I’m about to put two brand new Mavis all-season tires on my 2024 Toyota Corolla LE. The shop plans to install the new tires on the front and move the current front tires to the rear. I’m fine with that setup.
Out of curiosity, I ran this scenario through ChatGPT, and it strongly pushed back, almost aggressively, saying the new tires should always go on the rear for safety reasons, especially in wet conditions.
That said, I also called two separate Toyota service centers, and both agreed with Mavis: new tires on the front, older ones rotated to the back.
So now I’ve got AI saying one thing and multiple human professionals saying another.
Curious what others here think…what’s actually the correct approach in this situation?
Well since Mavis is one of the lowest rated business I would not even ask them the time of day. I can’t believe any shop still says put the new tires if only buying 2 on the front.
I’m surprised all 3 shops gave you advice counter to the industry standard: new tires on the back to reduce the chance of spinning out. How worn are the 2 tires you’re keeping? If near-new it wouldn’t make a lot of difference.
I wouldn’t even trust the folks at Mavis to give me the correct directions to a destination. If you want the opinion of folks who actually know what they’re talking about, I suggest that you follow the advice of the tire companies, which is summarized here: Discount Tire | Tires and Wheels for Sale | Online & In-Person
This has been hotly debated here in the past. I have come to the conclusion that buying two tires at a time is a bad practice and all four should just be replaced. The idea is that better tires are less likely to lose rear traction and skid. Of course goo$tire on the front in a fwd will tend to pull the car straight in low traction conditions. In snow and ice I never had a problem with the rear spinning out. But that is me and I gave up arguing with the experts and just buy four. Likely that lady in question would have crashed regardless of the tires.
To the false economy of it, if you buy two at a time you are always riding on mismatched tires which is a bad idea. Then you buy two more so end up buying four sooner or later. If you buy four, you are done for a while, have better handling, and don’t have to worry about it. So it’s just a matter of buying two more a little sooner is all, one time. Even if I wreck only one tire, I replace all four and be done with it. Unless I hav3 very few miles on the wrecked tire, like 2000. Plus the whole issue of mismatched tires on an all wheel drive.
All great info. Too late now, though. New tires are on the front. On Reddit, I saw a mix of opinion on this. I suppose I could run to Valvoline and have them rotate the tires in the next week if need be. I’m less concerned now since we’re coming into warm weather and snow/ice isn’t a thing anymore for awhile.
Oh, no need to tell me how much Valvoline sucks. They rotate tires fine.
Rain is when Hydroplaning is the problem. Why can’t you accept what the real tire experts are posting? They are not on Reddit. Tire Rack also says the new tires go on the rear.
Why not trust the tire makers and marketers instead, like Tire Rack. Here’s what Michelin has to say:
Why Put the 2 New Tires on the Rear Axle?
The New tires will provide better wet grip than your half-worn tires. It will help reduce the potential for the vehicle to oversteer and lose stability in wet conditions
I am curious how you managed to wear out just two tires on your two-year old car and not need to replace all four… Was it a mechanical issue or a tire blow out and you are replacing it as a pair?
Ok, here we go again. I’ll buy this if the tires not replaced are bald or heavily worn, but like the lady says, the tires are “half “ worn. If they are bad enough to be a hydro planing risk, they should also be replaced. The lady in the film also says that if you lose traction in the front, you will feel it and “can take corrective action”. You should know your car enough to know if the rears are breaking loose and also take corrective action. I dunno, gotta be there but 45 on a flooded road in a curve is asking for trouble. Front or back, try that on ice. If your rears break loose, you want good traction on the front to pull you out of a spin. Just sayin . Asking for trouble. Replace all four. Like the sign says “ caution people ahead driving like you.” I just think it’s bogus based on my two million mile sample and were I on th3 jury, she wouldn’t have gotten a dime.
I made this suggestion recently while in the Philippines to our friend who was driving us around in her daughter’s Vios, but they said just put them wherever a bald or flat tire was, “because we were on a tight schedule”.
Doing it the way texases and I suggested would mean lifting the car, and both lifts were already in use.
The TireWhisperer can’t win - in the U.S. or abroad!
If you are worried about safety, replace all four and don’t fool yourself.
I can’t recall for sure where I was, maybe Istanbul, but there was a small shop and the guy was working outside in front of the store front. I don’t think there was even a stall fi4 a car, let alone a lift. Ya all think we aren’t privileged? But then there is a reason for our prosperity.
common knowledge.
