Our week old lexus gs430 has a hole that is within 3/4" of the edge and is said to be unrepairable. My husband says we must get the exact same tire. I say any 245/40/r18 should do… Do the treads and everything have to match? This is a Yokohama ADVAN A10B 245/40 r18 93y Thank you for your help.
This post has been moved to the new Car Talk Discussion Area, by a Car Talk Lackey. The original poster is Wildanimalpark.
If the hole is 3/4 of a inch from the edge of the tire it can be repaired. If the hole is ON the edge or the sidewall then it can’t be repaired
Replacing with same tire make/model size is optimal. Otherwise you create and a likely imbalance of traction that will present itself at the worse of times like in an emergency manuveur or worse yet in slippery inclement weather.
I’d get a second opinion on whether or not the tire can be repaired.
Any tire the correct size will work, but with a car this new I’d suggest getting a tire that matches the other three. It won’t be cheap, but it’s the smartest thing to do.
If the vehicle is all wheel drive, the identical tire is best.
In this tire size you may not find a very large selection to pick from.
Why not use the same brand,model and size tire as was original equipment?
Do you think you will find one less expensive?
A different tire brand will not have the same rubber compound, tire pattern, and might not even be made of the same type construction. (# and make up of plys). A differant tire will most likely ride, handle, and brake differently.
Maybe after paying the dealer for the Lexus, and filling up the gas tank you don’t have enough left for a proper tire.
You spent $60,000+ on a brand new Lexus and now you want to save $20.00 by getting a cheap replacement tire? Why not spring for a new tire that is the same as the other three?
Since this is a new car and the tires will probably will be there for long I will go with identical. Were you happy with the ride? Also any sort of warranty/roadside hazard that came with the car?
The puncture sounds repairable to me…The tire should be broken down, inspected, and patched from the inside…Was it just a simple nail puncture? Any sort of cut and the tire should be replaced. Original equipment tires can be hard to find. The factories set their own specs and retail outlets never seem to stock to O.E. tires. You should NOT use just any tire on a vehicle like this. Todays highway speeds and traction controls demand a matched set of tires…
I second the comment about paying for a new tire if you can afford that car. $200 is peanuts.
Tires have a number of variables. Traction rating, wet and dry performance, water shedding, temperature rating, tread design, shoulder design, speed rating and a number of other factors. Two different tires on the front could also affect front end alignment and handling due to tread variations between them.
Get a second opinion on the repair. If it is not repairable, then replace the tire with an exact duplicate.
Get an identical tire. It’s only $300 or so, plus mounting and disposal. And what about insurance? Does your auto insurance cover damage to the tire? Does the warranty cover the damage incurred? At $300+ it’s worth a couple of phone calls. And read the tire warranty in the owner’s manual package.
The tire warranty and cars’ factory warranty will not cover a road hazard. Don’t waste your time calling.
How do you know that it was a road hazard? It probably was, but we don’t really know that yet.
What else could it be??? Geez… the tire didn’t come from the factory with a hole in it!
Plus, call it what you want… hole, puncture, or whatever term fits. It is not covered by the tire warranty or the factory warranty.
Tires do come from the factory with defects. Do you remember the Firestone 721 belt delaminations?
Most tire stores I know will plug a tire as long as the puncture is not on the sidewall. The catch is they’ll charge you “cash only” and with no receipt.
If you run into any problems from the shops go to any auto parts store and buy a tire plug repair kit and do it yourself.
If the hole is within the tread area there are specialty patches with integrated pluges that should be used. The hole should be reamed clean to grind the steel belts protruding into the injury. The patch with intergral plug will fill the hole, bonding to the imediate area. The plug portion helps to prevent the hole from allowing water into the hole which can further degrade the steel belts causing a seperation or failure.
With the other tyres that new, I would not consider using anything other than the best match I could find. Sometimes the best replacement may be the same name size and manufacturer, but it may still have some differences.
You want the tyres to be the same because if they are not, the imbalance can cause emergency handling problems and in some cases can damage the car.From personal experience, tires from different manufacturer’s can be different enough in size to effect the handling. Years ago, I put 2 new tires on my wife’s car and couldn’t drive over 45 mph because the car was shaking so bad even though all four tires were supposedly the same size. Four new tires fixed that. On the other hand at one point we had 3 different tires on our 98 Windstar (all Good Year though) with no problems, I suspect our Windstar might be a little more tolerate of this than your vehicle. I think it would be best to replace it with the same tire. I would try Tirerack www.tirerack.com before I would spend a fortune at a dealer.
Here is a list of the 245 40R18 tires for only Yokohama at Tirerack
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp?startIndex=0&width=245%2F&ratio=40&diameter=18&manufacturer=Yokohama&search=true&pagelen=20&pagenum=1&pagemark=1&x=10&y=16
The ADVAN A10B is quite expensive, I can’t imagine what a dealer is charging for one.
Ed B.