[ShoshTrvls]

I'm being told by Cherry Hill MB that, 20,000 mile of wear and I need new tires. Am told this is "normal" for new tires because the rubber is softer. I'm not biting ... is it "normal?" I've never had tires go this quickly.

Oh, one more thing -- I have stock 2016 prime, and I'm trying to look up online the cost of new tires (can't look at the car because it is with CH MB). One site tells me they are 155/60R15 (f) & 175/55R15 (r) and a different site says 165/65R15 & 185/60R ... anyone know which is correct?

Thanks.

 

[Huronlad]

OE tires in many cases are made specifically for new cars and are made softer/cheaper than the replacement version of the same tire. I do not know if the US has any tire warranties on new tires. Here in Canada there is not. The manufacturer is just cutting costs where they can.

I I think I only got about 15k miles out of the rear tires on my 451.

The 165 / 185 combo will be one of the standard sizes for the 453.

Earl Stewart On Cars: Why New Car Tires Wear Out So Fast

 

[OliverB]

Go to Tirerack.com. Enter your car year, make and model. You will be shown tires that fit your car. Most likely you have Continental ProContact tires. If you have been satisfied with them, buy another set. Tire Rack has agreements with places all over the country where they can ship your tires and you go there to have them installed. You will pay them for installation and balancing. There are other tire discounters. If you took proper care of your tires and alignment is ok, they should not have worn out in 20K miles. I have 19K miles on my 453 Continental tires and they have at least 10K miles left. My leased 451 had 30K miles on the Continental when I turned it in and they were not yet worn out but were getting close. If money matters to you, dealers are the last place to buy tires.

 

[elmosisu]

Our "old" 2008 Passion used tires at the rate of 30k miles per set. Both the OEM set and the replacements. Different brands too

 

[sokoloff]

Tires have tread wear indicators that will tell you when you are getting close to new tire time. You also want to check to see that they are wearing evenly, etc. Not a bad idea either to check your tire pressures and not depend solely on the TPWS. Mine can be five or so pounds low, but not enough to trip the warning system.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 12,500 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 1,500 miles

 

[jwight]

Just my .02, but unless you drive it like you stole it on a regular basis that is way early for the tires to need replacement. I'd get a second opinion.

 

[lebikerboy]

I'm being told by Cherry Hill MB that, 20,000 mile of wear and I need new tires. Am told this is "normal" for new tires because the rubber is softer. I'm not biting ... is it "normal?" I've never had tires go this quickly.

Oh, one more thing -- I have stock 2016 prime, and I'm trying to look up online the cost of new tires (can't look at the car because it is with CH MB). One site tells me they are 155/60R15 (f) & 175/55R15 (r) and a different site says 165/65R15 & 185/60R ... anyone know which is correct?

Thanks.

165/65R15 & 185/60R15 is the correct size...

 

[dburke8088]

lebikerboy is correct. The rear tires are a different size. You can get all 4 the same size as the front. Just don't use the rear tire size. I did a rotation and my tire guy didn't catch the size difference. You just couldn't keep the car on the road. I'm at 30K and a new set for the rear. The front is fine for another 20K and show little wear. I'm just replacing with factory as they are inexpensive and the car handles fine for my heavy highway use.

 

[Jeb Baker]

I agree that OEM tires seem to wear much quicker, so I'm not surprised at 20k wear. And besides Tirerack.com, I've also found and purchased good tires for my smart at Tires-easy.com.

 

[ElementalDragon]

I, too, have a 2016 Prime, and my tires were pretty much done after around 20,000 miles. And I do kinda drive it like i stole it on a regular basis... so that could be part of the reason. Good thing the ProContact's aren't really astronomically expensive (Not like the pair of Blizzak's i have for the rear now during the colder months). Got my Prime in December of 2015, and drove on the same tires for the whole year, up until we were expecting the first snow in the winter of 2016. Took the car to the shop to put the Blizzak's on that i got from TireRack, and the guys told me that I should consider looking into buying new tires, since the old ones were basically done. Looked at them when i got home, and sure enough, the wear bar was pretty much level with the remaining tread.

 

[Mister_smart_LA]

My '09 smart BRABUS had the oem rear tires last until 47k miles. I just replaced those last month. The front tires are STILL on the car. I'm at 51k miles on those, and still lots of tread left and minimal rubber separation. Yes, I'm driving my '09 smart a lot the past few weeks. I slapped on a used set of rear tires that I had from another set of BRABUS rims I had in the garage, and thought I could get 10k or so miles out of them.

Then I hit a vicious sharp object that had my wheel on its rim in a parking lot within an extremely short period of time. As I inflated I could hear the air shooting out of the rather large puncture by a sharp nail or object. Only did about 3k miles on it. Then I snatched 1 rear wheel from my '16 smart electric just to get by as my spare.

I'm parking the car for the cool season anyway so I probably won't replace my tires until next Spring/Summer. Car is about to be stored in the garage within the next week until 2018. I always believed the oem Hankooks on the smart BRABUS models to be a nice set of tires.

 

[Daniel Zajic]

I've got just over 10k mi on our '13 ED, and the rear tire tread already seems a bit low. I doubt they'll last more than another 2k mi or so. They're Kumho Solus, OEM. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me. And we only have 2 tire choices, TWO? Neither of which seem to get great ratings. :-(

 

[Smart Bob]

You have more choices if you go to the Plus 1 or Plus 2 tire fitment. All tire dealers have a tire fitment guide book that can indicate the various tire sizes that will fit your rims. You can probably go to Tire Rack's website and access the tire fitment guide.

 

[Daniel Zajic]

You have more choices if you go to the Plus 1 or Plus 2 tire fitment. All tire dealers have a tire fitment guide book that can indicate the various tire sizes that will fit your rims. You can probably go to Tire Rack's website and access the tire fitment guide.

There's only one other choice, if you go up to 16" wheels, and those are summer, not all-season tires. Hopefully when I do replace (probably with the Contis), they'll get better life then what I'm getting. Although, with the low number of miles I'm driving, it's not really a big deal anyway.

 

[ComebackKid]

Man it's pretty crazy a couple of you guys only got around 20k on stock tires. I think I'm sitting close to 27k and still almost an 1/8 of tread left before the wear band. And that's just on the back. The front ones look as if they only have a few thousand on them. Maybe that's a difference between 16' and 17' year models? Or did both get the exact same tire?

 

[dburke8088]

Man it's pretty crazy a couple of you guys only got around 20k on stock tires. I think I'm sitting close to 27k and still almost an 1/8 of tread left before the wear band. And that's just on the back. The front ones look as if they only have a few thousand on them. Maybe that's a difference between 16' and 17' year models? Or did both get the exact same tire?

I know for me, it's the heavy driving. And at the 80+ mph I put a hurting on the rear tires. And several times, I've exercised the ABS system. And one or two smoking tires. Got to love the high speed cha cha in the afternoon interstate driving.

 

[jzchen]

You have more choices if you go to the Plus 1 or Plus 2 tire fitment. All tire dealers have a tire fitment guide book that can indicate the various tire sizes that will fit your rims. You can probably go to Tire Rack's website and access the tire fitment guide.

www.tires.com usually lists these, but as Plus 0, if I'm not mistaken. Plus 1 or Plus 2 would refer to incrementally larger diameter wheels, +1" or +2" respectively.

 

[Gortok]

Glad to see it's not just me.
I have the 16's (sport package) on my passion and with only 22k on the clock, i'm at treadwear bars on the rear.
I do think it's most likely due to spirited driving, but that still seems pretty early.

I keep the pressures right and the alignment is good.

Has anyone tried anything other than OE, yet? Thoughts?

TIA
G

 

[Glenn West]

My rear tires was down to wear indicators at 11k. Replaced them

 

[Stretchmobile]

My rear tires was down to wear indicators at 11k. Replaced them

Wow, I just looked at my tires at 11,500. They all look great. A little more wear on the rear but still plenty of groove left. I drive 80 all the time. I kinda wish they were worn more because I hate the road noise from the Conti's.