# How often do you rotate your tires? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464 "2012-09-12T02:19:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/21 "2012-09-12T18:44:31Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > :dubious: Why would the owner’s manual recommend against this? I do it too - with 12K per year, it works out to rotation every 6K or so - but I can’t fathom why the manufacturer would recommend against it. Here’s what the book says: > [@BMW Owner's Guide](#): > > Even with tyres of the same size, BMW recommends that you do not rotate the front and rear wheels by swapping over in either direction, as this may impair handling characteristics. Don’t know if the fact that they’re run-flats has any bearing on it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/22 "2012-09-13T13:11:57Z")
Never. I drive a mid-sized SUV and they wear very evenly. This might be partly due to being in 4 wheel drive about 1/2 the time. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/23 "2012-09-13T14:18:19Z")
I put about ~5k/year on my car. I do a 4-tire rotation every 6 months with my oil change. My spare is still OEM, which is a much cheaper tire than my everyday tires, so I would rather not have that in the rotation. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/24 "2012-09-13T14:37:17Z")
When I change from summer to winter tires and back they are presumably put back at random. Since I just passed 20,000 km (that’s 20 Mm) a couple weeks ago and the car is five years old, that works out to every 2.5 Mm. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/25 "2012-09-13T14:49:00Z")
Hmm, lemme see - a 205/60 R15 tyre has a circumference of about 77.5 inches… so if I’m travelling at 70mph… _scribbles on envelope_… well, about 16 times a second, since you ask. Is that enough? ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/26 "2012-09-13T17:08:49Z")
Never had my tires rotated, ever. Unless you count when I get two new tires and move the back to the front or something like that. When I bought my new car (an Outback) they told me I need to rotate every 7500 miles. By my calculation, if I pay $25-30 per rotation I will be out a couple a hundred bucks when it is time to buy new tires. Will I have saved $200 worth of tire wear? Meaning, will I get $200 worth of extra wear out of my tires by rotating regularly? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/27 "2012-09-13T17:25:53Z")
Rarely, if ever. I keep a close eye on the wear because they’re expensive (high performance, Z rated) but unless I have them in for balancing or allignment, if I don’t see or feel a problem I leave 'em be. I don’t have to switch between summer and winter tires. It would be sensible to rotate then. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/28 "2012-09-13T18:32:15Z")
Everytime I have to get a tire plugged, the tire shop goes ahead and rotates them. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/29 "2012-09-14T04:23:30Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > When I bought my new car (an Outback) they told me I need to rotate every 7500 miles. By my calculation, if I pay $25-30 per rotation I will be out a couple a hundred bucks when it is time to buy new tires. Will I have saved $200 worth of tire wear? Meaning, will I get $200 worth of extra wear out of my tires by rotating regularly? I don’t think so. You might have an argument there if you were driving a regular old car, but Subarus are very sensitive to differences in tire wear. You’re risking some pretty serious transmission damage by not rotating. I’m also not sure where you’re buying your tires that charges $30 a rotation since I don’t think I’ve seen a tire place that didn’t offer free rotations in the last 10 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/30 "2012-09-14T19:42:21Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > You might have an argument there if you were driving a regular old car, but Subarus are very sensitive to differences in tire wear. You’re risking some pretty serious transmission damage by not rotating. I’m also not sure where you’re buying your tires that charges $30 a rotation since I don’t think I’ve seen a tire place that didn’t offer free rotations in the last 10 years or so. The car is new and Subaru didn’t offer me free rotations. If they had said upfront that Subarus can have serious transmission damage due to simple, basic tire wear then I would have looked elsewhere for a car. For the next many miles, I am going to be paying for rotations if I want them. If my transmission gives out, is Subaru is going to point to some small print somewhere that tells me it’s my fault? They will have lost my business for good then. I’ve never heard of a place giving free rotations for any reason. When I last bought tires a few months ago, for my son’s car, from Costco, they didn’t offer free rotations. I’m starting to think this is a regional thing. As an aside, I did drive a Forester 175,000 miles without ever rotating the tires and without anyone ever mentioning it for that matter. The transmission was not one of that car’s problems in the end. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/31 "2012-09-14T19:45:16Z")
Discount Tire provides free rotations after purchase. [Here’s](http://dt.know-where.com/DiscountTire/?s_kwcid=TC%7C5864%7Cdiscount%20tire%7C%7CS%7Ce%7C12384778826) a store locator. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/32 "2012-09-14T19:52:13Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Never had my tires rotated, ever. Unless you count when I get two new tires and move the back to the front or something like that. > > When I bought my new car (an Outback) they told me I need to rotate every 7500 miles. By my calculation, if I pay $25-30 per rotation I will be out a couple a hundred bucks when it is time to buy new tires. Will I have saved $200 worth of tire wear? Meaning, will I get $200 worth of extra wear out of my tires by rotating regularly? I don’t think so. DITTO! If tires are wearing evenly makes no sense, if they are not wearing evenly car needs some repairs. Some types of driving will cause uneven wear and these tires should probably be roatated as needed. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464/33 "2012-09-14T20:10:32Z")
Never. It’s not possible with the tires I use. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-rotate-your-tires/634464.md?page=1)