Avensis Tourer Rear Tyres

[Carl1983]

Hi

My sister and myself both have avensis tourer, mine is a 10 plate 2.2 and hers is 12 plate 2.0 d4d. Mine has a full set of Bridgestone tans hers has michelins. Now here comes he issue, she has been to toyota for her 20k service and they have told her the rear tyres are down to the legal limit and there's 3mm on the front. I find this extremely odd that a front wheel drive car should wear the rear tyres out before the front. I have also done 20k on my Bridgestone and the backs are still like new so I really don't see why this has happened. Her car is only loaded twice a year and tyres pressures are checked regularly . Toyota have said this morning that 20k for tyres on the back is what they would expect. Does anybody else's tourers wear the rear tyres out 1st or are toyota fobbing us off?

Thanks

Carl

[FROSTYBALLS]

Was your sister's car bought new or used, and are there any unusual signs of wear (ie shoulders wearing, centre wearing)?

[Carl1983]

She had it from new from that dealer

[FROSTYBALLS]

Could the tyres have been rotated at the first service to even out the wear?

[Carl1983]

The workshop report from the 1st service shows even wear on the front and back which again I find extremely odd??

[Parts-King]

Measure them yourself, easy enough to do, then you will know for sure

[Carl1983]

They have been measured at at professional tyre fitters also, it now has new rear tyres on the back which is my original point. Surely this shouldn't be the case on a front wheel drive car?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Back in 2003 we bought a new Mazda 323 1.6 (Bridgestone tyres) and a new Mazda Premacy 1.8 (Toyo tyres) on the same day. Both were based on the 626 platform, both front wheel drive and both were petrol. The 323 was typically front wheel drive - wore the front tyres more quickly than the rears - whereas the Premacy wore its tyres evenly all round. There was nothing wrong with the wear characteristics.

Presume the difference in wear rates could be down to the different tyre brands, and possibly differences in driving styles.

[Mr.D]

In my opinion 20K miles is not enough on new tires and more to that rears wear faster than front. Would be interesting to know is it full tire wear or shoulder/center wear. I would check wheel alignment, although it should be ok after 20K from new but if chamber or toe angles are not right this early wear might be possible.

[mcorban]

Just had mine changed today, four new tyres. The tyre tended to wear a little on the inside, and was informed (a mate in with his own garage and tyre business) it was a characteristic of the tyre (215/55/17) on the avensis. He had a set from one he changed just two day previous and they were the same. My car was checked for tracking twice prior and it was fine as i was worried about it. Also, these have concentric adjusters on the rears, and was warned to free them up from time to time as they can seize, which we have done today. One thing we did have trouble today was with a the balancing (quite a large difference between inner and outer of the tyre)

Out of interest was your sisters car the facelift model?