Tyres Failure At 3000 Km

May 31, 2005

Just the bad experience with my Avensis 1.8 VVTi, January 2005.

When I reached 3000 km, I pushed a bit and took it to 150, then 160, till 200 km/h. As a result, at 140 km/h I felt vibration from front wheels. It stopped at 155 and got back at 165 and stayed there untill 200 km/h. Then spent 20€ to do equilibration of all 4 wheels and noticed in the machine that front wheels were not in perfect cyrcle, they were bit oval. Took it back to the motorway and problem was still there. Back to the dealer. They took the car to the Bridgestone representative and confirmed that 2 front tires were oval, one on the back a bit, and the other on the back was OK. Spare wheel tyre (same size) was OK.

I expected a lot of toubles to resolve the problem, even thinking to save the money to by two new tyres.

Car stayed over night and next day it was ready with 4 new tyres on. What can I say. My dealer did great work. Now the car has 7500 km and no tyres problem (Bridgestone Turanza 205). :thumbsup:

June 1, 2005

Good to hear that problem was sorted quickly.

Were original (faulty) tyres also Turanzas, as my Avensis has these fitted?

June 1, 2005

Yes, they were the same type. My dealer suspected that car was parked in factory for some time with low tyres pressure. Before Avensis I've had VW Golf 1.6 with exactely the same type of tyres. Did 55000 km in 3 years with no problems. Sold it with original tyres, but they needed to be changed. I would say that Turanza is good tyre, gives better contact with road then Michelin but it spends the surface faster. So, I would say 40000-45000 km max for Bridgestone Turanza on average roads and average driving.