do the basics.
It would be very strange if the tires wore out after only 10k miles. I cannot tell from the photos what the tread depth is. Can you measure it, several spots on each tire, and get back to us?
My bad. I thought it said 105,000 miles not 10,500 miles. If you only have 10K on the tires, I think you want to try and match the other three and forget the part about the other three worn tires. I think you should go back to the place you got it and try to replace it with a matched tire. Maybe that’s why the price difference.
The sidewall is scrubbed off of that tire and it would be dangerously unsafe to have left it on the car due to a blowout factor.
One thing you absolutely must change is stated in your first sentence about being so “lazy to get out and check the tires” so you drove the car with a tire pressure lamp on.
You must get in the habit of learning how to check fluids, eyeball tires, stop immediately if the car is overheating or an oil pressure lamp illuminates, etc. If not, you’re going to be in real financial grief later on that makes a bad tire seem like pocket change.
Mr.Bing, yeah, even i was wondering y you were suggesting to change all the tires since the ODO has just 10k miles, I’m confused whether the salesman would accept to change the tire after 24 hours of the change. Also I’m not feeling comfortable to go again and ask for change of tire for the matching one. Will they accept to change if i request them ?
Mr.Ok4450, yes, i’ve paid for my carelessness. I won’t take anything easy anymore. I will be more cautious even if there is a small things on my car. and thanks for your advise, i’m learning those stuffs.
Mr.Texases, I’m not sure, what caused this wear out in the middle alone, I’ll measure the tread depth for all other three wheels in multiple points and even i’ll take a photo and attach later. pls take look on that n suggest me what should i do.
(will post the measurements and images in the evening)
