Replacing OEM tires right away. Whats your opinion
- Thread starter 3for3
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Originally Posted By: fdcg27
From both you and the OP, it sounds like Mazda puts lousy tires on their new cars.
Too bad.
I have seen the same model tires on Lexus and Nissan vehicles as well. The people who owned the cars both told me that they were fine. I guess I am just more demanding. Though, the Mazda 3 is supposed to be positioned as a sporty vehicle. Perhaps they should have equipped it with sportier tires.
From both you and the OP, it sounds like Mazda puts lousy tires on their new cars.
Too bad.
I have seen the same model tires on Lexus and Nissan vehicles as well. The people who owned the cars both told me that they were fine. I guess I am just more demanding. Though, the Mazda 3 is supposed to be positioned as a sporty vehicle. Perhaps they should have equipped it with sportier tires.
Originally Posted By: 3for3
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Wow what a difference. Feels like we upgraded suspensions or something, hard to believe that was just tires....
My exact feelings. It is why I do not have a problem trading-in oem tires right away. I once suffered through a year of oem Firestones on a new Sentra SE. Luckily I bumped into a curb while doing a three point turn which caused a cut on the sidewall. I was more than happy to ditch those tires and get some better tires. It was an eye opener. It was like I upgraded my steering system, suspension, brake system...the entire car felt like an upgrade actually. Just by putting on better tires.
I realized I lost a year of driving enjoyment by sticking it out with those junky Firestones. Though I was making full payments on my car, I felt I was only getting half of what the car was capable of. That's when I decided I would replace oem tires on future cars if the tires were not good performers. The trade-in credit on the oem's makes it easier to get really good new tires. Priceless.
My wife is used to the LTX's and in Florida rain they are excellent for traction. The stockers were resold quickly and the truck now has tires that are as nice as a new truck is!
IME here with my fleet we will likely get 50-60k miles out of these. Very pleased, and a happy wife is ALWAYS a good thing!
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Wow what a difference. Feels like we upgraded suspensions or something, hard to believe that was just tires....
My exact feelings. It is why I do not have a problem trading-in oem tires right away. I once suffered through a year of oem Firestones on a new Sentra SE. Luckily I bumped into a curb while doing a three point turn which caused a cut on the sidewall. I was more than happy to ditch those tires and get some better tires. It was an eye opener. It was like I upgraded my steering system, suspension, brake system...the entire car felt like an upgrade actually. Just by putting on better tires.
I realized I lost a year of driving enjoyment by sticking it out with those junky Firestones. Though I was making full payments on my car, I felt I was only getting half of what the car was capable of. That's when I decided I would replace oem tires on future cars if the tires were not good performers. The trade-in credit on the oem's makes it easier to get really good new tires. Priceless.
My wife is used to the LTX's and in Florida rain they are excellent for traction. The stockers were resold quickly and the truck now has tires that are as nice as a new truck is!
IME here with my fleet we will likely get 50-60k miles out of these. Very pleased, and a happy wife is ALWAYS a good thing!
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I have seen the same model tires on Lexus and Nissan vehicles as well.
They could be completely different tires on those cars, whether or not they carry the same tire model name.
Our 2007 Town & Country and my mother-in-law's old 2004 Acura TL both came with Bridgestone Turanza EL42 tires. They differed dramatically in size and behavior.
It could be that Mazda's specs for OEM tires are particularly unfavorable to most drivers. I've found that Honda/Acura's OEM tires are generally decent. I really enjoyed the OEM Cross Terrains on our Acura (and we bought a second set of them) and our Acura now has Primacy MXV4s that come OEM on the current Honda Odyssey. All of these have been good tires.
I was tempted to buy a set of OEM Continental CrossContact LXes for our CR-V, but went with the Firestone Destination LE2s instead. I'm very much enjoying the Firestones.
I have seen the same model tires on Lexus and Nissan vehicles as well.
They could be completely different tires on those cars, whether or not they carry the same tire model name.
Our 2007 Town & Country and my mother-in-law's old 2004 Acura TL both came with Bridgestone Turanza EL42 tires. They differed dramatically in size and behavior.
It could be that Mazda's specs for OEM tires are particularly unfavorable to most drivers. I've found that Honda/Acura's OEM tires are generally decent. I really enjoyed the OEM Cross Terrains on our Acura (and we bought a second set of them) and our Acura now has Primacy MXV4s that come OEM on the current Honda Odyssey. All of these have been good tires.
I was tempted to buy a set of OEM Continental CrossContact LXes for our CR-V, but went with the Firestone Destination LE2s instead. I'm very much enjoying the Firestones.
If your regular tires are loud or bad ride it may be worth it.
However the majority of the time tires are riding in optimal conditions so it does not matter except noise really. I used to care about cornering and maximum traction but realized even mid range tires perform exceptionally well in the normal condition of driving straightish down the dry road.
However the majority of the time tires are riding in optimal conditions so it does not matter except noise really. I used to care about cornering and maximum traction but realized even mid range tires perform exceptionally well in the normal condition of driving straightish down the dry road.
I vote for wearing them out, or until they stop working well enough. The oem tires on my Camry wore poorly, but they were cheaper to wear out than throw out with tread. On my truck I got swayed by glowering reviews on the oem, and glowing on LTX, so I switched, and have realized I should have used used up the oem first. I have not used it enough to require the best tires going.
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I lost two years to the Bridgestone Turanza EL400's that came on my Mazda 3. Never again.
I think that is the case with Mazda. My 2002 Protege had Bridgestone Potenza RE92 as OEM. Worst tire I have ever driven on: harsh riding, noisy, and no traction at the slightest hint of water.
Other OEMs I've had over the years on Nissans, a Toyota and on VWs have all been decent, nothing to really complain about, and include brands like Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone and Goodyear. Not good enough to make me want to buy the same ones again, but not bad enough to make me want to junk them before they were worn.
It all comes down to what the automaker spec'd for the tire.
I lost two years to the Bridgestone Turanza EL400's that came on my Mazda 3. Never again.
I think that is the case with Mazda. My 2002 Protege had Bridgestone Potenza RE92 as OEM. Worst tire I have ever driven on: harsh riding, noisy, and no traction at the slightest hint of water.
Other OEMs I've had over the years on Nissans, a Toyota and on VWs have all been decent, nothing to really complain about, and include brands like Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone and Goodyear. Not good enough to make me want to buy the same ones again, but not bad enough to make me want to junk them before they were worn.
It all comes down to what the automaker spec'd for the tire.
Originally Posted By: weebl
I think that is the case with Mazda. My 2002 Protege had Bridgestone Potenza RE92 as OEM. Worst tire I have ever driven on: harsh riding, noisy, and no traction at the slightest hint of water.
Those are exactly the issues I had with the EL400's. In fact, Discount Tire used to carry them in 2012. I bought road hazard coverage only from DT for my OEM tires. When I noticed they no longer sold them I asked why and the counter guy told me that they had unacceptable wet traction.
I think that is the case with Mazda. My 2002 Protege had Bridgestone Potenza RE92 as OEM. Worst tire I have ever driven on: harsh riding, noisy, and no traction at the slightest hint of water.
Those are exactly the issues I had with the EL400's. In fact, Discount Tire used to carry them in 2012. I bought road hazard coverage only from DT for my OEM tires. When I noticed they no longer sold them I asked why and the counter guy told me that they had unacceptable wet traction.
I am interested in the supply chain for these used tires. Who accepts the liability?
Liability for what? Everybody is driving around on used tires the moment they leave the parking lot.
Oh heck, why am I replying to 6 year old topic?
Oh heck, why am I replying to 6 year old topic?
I wouldn't have offered my opinion except that you DID ask...
It's still wasteful, not just from the inefficiency of the redistribution model of getting rid of them and new buyer finding them, but also wasteful to keep funding the new vehicle lease model instead of keeping a vehicle longer.
Now onto the finer points:
- OEM tires are usually not loud, nor harsh riding, on the contrary they are optimized for a smooth, low rolling resistance ride that achieves good fuel economy, at the expense of performance. I can only imagine that any notions otherwise are only based on vehicles where the OEM tires aged to a hardened compound state, and then, comparing to brand new aftermarket tires, of course the new tires haven't hardened yet.
- I don't see any reason the OEM tires would ruin a driving experience, unless this was a track car instead of use on public roads. Plenty of people manage to avoid getting in accidents with old OEM tires, so you should have no problem doing this with new OEM tires, unless the tires aren't the problem.
- The driving dynamics the vehicle was engineered to provide, were done so for the tires it came with. That is every bit part of the test drive experience before purchase or lease. They are not just to make it roll to move it as suggested.
- With the above stated, it's your money and if new tires make you happy, that's why they exist instead of only one shoe fits all tire designs, and it's good that you find a home for the prior tires, and good to help out someone needy enough to make the effort to look for gray market tires instead of purchasing through normal distribution channels, except that if you truly feel they are dangerous and soul-sucking
then you're enticing someone else to have this experience with them too? Still beats old worn out tires though, just suggesting that you can't really have it both ways, that they're so bad that.... someone else should drive on them.I usually take the OEM tires to about 1/2 of the tread life mileage rating before I'm tired (
) of them, and replace them with better quality (premium) tires.
Typically I'm happy enough with the premium tires that I get the full rated tread life out of them.
) of them, and replace them with better quality (premium) tires.Typically I'm happy enough with the premium tires that I get the full rated tread life out of them.
I bought a 1995 geo prism brand new to commute back and forth to work came with the horrid Goodyear integrities. Had them off within a few months. They were frightening in the rain and totally useless in the first snow with them. I could not even pull away from a stop sign
Yeah and the OP hasn't even been around the last 3 years. I think everyone is too used to there being liability for everything. Used tires have no warranty, no liability. Liability would probably be the person who bought them but as long as they have the minimum spec tread, if they crash into someone, I'm not sure if the lawyers could say that they should have had more tread. That can go on forever, if they could have had better tread, then they could have had a better car, better brakes, etc.
And I don't think there's anything wrong with what the OP did, same thing happened with me, first new car had horrible tires but I put up with it at the time as I didn't realize new ones would be so much better. Second car had horrible oem tires, but I got rid of them when I slid in the rain. Nowadays new cars come with runflats which are way worse riding than regular tires so lots of people get rid of the runflats. Not bad for the environment because someone ends up getting a nice set of new tires at a good price.
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Here is a tip make the place you buy it at swap them for no charge to you. We do it at my work all the time. We had a nice used Jeep we put a new set of Uniroyal Tiger Paw on and a buyer came and said here is an offer if you take those Tiger Paw off and put me four Falken Wild Peak on for no charge I’ll buy the car today right now but the tires have to be mounted before it leaves the lot. Salesman told him deal called parts had them order the tires and had us put them on. Same when we sell new trucks. Customer didn’t like the OE tires on a Chevy Silverado I think they were Goodyear Wrangler he wanted Bridgestone Dueler put on so they done that to sell it too at no charge we just put the other tires on a used car and eat the cost of the others. This isn’t uncommon for people to want.
