HELP ME PLZ

[spookme]

Hi People.

I'm in the UK and took del of my Yaris T Spirit back at the launch here in April last year.

Some time ago I noticed what I thought was hire tire wear on the front tires, took into my local dealer and they said hmm, nah, your still legal should be fine.

Anyways, this Friday just gone it was time for the first service 10,000 miles or one year. First and foremost I had asked them to look at the tire wear as I now appear to be on the wearbar indicators!!!!!!! give you the idea, the car has done 9918 ODO. Second, Im asked them to investigate a "clicking" when on full lock.

To my not suprise, they have decided that, and this is as per the service sheet!

N/S & O/S Outer CV Joints Noisy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - So I'm booked in for them to be replaced up the warrnty.

But this was the figs for tire wear!

Front left - Inner 3mm - Middle 3.5mm - Outer 2mm
Front Right - Inner 3mm - Middle 3mm - Outer 1.6mm
Rear Left - I 5mm - M 6mm - O 5mm
Rear Right - I 5mm - M 6mm - o 5mm

So the tires on the back fine and dandy, but the fronts are well, you can guess the term I waan use.

I asked the dealer why this might be the case, here was the responce;

Do you check your tires pressures? Erm yeah!
It could be if you carrying a lot of weight.......... Erm, no its just me!
It could be how you drive!............erm its a 1.3 Yaris and I live in the city!!!!!!

All they have offered to do is send the tires away for examination AFTER i have replaced the tires and paid for them of course.

Im not a tech guy, but could the CV joint problem be causing a tire wear issue? if not any other suggestions.

To make matters worse, I then explained to them that until 2 years ago, I actually used to work for Toyota here in the UK as a Head Salesmen at the competitor dealership......... no explanation as to the tire wear, just get your hands in your pockets and buy new tires!

So a reminder, that a set of front tires worn at less than 10,000 miles, somethings not right i think!

Cheers I look forward to your replies

[BailOut]

You are supposed to rotate the tires on a FWD vehicle every 5,000 - 7,500 miles. It should come as no surprise to you that the front tires wear faster than the rear as they support the engine and transmsission, which are by far the heaviest things in your vehicle.

[Spades]

not only do the front tires support the bulk of the weight, the main reason they wear faster is because the car is front wheel drive...the power goes to those tires, so they wear out faster.

Even if you had been rotating them every 5-10k, the rears and fronts would still be at about 4mm wear, just about due to be replaced.

either you drive like a banshee and take corners way to fast and abuse your tires, or you have REALLY junky tires for them to wear out in 10k miles. most dealerships will not cover tires under warranty cause some people will get 5k miles out of their tires and others 50k miles.

also, the CV joints do not normally affect tire wear, they are the "driveshaft" to the front wheels, they are the little knuckle that allows the driveshaft from the transmission to move up and down and turn with the wheels.

what does cause tire wear on the outside is the camber being out of adjustment, the car needs a alignment, also not covered under warranty.

[spookme]

Ok first and foremost, thanks for your replies people.

The tire thats on the car is a Bridgestone, I dont off the top of my head know the exact model code, but it was the tire that was on the car on delievery. I would have thought that such a brand would be good for a fair few miles.

I agree that driving like racing driver would wear the tyres like mad and of course on the front, but we talking a bout a Yaris here, not a supra or celica and in the UK until the 1st of April, we only got two engine choices in petrol. 1.0 & 1.3 VVTi. So even at that, Im sure id be having to drive it at stuipd speed round corners all the time. Anyways, I appreciate your input people.

FYI, 1st of April see's the launch of the Toyota Yaris 1.8SR here in the UK, Im off to the dealer on friday when they sort my CV joints out to see what deal they can put together. hmmmm 1800cc in a little yaris, now if i get my hands on one of them puppies I will expect the tyres to be gone in 10k ;) hear what Im saying!

Thanks again

[Moose]

The Bridgestones, from my experience, are crap.

Ive got 22,xxx miles on my Yaris, I check and adjust tire pressure every time I get gas, rotate every 5000 miles and did an alignment at 15,000 miles. Not to mention, 90% of my miles are highway, and driving 70 mph or less.

I currently have 3-4/32" of tread left, which means that I will probably need tires at 25,000 miles. I could understand if this were a higher performance car with a V rated tire, but it's a friggin' Yaris!

My choices for my new tires (and mindsets) are:
1) Michelin Harmony- I'll keep this car as a DD for 40k more miles.
2) Yokohama Avid H4- still a DD, but I can play a little.
3) Upgrade to 16" wheels with Falken Ziex 512's- screw it, I'm going balls deep and upgrading the whole suspension, too.

[nsmitchell]

You should have a brochure with your owners manual outlining the warranty. In the "US of A" the warranty period is around 40K miles or 5 years. Certainly 10K miles should be covered by either Bridgestone or Toyota because something is wrong with your alignment. An alignment problem causes your tires to wear very quickly in extreme cases. I'm sure the dealership knows this and hopefully aligned your car at no expense. I just rotated my tires at 7500 miles and the fronts and rears looked almost identical, no noticable wear, and I do drive like a banshee. Get Toyota to align your car now or kiss those new tires goodbye as well.

[ChinoCharles]

Originally Posted by Moose

The Bridgestones, from my experience, are crap.

Ive got 22,xxx miles on my Yaris, I check and adjust tire pressure every time I get gas, rotate every 5000 miles and did an alignment at 15,000 miles. Not to mention, 90% of my miles are highway, and driving 70 mph or less.

I currently have 3-4/32" of tread left, which means that I will probably need tires at 25,000 miles. I could understand if this were a higher performance car with a V rated tire, but it's a friggin' Yaris!

My choices for my new tires (and mindsets) are:
1) Michelin Harmony- I'll keep this car as a DD for 40k more miles.
2) Yokohama Avid H4- still a DD, but I can play a little.
3) Upgrade to 16" wheels with Falken Ziex 512's- screw it, I'm going balls deep and upgrading the whole suspension, too.

I second this. 14k miles of city driving and my tires are almost shot already. I drive a little crazier than your average bear but I'm no Jeff Gordon or anything, and I'm probably looking at new tires at 20,000. That is nothing short of ridiculous.

[Moose]

Originally Posted by nsmitchell

You should have a brochure with your owners manual outlining the warranty. In the "US of A" the warranty period is around 40K miles or 5 years. Certainly 10K miles should be covered by either Bridgestone or Toyota because something is wrong with your alignment. An alignment problem causes your tires to wear very quickly in extreme cases. I'm sure the dealership knows this and hopefully aligned your car at no expense. I just rotated my tires at 7500 miles and the fronts and rears looked almost identical, no noticable wear, and I do drive like a banshee. Get Toyota to align your car now or kiss those new tires goodbye as well.

The only warranty on tires is for factory defects in materials and workmanship. Bridgestone will not warranty his tires. They'll say he went out and did burnouts with them.

The alignment, IMO, is not the problem- the wear pattern across the tread would be different. The CV axles are not the problem, either. These tires tend to wear on the outside edge for no apparent reason- mine do it, and I've seen others.

Bailout is correct in that a rotation at 5000 miles could have prevented some of the wear. I, at this point, would just rotate the tires and monitor your tread. Check your pressure every time you get gas (petrol for you crazy guys)- keep it at 35 psi.

Anyhoo, without actually seeing the tires or your driving habits, this is all speculation. I'm just trying to offer up some ideas.