Retired my 2006 Prius today

I have a 2006 Toyota Prius that we bought from Toyota of Lewisville about a year and a half ago. It has only just shy of 19,000 miles on it. Overall, it's been a great car with no major problems and fun to drive.

However, last night when I had finished loading the back full of groceries bought at Target, I walked around to get in and discovered that the left front tire was completely flat.

At first, I thought that perhaps someone had slashed the tire, because it had not been low on the way to the store. So I pulled it slowly out of the parking space, flap-flap-flapping away into a more open part of the parking lot next to a light where I could see how to change the tire.

After removing the lug nuts, I reached around the tire to pull it off, and got several fingers full of prickly steel belt piercing my skin. The tire, as you can see in the photo above (click for larger version) had worn quite unevenly on the inside and could have blown out and injured someone. I was quite lucky to have it go flat in a parking lot.

Anyhow, long story short, all 4 tires were worn beyond where they should have been for the amount of mileage on them. Tires on a brand-new car should last more than 19,000 miles.

This morning, I called the dealership - Toyota of Lewisville, expecting that my super-duper extended bumper-to-bumper warranty would have me covered, at least on a pro-rated basis. Wrong, banana breath. Let me just say that I'm surprised that they were not in the least bit helpful on this. Even with me explaining that the car had less than 19,000 miles, all I got was that "Tire wear varies with your driving habits."

Poo on that. We drive the Prius on city streets. We don't burn out, or race. We take it to the dealer for periodic maintenance. We check the air in the tires now and then. But even if I was peeling out in this car, you'd still expect tires to last at least 40,000 miles.

Well, if you search Google for "Prius tire wear" you see that quite a few other people have had issues with this. It seems that even though you pay nearly $30,000 for this car, Toyota and Goodyear cheap-out on you and put downright crappy tires on it as OEM equipment.

So, I went to a place that I've been trusting for at least 15 years or so: Discount Tire. I spent a little over $400 and got a good set of Pirelli Cinturato P3000 P185/65R-15's It's an 85,000 mile tire, so hopefully they'll last through the first battery replacement.

I like going to Discount Tire because they don't do anything else but tires. They don't play games with up-selling you a bunch of crap. You ask for a set, they give you installed prices with no hassle and get you in and out in a hurry. You get new valve stems, mount and balance, free rotations and a good no-hassle warranty. (I've collected on it a couple of times from road hazards, and two off-brand tires I bought for my van that wore out prematurely)

One of the things I really like about Discount Tire is watching those guys work. They really work fast and efficiently.

Anyhow, I digress. I'm still conflicted about whether I should try to pursue anything with Toyota about compensation for the tires. I know that tires don't last forever, but they should at least last through the third oil change. In the past, I've been impressed with the folks at Toyota of Lewisville, but I'm pretty disappointed today. If I ever buy another car from them, I will definitely get a tire guarantee in writing. I'll let you know how it goes if I pursue anything.