My wife has a 2011 Mini Cooper with 21000-ish miles. We recently had service done, and the technician said that our tires are about at (mumblemumble) millimeters of tread, and will probably need replacement around December. Now, we’ve had the car for about 18 months, and drive no differently that with other cars, and that seems like horseshit, that factory tires would last only 20-25,000 miles of normal, city driving. Any thoughts?
Go out and measure the tread depth yourself.
Can’t comment on the tires that come in this car specifically, but in general factory-installed tires are not known for their long tread life. Plus these are run-flats too, right? Also not known for long tread life.
it really depends on what tires the factory put on there. If they put on grippy, high-performance summer tires then they’ll wear out faster than you might expect. my (Neon) SRT-4 came with BF Goodrich KDW2 tires which thankfully wore out by 30,000 miles.
Which tires does the car have? If what Tire Rack says is correct, three of the four possible OE tires for the 2011 Mini have fairly low treadwear ratings.
There are quick-and-dirty ways to check tire depths using coins as a reference. Grab a penny, stick Lincoln’s head into the deepest parts of the tread. The distance between Lincoln’s head and the penny’s edge is about 2/32 of an inch, which is the absolute legal minimum you can drive on in many states. A tire this worn is hazardous to drive on. So if the tread does not go past the top of the head, you really need to replace the tires. If the tread is only slightly deeper than that, you should start shopping for tires. (New tires have ~10/32 of tread, which according to my quick measurements comes down to Lincoln’s chin.)
I doubt a service technician is going to lie about something you can easily measure yourself. Check out the link here if you need help.
The first set of tires on my wife’s car lasted only about that long.
So did he not tell you how many millimeters are left, or did you forget? Not following your meaning.
If they tell you to replace at 3mm and that you only have 4mm left, then what’s the problem? If you thought he was lying to you, then that would have been an excellent time to ask them to show you the measurement on a tread depth gauge?
Tires nowadays suck. I’ve gone through more tires in the last 5 years than the 20 before that. Harrumph.
I hope this is sarcasm.
Sorry - my wife thinks she said they’re at 4 point something mm, but is not sure. I wasn’t there. I’m no mechanic, but if I had heard the tech say they needed replacing so soon after purchase, I’d absolutely have asked the question in my OP at the time, though re-worded.
Thanks all for the responses - my righteous indignation is mollified.
No, it really isn’t. I mean, I don’t actually know if tires are statistically worse than in yesteryears, but in my sample size of one household, I’ve had to quadruple my tire budget. It’s kind of weird, actually. They’re wearing out faster, cracking sidewalls more frequently, getting valve stem leaks like it’s a new Facebook fad…I really don’t know what’s going on. I’ve bought at least two new tires every year since '07, and for most of that, I only had one car. Tires used to last me 4 or 5 years. The OP needing to replace them on a 2 year old car didn’t surprise me in the least, that’s what I’ve come to expect.
does the term “bias ply” mean anything to you?
The prices of tires across the board has gone way up over the last few years, which I think has had the side effect of more tire shops carrying some fairly low quality cheap tires. If you’re a “throw on whatever’s the cheapest” type tire consumer, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve seen a drop in quality the last few years.
Indeed - but definitely known for being pricey.
I think the best approach for a car with run-flat tires is to replace them when they wear out with high-quality conventional tires. You’ll get better handling and much longer service. If you have a flat, you’ll have to be towed to a place that can deal with it, but you’ll still be money ahead. (And if you sign up for a service like AAA, the cost of a tow isn’t brutal.)
No.
Yes
But I buy radials.
The front tires on my car were pretty much at legal limits at 20,000 miles. Rotating them at every oil change would have helped them last a bit longer, but a lot of newer cars are being built with sticky low-profile tires that just don’t last as long as Grandpa’s tires. Mine, for example, takes 225/45 18, and they’re W speed rated. (168 MPH) which seems excessive for a grocery-getter. Two of the three tires in that spec at Tire Kingdom don’t even have a tread life guarantee other than “workmanship”
Back when I had a 1996 Chevy Impala SS, the Z-rated tires that car took were a fortune and only lasted about 20K miles. It pissed me off to no end, and was one of the many reasons I got rid of that car. I loved the power of that massive V-8, but like a beautiful woman, it was extremely high maintenance.
I have no idea where you live, but I assume it’s winter there too. As tires wear they become less safe in wet weather. I replace tires at about 3/4 worn just because I don’t want reduced traction when I need it most- in wet weather.
In my experience tread depth is irrelevant.
I’ve seen tyres with plenty of tread left that had no grip at all and the ABS would be activated even on mild braking. When that starts happening you have to change the tyres ASAP.