Prius Tires

If tires are wearing out that quickly I would have the dealer check your alignment. If you are rotating your tires, that would just have them all wear out quickly also.

Is the treadwear even? Lopsided?

My '05 Prius has 45,000 mi on the original set of tires with no noticeable problems....

good luck.

My 2002 has 97000 mile on the clock, third set of tires. Went 31000 on factory, about 30000 on the second, (they did well cocidering that they were not rated LT load like the fatory, they had lots of tread but seperated.) Now on the third set Michelin Hydro edge, al litte larger and wider than factory, lost about 1/2mpg, but tye stick like glue, and after about 30000mi don't show any ware, I think they will make the 50-60000 rating.
We just put a set on Michelin MXV 4 plus on our 2004 at about 53,000, and my partner seens to like them, now that he set the air pressure wright. He runs around 40psi (so do I). The new tires seam to be more stable at speeds than Factory, and he didn't seam to loose milage.

Ginger: Check your new tire's "traction" rating as compaired to the old tires.

High Traction = High Friction = More rolling resistance = lower mileage.

Prius typically uses hard rubber, low friction tires for better mileage.

My 2006 Prius has totally worn out tires on the insides after perfect maintenence every month for the almost 2 years we've owned the car. The Toyota dealership will take no responsibility for the problem. We are right now putting very expensive tires on in the hope of a safer car. It has to be a design problem. The guy with the 2005 that says he has no problem with his tires....does anyone know if there was a design change from 05 to 06 relating to tire efficiency? Thank you

Bought a repo'd 2007 with only 10,000 miles on it. Took it into the dealer for its 15,000 service and both rear tires were out of round and one had humongous flatspots on it. I had been warned that Prius had tire issues, particularly relating to mpg. The service crew told me they'd never seen a Prius tire in such a state. I cant see how a non-drive wheel can have such wear problems unless the brakes are mis-functioning.( I hear and feel no evil whilst driving) these are TOYO tires and apparantly OEM. Any input appreciated. This is the only issue I have with my Pious.

I've had two ties go flat on my 2007 Prius (owned since October 06) and I am not even at 30,000 miles yet.
The tire pressure gauge light always comes on. I have the dealer check it every time I take it in for an oil change (3000 miles) and they tell me it is working fine. They check the tires, give me the car back and --sure enough -- the light is off. I assume tire pressure is fine. Invariably, about five to nine days after the oil change, the gauge light is on again.
I love my Prius, but I feel like I'm not getting the straight dope here.

Does anyone know the real deal with this?

We have over 50K on a 2006, bought January of that year. Have had one instance, early on, with the tire going flat, and several times the pressure light has come on, with one tire about 10-12 PSI below the others. We love the car and this is a minor issue, but we will probably get new tires soon if it keeps recurring. The tread is still in pretty good shape.

I too have a 2007 prius, and have had three flat tires in less than a year. I love my car, but drive in the country a lot and don't like being stranded. has any one tried no flat tires?

we have put 81000 miles on our 2006 prius, has been great. our first set of tires was lost by our local tire dealer when we had studded tires put on. the snow tires wear like iron this wiil our third season coming up. our first set of regular tires only had about 8000 miles the second set that we got were hancooks a 40,000 mile rated tire and we got 40,000 out of them we ponied up and bought a set of 80,000 mile rated toyos and went from a 185 60 15 to a 205 60 15. which is slightly bigger 3 tenths of an inch. but with the wider tire I will sacrifice a mile of econmy for the ride and the quiet. a big difference in ride quality. I will keep you posted on these tires the come highly recommended by a friend who owns a tire store and he put the same tires on his mothers prius.

Wow Jerry! Let me see if I get this right:

You drove 96,000 miles in your H2. At a generous estimate of 16mpg, you used 6,000 gallons of gas. A Prius owner, at about 48mpg, would have used 2,000 gallons of gas. So you bought an extra 4,000 gallons of gas (conservatively) at an average price of, say, $2.75 a gallon. That's about $11,000 extra. Not to mention the massive depreciation hit you've taken recently (your KBB Private Party Value has sunk to the vicinity of $15,000).

I'm glad your tires are holding up.

Barry

I have a 2007 prius and have had it serviced routinely. At about 15,000 I was told I needed new tires. I was outraged! I have about 25,000 miles and am desparetely needing new tires. The Bridgestone Tuaranza and Yokahima (sp) and Kumho (sp) have all been suggested by dealers. This is a big investment can anyone provide me with a brand that has proven to work well on these cars.

Don, I have seen many places that recommend that Prius front tires be set at 42psi and the rear tires at 40psi. You are absolutely right about low pressure = more friction = more wear.(and lower mileage).

2005 Prius. Needed new tires at 20k miles. I ran them another 10k and got Toyo 800 Premium Touring tires. Rated for 80k miles. Had it aligned at that time. At 47k, it needed new front tires (uneven wear). Talked tire place into free replacement. Another alignment. At 60k miles, tires shot again but I keep running them. Now at 87k miles and just about to start showing steel belt. All sets of tires have worn uneven and cause car to shake/vibrate. These cars cannot be kept in alignment and Toyota won't recognize the issue. Toyota also refuses to fix the self adjusting headlights, even after the warning lights come on. There's even a TSB on that issue and they refuse to even retrieve the code unless I pay them. They claim it's not their TSB. I'll keeo this car only because it's paid for, but I'll not purchase a Toyota product again.

Well, I'd guess you have a slow leak in your tires. Go to a place that specializes in tires, like American Tires,and ask them to check them out. Too many garages have incompetent folks working.

I just changed my tires on my 2006 prius for the first time. My mileage: 48500 - not bad.

40,000 miles on the original GY Integritys and only 3/32 in. left, so I'm looking and appreciating all the comments. I've scored an actual 51MPG for the life of the car & MPG is 1st priority so I don't want to experiment with changing size, but I will spend more for better life. Arizona heat is the problem, even parking in shade, we burn 'em up. I wonder if $300 OEM replacement vs. $550+ for "better" is really going to pay off.

Just noticed I had neon air instead of nitrogen :-).

I have 36,000 miles on my 2008 Prius and want to replace somewhat worn tires before the winter months. Traction was awful in the snow - any recommendations

I had my first flat tire today on my 08 prius, I tried to switch it out, but the bolts won't seem to budge, anyone have any details on maybe if they are just too tight from the factory? Or is there some kind of silver covering on the bolts, I am afraid to break it.

Any step by step details on changing a prius tire would help.

Lowered my rear windows and thought I had a helicopter flying overhead. Turns out to be tires that do not wear evenly. The dealer says it is tire pressure. The dealer recommends 32psi. From what I read in your comments 42psi on front and 40psi on rear. My tires need replacing. Have good tread on middle of tire but wear terribly on the inside. My current mileage is 25,800 miles. I am going to keep my rear windows up and get a little more mileage. My question is about tire pressure changing when traveling. As the tires heat up I am sure the air expands. And what happens when one travels in the colder climates. Does air pressure decline in the colder climates. A smaller tire then is prone to uneven pressure depending on the driving conditions. Will this cause tires to wear unvenly? Or is it the allignment on the Prius that gets out of wack easily? Rotate the tires and the out of wack front kills the tires. And what happens if you use a gas vs air pressure. Will that gas be affected by heat and cold like all gasses? Changing the tire type to a Michelin Hydro edge or a Michelin Harmony - Will that increase the tire life? I am going to drive another 5,000 miles and listen to what you have to say. Want a tire that is safe. Gives good road handling and decent mileage. Please keep sharing your thoughts.

Just curious if you got any replies re:tires for winter. I have a new-to-me 2004 prius and am going into my first winter with it, tyring to find out what tires might get me through snow & some ice.

I have a continued problem with the tire pressure light going on. I've had it reset five times in as many months. Only twice was there a nail in the tires. other times there was either no problem or low inflation. It's a 2008 with about 28000 miles on the tires. The dealership keeps telling me there's no problem with the tire pressure sensor but I beg to differ. Any suggestions?

I have a 2002 Prius, Bridgestone OEM tires lasted only 35K kilometers. Using Falkens now which are wearing well but I don't like how they drive. They will be replaced in the spring with the new Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 energy saver tire. It is available in the early model tire size, unlike the Michelin.
I have a full set of winters on seperate rims with Blizzaks mounted, these tires are outstanding. I will buy more of them.
Also, the EP100 does have a 50K mile treadwear warranty. My car has been trouble free and I think rather highly of it.
But the competition is slowly ramping up and I think Toyota will struggle to maintain it's market lead.

Front tire tread almost completely gone at 40,000 miles. I thought this was bad but from reading everyone's comment I guess I am lucky. Picked up a nasty bolt in right rear tire so now off to the tire shop to get a new set of tires. I was going to just replace the one tire, but the 'guys' in my office said I should replace at least 2 tires. So now with the bolt lodged in my other tire - 2 it is.

I love my 2006 Prius but have the same problems with tires, at 30,000 the wear was slick , reduced gas milage- and the goodyears were to last 50,000?
Lights on and road noise are also problems- these are definite opportunities for Toyota to improve on if anyone is listening.

Definitely changing to another brand of tire- sounds like Harmony has been good from these reports

What Tires are you using. Prius are heavy cars and you need a strong side wall 84 should work. You also need to rotate the tires frequently. Unfortunatly there are not any great tires for the Prius Either 81 or 82 sidewall rating with 60-70,000 miles or 84 with low tread life 40,000 miles. Would be nice if they made an 84S 60,000

It is imperative that you keep your tires at a high PSI on the Prius. We bought a used prius and were wondering why it wasn't getting as good of gas mileage as our other one (It was averaging 36mpg). after a tank of gas I checked the tire pressure. 25psi all around. I bumped it up to 42psi and we are getting 46mpg regularly. If there is that much of a mpg difference you know the tires are wearing hard if you run lower pressures. I check the tire pressure every other fill up now and notice that they do go down so keeping up on tire pressure maintenance is key to the health of your tires. I get over 30,000 miles on my set of Goodyears.

2008 Prius, 36200 miles. Dealer told me at my last oil change what I already knew. I need tires. Shocking I know!!! My wear was totally even....except the outside. Mostly bald. Again, shocking I know. Here is what the dealer told me. The Toyota hybrid line (Prius/Highlander/Camry) have a different suspension and braking system (which I hope Prius owners know) which puts more pressure on the tires making them wear quicker. Hence why I have 8 of 10cm left on my break pads. Does this make sence...yes but why does a 50,000 mile tire ware out in the 30,000 mile range???? So after reading every post here is what I decided on. I live in the Pasadena, CA area and had a deal w/America's Tire (fyi if you have one near you they are great to deal with) to match a price for Bridgestone Potenza RE960A/S Pole Position a 40,000 mile tire. It has great reviews and was a reasonable price at $87.99. They had to order the tires and they wouldn't be in till monday. I'm on vacation this week and wanted to get this taken care of before I go back to work next week. The manager reccomended the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max. It's a 65,000 mile tire and the way they are designed it helps reduce energy loss as the tire rolls to save about 2,600 miles worth of gas over the life of the tire. Now i'm not giving my outright endorsement to this tire but after one day it is quieter than the Integeritys. Turning at slow speeds creates NO resistance with the steering wheel. It's supose to rain here tomorrow and monday so I'll know how they handle in the rain. I'll post an update in a couple of months. BTY, the manager at America's Tire matched the price of the Goodyears to the Bridgestones. The Goodyears are $95-100 tires.

Our 2001 Prius has ate its share of tires also ,even top of the line Midhelins. Wors than that we lost our main Nmh battery at 90k.We were 5m0. oiut of warranty so it cosat $3200 and change.We went to a tire called"Potenz" that seems to be doing better. Good luck JH

We have a 2008 Prius and have kept its maintenance on schedule. We are at almost 34,000 miles and have had to have it aligned 3 times due to uneven tire wear; tires have been rotated on schedule. We are having to get new tires now for safety. After owning many cars in our lifetime, replacing tires after only 34,000 miles doesn't seem right. After reading the many comments on this website, I have to wonder if there is a design problem with this vehicle. We love everything about our Prius and have had no other problems, but the tire wear is a big concern.

Would anybody recommended the
Michelin saver energy V from costco store for my prius 07. Al cost $723

We have an '05 Prius bought used at 42K. At 50K we replaced the tires with Michelin HydroEdge. We got an alignment at the time and were told that the rear was out-of-spec and we needed an accentuated bolt (?) so they could adjust it. I believe this was a production defect--can't align the rear tires to bring them into spec. By the time we got the rear alignment issue fixed and the wheels properly aligned, they were already cupped/out of round. We then tried to salvage them by running them on the front, forever... As the HydroEdge is unidirectional, we could only rotate front & back. Eventually they wore back into round, but by then the back tires were getting cupped again. Couldn't bear the thought of replacing these expensive tires earlier than their lifespan. Car now has 130K so the HydroEdges reached their 80K treadwear, but at a cost in bumpy & noisy ride for most of that time. On the other hand, I have never driven on better performing tires--excellent in the rain, never had a skidding or hydroplaning incident with these. Mileage probably a little worse by 3-5% (we average ~48 mpg).

I have gone through 2 sets of Goodyears (OEM) averaging 45000 per set. I was surprised that users are experiencing difficulty handling in the snow. My experience has been just the opposite and they never hydroplane. I thought that they handled so well in bad weather due to the weight of the battery in the back. Do you think the new Michelin high mileage tires will be as safe as the Goodyear tires? I was hoping to wait for a $70 dollar Michelin rebate from Costco which should come up soon.

Whoops, that's car (not card) in the above post. Also, we have a 2007 Prius. The car gets the 52-55 mpg whether flat or coastal mountains.

What you probably experienced was "vortex shedding". You know the way a flag flaps back and forth in a breeze. When the wind and your car speed is right, you get air pressure waves coming in the windows. Its the same pressure waves that push a flag back and forth. Because the vortex pressure waves coming in the window cause rapid, low pressure changes in the car's interior air pressure many times a second, your ears hear a very loud, very low frequency pulsing sound. Kind of like being inside a bass drum.

If your tires were causing pulsations due to wear, pressure, out-of-round then you would hear it regardless of the windows being up or down.

Low frequency noise thru open windows is usually wind generated.

The tire pressure gauge comes on whenever the pressures in your tires are uneven; the fronts have to match and the backs have to match. The light will go away as soon as you even out the tire pressure. Uneven tire pressure is a safety concern for sudden braking; it can put a car into a spin.

My 2007 will turn on the tire light every time the weather turns cold. As soon as it warms up, the light goes off.

Its a great technology and nice sharing.thanks to all of you,because providing a good information.
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This is a follow up from my earlier post:
I still recommend the Bridgestone "Ecopia" tire for a Prius (ours is 2007). After a year a half (about 25k miles) we are getting normal or less wear and found no difference in our mpg (about 54 to 55 mpg) from before.

We live in the Santa Cruz, CA area and have dry summers and wet winters (40 inches of rain). We frequently drive over a very windy (as in curvy) highway over the mountains that is known for accidents for aggressive drivers or poor conditions. We have had no poor handling/slipping issues there. This is important to note because some tires handle well initially, but degrade as the material wears (manufacturers make a better "outer" layer to the tire).

Prior to this, we had the factory Goodyear tires that lasted for about 40k miles with the same mpg as above (our measured mpg is about the same as the computer readout).

If you buy tires, get a place that does free rotation/balance and get a lifetime alignment. I get the oil change there but do my major repairs elsewhere because a tire shop is a tire shop.

I just read your story... Tire pressure to much makes tire wear uneven. 45lbs makes tires wear from middle out , to litle makes tires wear from outside 1st. recommended is 35lbs front and 33lbs back. I received Good Year tires and call Good Year for a better tire after 7,000 miles . I paid 20.00 more and I was given their best tire, which lasted 42,000 miles. The tire is rated to last 80,000 miles, lets see today if they make good on these tires.

Regular maintenance isn't going to have a lot of effect on flat tire prevention.

Are you having blowouts or picking up nails?

2010 Prius T4, 47600 miles, 2.5mm on front tyres 6mm on rears (Michelin Premacy), this is the softest car I have ever had with regard to tyres, normally struggle to get more than 25k in fact once had a Focus that used to avaerage 9 -11k for the fronts.
The tyres are very good on good surfaces but quite noisy on surfaces such as concrete (Motorway from Scunthorpe to Grimsby is dire). I will definately be fitting same tyres when down to 1.6mm.

Is it possible you picked up all the nails on the same route? Could a bunch of nails were spilled somewhere on it.

I have a 2008 with 30K and need new tires - pre-purchased Mich Hydro Edge 2 months ago but anticipated delivery is 2-3 months out. Not sure what to get instead since they aren't even in production yet. Any recommendations?

I drive a lot of mountain roads in wet and dry. For best performance, milage and tire wear on my '06 Prius I check the tire pressure (I run 35psi) and get tires with the higest hardness rating. Dealers like to talk all kinds of "features" but I am not looking for high speed cornering, super soft rides or the ability to float down a river and not lose traction (if the warer is deep, slow down !!!). Ask for a comparison of hardness rating, I normally get 35 to 40K miles over some pretty nasty mountain roads with the highest hardness rating the dealer has available.

how are the tires working for you now? I have a 2010 Prius with 34,000 miles all highway miles, tires are rotated regularly low pressure light comes on and front tire keeps loosing pressure have to fill tire once a week, treads are still good but shopping for best tire replacement

We have a 2007 Prius at about 95,000. We are on our 2nd set of tires, ready to replace the 2nd set.
Live in AZ, so have a high heat situation for several months. When we replaced the orig set, they talked us into a tire other than original equipment Goodyear Integrity...after driving less than a week, we insisted they honor their agreement to change them if we were un happy...we were getting a good 5 mpg less than the 45-50 we consistently had gotten. Now they are advertising the Goodyear assurance, as lo rolling resistance, but we are concerned that they will not be as good as the Goodyear Integrity which was OEM. The rear tires look good so we will most likely just replace the front ones.
Tires are a definite concern if you want to maintain the MPG on your Prius.

Tried to buy the Michelin A/S tires and you can't get them anywhere. They're on "national" backorder for 6 to 8 months out depending on who you speak to. They must really be good because everyone's sold out.

I have a 2004 Prius with 123k miles on it. I have replaced the tires twice - the original low rolling resistance tires lasted maybe 30k miles. the first set I bought was goodyear(don't recall specific model) and lasted maybe 45k (i recall being dissappointed they didn't last 50k, but only mildly) Since then i switched to a set of BF Goodrich from Costco that are not low rolling resistance and have had no issues. I also have zero traction problems, having driven home in a blizzard that dumped over 24 inches of snow in 24 hours. My mileage is still pretty good (45-48mpg).

We're on our second Prius.....'05, and '10. The Integrity tire yielded about 35000 for the '05....second set still good when we traded up to the '10...which has yokohamas. At 23k, we need to replace the tires with winter coming on. It sounds like the Bridgestone Ecopia has rendered the best performance. By the way, don't ever treat the computer mpg as gospel. First, the odometer reads about 5% error..typically a short mile! This has been true for both of our cars. But...we're still averaging 50+ for trips, and with the '10, about 46 around town, other than winter.

I had to change the tires on my '06 Prius about 4.5 after I owned it, November 2010. I replaced them with Pirelli P4s since there was a Nation-wide backorder on the Michelin Hydroedges. I love the Pirelli's. They have an 80,000 mi warranty, and the car handles SOOO much better than with the tires that came with the car. The tire place was impressed the stock tires lasted around 50,000 miles. New tires and an alignment will definitely help some of the handling issues, and how it drives in snow, rain, and ice. I've had no problems, but then again I did grow up in Colorado and know how to drive in the snow.

I have a 2008 Prius and have the GoodYear Integrity tires and I have 52,000 miles on the odometer and still have the original Integrity tires. I do not believe in rotating tires. All four tires should be replaced at the same time anyways, so why rotate them! I have a set of Bridgestone snow tires that I used to use when I lived up north and probably only have around 2,000 miles on those, so I have around 50,000 miles on my Integrities and I still have tread left. I just always checked the tire pressure every few weeks and kept it at the PSI ratings listed on the sticker in the door jam of the drivers door. That's really the only maintenance there is to make the tires last. I am ordering new tires soon and will definately be keeping the Integrity tires on my 2008 Prius. They are great tires!!

Big American gas guzzlers put money into middle eastern terrorist groups! Check out wikipedia page on the prius for more. Plus many American cars use parts from other countries & many are are made elsewhere. Feeling all so "American" now??? Peace & consuming less IS more American, just like dissent - live with it.

there is some good information on tires for a first gen Prius here:

http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-tires_classic.htm