davis449

Well my steering wheel was vibrating slightly last week so I took it into Discount Tire to get them balanced. Every time I go to these guys I ask them how the tire wear looks and they always tell me "normal", "ok", or "good". On Friday of last week I took it into a Discount Tire store I usually don't go to and told them to balance the tires and NOT TO ROTATE THEM! I caught them rotating them and corrected them and watch them balance the tires so I knew the job had been done. Got in the car and drove off and the vibration was still there. So I followed my instincts this morning and went to the store I usually go to and told them to re-balance the tires to fix what the other store ****ed up. Well they took them off and what a shock, the Yokohama's need to be replaced and one of them has sidewall damage. I argue with them for a while and ask questions like: "Why the hell are my 60,000 mile rated Yokohamas worn down after only 27K?" and "What about the warranty I bought from you guys that says you'll replace them if they screw up or are defective?", things like that. Mind you, my suspension is fine, new front lower and upper control arm bushings (they weren't that bad in the fist place, my dealer just thought it would be nice of them to replace them under warranty BEFORE it expired) and the shocks (Bilstien HD's) are less than a year old, and the alignment was done when the shocks were put on less than a year ago. There is nothing to indicate the alignment is off.

So I have come to the conclusion that the problem was either cheap tires or I should have told them NOT to "Sipe" my damn tires (I think this severely shortens the life of the tire)! Lesson learned. After much complaining at them I got a set of 215, H-rated Michelin Pilots for $317 with Discount Tire warranty. They credited me on the tire with the "Road Hazard" issue and gave me a hefty discount. My question to you guys is, how are Michelin Pilots as a tire and do you like them (for those of you who have them or have had them)? My friend has had Michelin Energy's before on one of his Hondas and now swears they are the worst tires ever. I've never had any experience with any Michelin tires before so I don't know.

Sorry for the long winded thread I just had to vent. Sometimes I just HATE cars! ARRRGH!

shorthair

27k on a set of tires? How do you do that on the 202? I get maybe 20k if I am lucky. No mods, aligned once a year for good measure. Driven real easy by the female cohabitant. I Stopped buying Michelin as there is no mileage warranty on tires that fit the car.

It is not the tires. It is the car.

!!!!!NJ Drive

what are you doin... LOL...i have a set of yokos for my stockies & put 65k on them..semi-spirited driven

GDawgC220

First set of tires I bought when I got the car were BFGoodrich T/As I think they were...touring A/S tires. They only lasted me 20k miles, normal w/ some spirited driving.

Currently running Conti CH95's...27k so far on them and pretty much gone. Will need to replace in Spring time this year.

Thinking of going with Yoko's next as they seem to last a long time with wear.

shorthair

It ain't me, I swear! The car has 82k miles and it is on the 5th complete set of tires. It drives me nuts. Just keeps scrubbing off the outside of the front tires, and it is usually in alignment. Rotate every 5-7k, proper inflation, etc.... arrrgh. The dealer, the autoshop, and the tire place all say it is normal for Mercedes.

davis449

The Goodyear's (hated 'em) that were on the car before I got it lasted around 40K. Like I said there's nothing wrong with my suspension and the tires did not show abnormal wear, they just wore down quickly. The Pilot's have been good to me so far. The wider footprint makes my car handle a lot better than the 195 Yokohama's. We'll see here in a little bit how these tires wear. The reason I got them they were the cheapest he could get me with all the discounting he did to appease me, and I'm getting rid of this thing in a year anyway, so they only need to lase ME that long.

DougandhisC280

I used to get 50,000 plus miles on the stock suspension with some crappy Uniroyal Tiger Paw touring tires. Now I get about 12,000 miles on lowered suspension and Y rated 18 inch tires that cost three times as much. Why do I put up with this? My current girlfriend said when she first met me it was because of my car. I'm so pathetic.

davis449

Doug, buddy, you're nuts! Just kidding. The next car I get will probably eat me alive in tires, so now I know what I have to look forward to.