Minimum to spend on tyres?

[Merlin5]

6 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Hahah , indeed 👌

But these are very good tyres indeed. I will keep buying new sets of them and never change to anything else as long as they are available and on a good price. 

Thanks for mentioning them earlier in the thread, Tony. After being undecided on which tyre, I remember you saying "these are so good, last long and withhold characteristics with age and mileage".  That plus the good fuel and wetgrip rating swung it for me. Spend a bit more and hopefully will last longer. I would have been happy with any of the tyres mentioned though, I'm sure. 👍

[TonyHSD]

9 hours ago, Merlin5 said:

Thanks for mentioning them earlier in the thread, Tony. After being undecided on which tyre, I remember you saying "these are so good, last long and withhold characteristics with age and mileage".  That plus the good fuel and wetgrip rating swung it for me. Spend a bit more and hopefully will last longer. I would have been happy with any of the tyres mentioned though, I'm sure. 👍

You are welcome. 
I am on my third set of all new Goodyear efficient grip performance 2 since 2020 and for me these are the best touring summer tyres available on the market. 
They transform the drive and make the Auris much more pleasant car to drive and in extreme situations they are simply brilliant. Keep them correctly inflated and they will perform well and last you a long time. 

[Merlin5]

5 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

You are welcome. 
I am on my third set of all new Goodyear efficient grip performance 2 since 2020 and for me these are the best touring summer tyres available on the market. 
They transform the drive and make the Auris much more pleasant car to drive and in extreme situations they are simply brilliant. Keep them correctly inflated and they will perform well and last you a long time. 

Roughly how many miles are you getting out of a new set or can I expect to get? 

Regarding tyre pressure, I think mine are meant to be 32 psi front and back. I regularly load a drumkit in the back on a few days each week, but it's difficult to keep changing the tyre pressure.  Should I just leave them at 32psi? To be honest, I've been putting my tyres to 36psi but perhaps that's not been a good idea. 

[jcps001]

And that was an excellent choice. Those Goodyears are excellent. Not very expensive and excellent all around. Very balanced tyres and most important of all, extremely safe.

[Cyker]

It's always better to err on the side of higher tyre pressure than lower (i.e. it's better for them to be a bit too high than a bit too low); If you're raising the psi to 36 just for the drum kit and it drives fine, you can probably leave it there without issue. Usually you shouldn't need to raise the tyre pressures unless the car is fully loaded and going to be travelling at high speeds for extended periods.

[Merlin5]

11 minutes ago, Cyker said:

It's always better to err on the side of higher tyre pressure than lower (i.e. it's better for them to be a bit too high than a bit too low); If you're raising the psi to 36 just for the drum kit and it drives fine, you can probably leave it there without issue. Usually you shouldn't need to raise the tyre pressures unless the car is fully loaded and going to be travelling at high speeds for extended periods.

Yeah, I'll probably continue with that or perhaps even slightly lower like maybe 34psi as a less extreme compromise. I just want to be careful of not wearing out the centre of the new tyres from being overinflated.

[TonyHSD]

For my car i have pressure set just one idea higher, for example fronts I do 2.35 bar or 2.4 bar instead of 2.3 bar recommended. Correct tyre pressures the car will show you, it will drive lighter while remaining smoother and softer over road bumps and cracks, if ride is too soft or too hard it’s either under or over inflated and both of which aren’t good for your tyres. 
My first set lasted over 60k , second just over 40k , punctured one and replaced all, then 3 weeks I had again unrepairable damage on one and had to get another new tyre, since then all it’s ok 👍 

[Merlin5]

6 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

For my car i have pressure set just one idea higher, for example fronts I do 2.35 bar or 2.4 bar instead of 2.3 bar recommended. Correct tyre pressures the car will show you, it will drive lighter while remaining smoother and softer over road bumps and cracks, if ride is too soft or too hard it’s either under or over inflated and both of which aren’t good for your tyres. 
My first set lasted over 60k , second just over 40k , punctured one and replaced all, then 3 weeks I had again unrepairable damage on one and had to get another new tyre, since then all it’s ok 👍 

That's excellent mileage. One set should last me years then, as long as I keep the pressures right. 

[Cyker]

Well maybe not as long as him; He's the tyre whisperer!  

My tyres tend to last 15-20k miles, but that's a lot of stop-start traffic (And it doesn't help that I keep launching the Mk4 when I'm at the front of traffic lights... I can't help it!!  )

[TonyHSD]

Cyker is right , 60000 miles when easy and mostly motorway drives.
In more moderate use and town drives if you don’t drive fast and furious style I think easily 25-30k + miles or 4+ years. In uk because  of the salt during winter tyres tend to have accelerated ageing and got dry rot cracks as soon as year 3 or 4 and even if they have a good tread depth you still want to replace them as they become a risk. Also the cracks forms on inner side walls and even mot testers fail to spot these. 

[Merlin5]

My car is at Halfords and they just phoned me to say the wheel locking nut is faulty so they can't take my wheels off and I need to buy another wheel locking nut key. What a pain! Can I get one today? Presumably I'll have to call my nearest Toyota dealer?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Presume a Toyota dealer will have to order in. However, may be worth asking whether they have a master key to undo the locking nuts until you can order a replacement key.

[Merlin5]

6 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Presume a Toyota dealer will have to order in. However, may be worth asking whether they have a master key to undo the locking nuts until you can order a replacement key.

Just asked them and they don't have a master key.  I'll call my local Toyota and see if they have a new locking nut I can buy. I believe I can give them the code on this old locking nut (which is difficult to read) or my reg number.  They also told me all the other 4 wheel nuts per wheel need replacing as they're rusty and that the socket that the wheel locking nut goes into is a bit rusty and they're worried about something breaking. 🙄

[Merlin5]

Ok, I just called Jemca which is my closest Toyota dealer and they said bring the car in for them to look at and they'll see if they can match me a locking nut. £36 + vat, so not too bad. Also, wheel nuts only about £3 each. Sockets for the locking nut about £8 each which would need to be ordered as a set.  So I'll drive to Jemca now and see how it goes. 

[Merlin5]

Right, that was easy enough.  Got a new locking nut and just four new nuts from Toyota as the parts man reckoned the others are ok. Only £38. He also said the receiving sockets for the locking nut are fine.  Now I can go and get my tyres put on!

[TonyHSD]

8 minutes ago, Merlin5 said:

Right, that was easy enough.  Got a new locking nut and just four new nuts from Toyota as the parts man reckoned the others are ok. Only £38. He also said the receiving sockets for the locking nut are fine.  Now I can go and get my tyres put on!

Good one ☝️ 

Let us know how you find the new tyres. 
Also double check pressures tomorrow morning before driving off to make sure they are correctly set because no tyre filter ever do these right and every driver should check and adjust next day. 

[Merlin5]

39 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Good one ☝️ 

Let us know how you find the new tyres. 
Also double check pressures tomorrow morning before driving off to make sure they are correctly set because no tyre filter ever do these right and every driver should check and adjust next day. 

Thanks Tony, I'll do that. I spoke to the fitter this morning and asked him what pressure he'll be putting in and he said 34psi. I told him the manual says 32psi but he said 34 is fine and given that I only do about 8000 miles a year and regularly load drums that 34 is good. Would you agree with that?

Also, I'm thinking of buying a digital tyre pressure inflator, one that is wireless and doesn't need to be connected to the 12v socket for ease and quickness of use. Wondering if you can recommend one?

[Merlin5]

I've got the new tyres on now.  I'm not sure I notice much difference in ride from my previous tyres to be honest.  Comfortable enough though.

But they just had a big test. Literally half a mile after leaving the wheel tracking centre, some stupid van driver turning right from the other side of the road, turned right across me forcing me to slam the brakes on. I really thought there was going to be a collision. Fortunately there was a gap to the left that I was able to steer away from the van and no harm was done. I suppose lesser tyres might not have been able to respond as well. That's the second van in two days that's nearly hit me. The other one was a Merc van on the north circular that cut into my lane nearly taking my door and right wing with it. So many idiots on the road. 

[Cyker]

Great result, and unexpectedly competent from Jemca!  

34psi won't do any harm; Under normal use they'd heat up to that sort of pressure pretty quickly anyway. Might mean the ride is a bit harder but unlikely to adversely affect even tyre wear.

[Merlin5]

40 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Great result, and unexpectedly competent from Jemca!  

34psi won't do any harm; Under normal use they'd heat up to that sort of pressure pretty quickly anyway. Might mean the ride is a bit harder but unlikely to adversely affect even tyre wear.

Hah, yeah, the partsman at Jemca was very friendly and helpful.  But as far as Halfords/National Tyres, I cancelled the wheel alignment booking. I must have called them about ten times since Friday and they never answered the phone. Well they did a couple of times,  then immediately put me on hold and then never came back to me. I went into the branch today (different centre from the one that put my tyres on) to complain. I told them how appalling it is that I'd not been able to speak to anyone there after many attempts. He said "well we've got 4 phone lines sir" in a slightly condescensing way,  and I said "well why don't you use them then?" I cancelled the booking and told him I'm getting it done today somewhere else. So he refunded me. Glad I did as it only cost me £40 at a small independent tyres and alignment garage instead of £45 with Halfords.

[solero]

Was it out of alignment, in the end?

How many degrees was toe/camber out and what was the maximum allowed tolerance? They normallly gove a printout.

Has it stopped pulling and is your steering wheel now centred whilst driving?

 

[Guest]

20 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Good one ☝️ 

Let us know how you find the new tyres. 
Also double check pressures tomorrow morning before driving off to make sure they are correctly set because no tyre filter ever do these right and every driver should check and adjust next day. 

I would also check the wheel nuts for correct tightening torque. Are most Toyotas 103Nm? Should be in the handbook.

A 100kg Gorilla might have been let loose on them with either an impact gun or 1m breaker bar!

[APS]

15 hours ago, Merlin5 said:

He said "well we've got 4 phone lines sir" in a slightly condescensing way,  and I said "well why don't you use them then?"

You made me chuckle! 🤭 He really rather stupidly tee'd that response up for you. 

 

17 hours ago, Merlin5 said:

I'm not sure I notice much difference in ride from my previous tyres to be honest.

Great to hear you got the new tyres on! Unless you had very different or very rubbish tyres on before, then you'll unlikely notice any dramatic differences. You will pick up some differences as you drive on various familiar roads and surfaces.

[APS]

24 minutes ago, Slartybartfast said:

I would also check the wheel nuts for correct tightening torque. Are most Toyotas 103Nm? Should be in the handbook.

 

Yes, not the latest specs, but good enough. I generally do 110 Nm on all cars. It's a good, middle-of-the-road setting. It's not reasonable though to expect people to have to buy a torque wrench just to double-check on the garage's work. But do ask what torque they tightened the wheels to. That they should at least be able to answer.  

[Merlin5]

21 hours ago, solero said:

Was it out of alignment, in the end?

How many degrees was toe/camber out and what was the maximum allowed tolerance? They normallly gove a printout.

Has it stopped pulling and is your steering wheel now centred whilst driving?

 

As I drove away I thought, "ah damn, I forgot to ask about how much the alignment was out ". I was only given a receipt for the payment. But yeah, it was presumably out quite a bit but is perfect now, steering wheel centred and the car stays nice and straight.