I have a 2007 Highlander Hybrid. It has 25,000 miles. I just took it in for an oil change and to have the tires rotated (I do both every 5k miles). The tires showed signs of “cupping and chopping”. I just had the alignment done at $20,000 miles (for the first time). Most standard tires are supposed to last 60,000 miles so why am I seeing this. Is the car doing this to the tires and should Toyota cover this since the car is only 25,000 miles old? I bought it new. Thanks.
Well a couple of things.
First off I’ve NEVER been able to get a lot of miles on OEM tires…no matter what the brand was. Usually well below the rating of the tire.
Second…Cupping is usually caused by worn shocks/struts. But the truck has so few miles I serious doubt that’s the problem. Have the truck checked out to see if there’s a problem.
There’s a lot that can happen to vehicle alignment in 20K miles - and some of those things can cause tires to cup and chop.
You didn’t indicate what adjustments were made at the time of the alignment, but even if the adjustments were made, rubber was not added back onto the tires, so the tires continued the waer pattern from before, just more slowly. The only true fix is replacing the tires.
Besides worn struts, cupping can be caused by tires that are a bit out of balance.
You had your alignmnet done at $20,000? Wow. You need to shop around.
Seriously, I think CapriRacer and Alan probably got this one right. Once the tires begin to wear irregularly, they generally continue to do so after the problem is corrected. And not only do cars occasionally come from the dealer without the tires well balanced, I’ve even seen them come from the dealer misaligned. And with incorrect tire pressure.
When consumer review media do new car reviews they check things like alignment, wheel balance, and tire pressure before putting the cars “through their paces” and it really isn’t uncommon to find one or more of these items out of spec.
“Most standard tires are supposed to last 60,000 miles”
In an ideal world, this might be true, but the concept that “standard tires” (whatever that might mean) are “supposed to last 60,000 miles” is not based on either reality or on any tire tread wear standard that exists.
That being said, I believe that your tires need to be re-balanced and possibly re-aligned, even though that will not eliminate the wear pattern that has already been worn into the tread.
I agree. I think it’s the exceptional tire that lasts 60K miles, not the “standard” tire. I would be amazed and delighted if a tire lasted 60K miles and didn’t have any abnormal wear pattern. I doubt it’s possible in the real world.
I have had 5 Toyotas the most recent an 07 and always replaced the tires after 20,000 miles …while there was some tread left I was not comfortable with the safety margin with the remaining tread depth…