Tyre Life \ Warranty

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heylinb4nz

656 posts

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#173880 9-Jun-2015 16:06

Purchased a pair of Falken ZE-912 just under 2 years and 16,000 kms ago (50/50 city\town) for our Subaru Legacy and already they are borderline ready to replace.

The car does run higher than stock power (230KW vs 191KW at engine) but it is AWD and tiptronic so isnt exactly doing burnouts, plus 90% of the time its mainly driven by girlfriend who drives nice.

Falken website say these tyres are rated for about 60,000 kms of use (that's with rotations). I could live with 3 years\25,000 kms but 2 years\16,000 kms seems a little on the low side.

FYI Falken's 5 year\60,0000km warrenty is not valid outside USA\Canada. So I gather I don't have a leg to stand on.

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2780 posts

Uber Geek

#1320411 9-Jun-2015 16:15

You could possibly look at recourse under the CGA, if the tyres life was not 'reasonable' given their price, use, etc - particularly if the seller 'upsold' you on a more expensive tyre on basis of it's life.

If it's any consolation, the last set of Falkens I had (~2007) only lasted 18,000 kms, and they sucked in the wet anyway, so I just put some better tyres on.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#1320431 9-Jun-2015 16:28

If the retailer won't help, you could always take it to the disputes tribunal and use their overseas warranty as an example for how long they should last, but can be hit and miss. That does seem like very low milage though, but as they are a consumable, it is hard to know how hard they have been driven.

trig42

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#1320433 9-Jun-2015 16:31

I would expect a good tyre (ie a 16/17" that costs over $150) to last longer than that. Whether or not that is 'Reasonable' I don't know.
I put 4 x Bridgestones on my RWD Skyline two years ago, and have probably done about 20,000 kms on them, and they look fine. They were about $140 each.

I don't know what the hardness of the Falkens is? Some performance tyres are a softer rubber and wear faster. A quick and dirty google of them suggests they wear pretty well, with people easily getting 25000kms out of them.

Goosey

2829 posts

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#1320436 9-Jun-2015 16:34

Over the coure of 16k km's, did you regulary rotate, balance and align the wheels as well as check pressures at least fortnightly - monthly?

MikeB4

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#1320437 9-Jun-2015 16:35

Several questions relating to this..

1, Tyre pressure, is this set to manufacturer PSI and is it checked on a regular basis ie weekly?
2, Wheel alignment, is this maintained ?
3, Are the vehicle Shock Absorbers and Suspension as per manufacturer specs and maintained?
4, Type of roads mainly driven on?

All these have an affect on tyre life span and performance

RunningMan

8953 posts

Uber Geek

#1320440 9-Jun-2015 16:37

I'd suggest looking at wheel alignment and check for suspension wear. Even a slightly out wheel alignment can cause tyres to wear at a very fast rate. Same goes for worn out or damaged suspension components like bushes and shocks.

EDIT: MikeB4 beat me to it

mattwnz

20141 posts

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#1320442 9-Jun-2015 16:38

Is the wear even across the tyre, or mainly at the edges or middle? 40-60k kms seems about average for tyres to last, but thatis probably conservative driving. Lots of town driving and lots of starting and stopping, and fast accelerations can cause premature wear. Are there any tyres sold that do have a km warranty on them in NZ? I can't recall seeing any, it that maybe due to our poorer quality roading surfaces in NZ.

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MikeB4

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#1320446 9-Jun-2015 16:40

mattwnz: Is the wear even across the tyre, or mainly at the edges or middle?

good point also look for feathered edges on the tread pattern

Handsomedan

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#1320449 9-Jun-2015 16:43

I'd say there are simply too many loopholes for a tyre provider to use to get a good resolution from this.

All of what MikeB4 said are reasons for the tyre seller to opt out of a refund/replacement...as well as our quite coarse roads and the final nail in the coffin is your choice of vehicular weapon...a modified turbocharged AWD Subaru.
Doesn't matter how/how well the mods were done, they'll be able to use that as an excuse to get out of any claim against them.

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mattwnz

20141 posts

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#1320454 9-Jun-2015 16:48

Handsomedan: I'd say there are simply too many loopholes for a tyre provider to use to get a good resolution from this.

All of what MikeB4 said are reasons for the tyre seller to opt out of a refund/replacement...as well as our quite coarse roads and the final nail in the coffin is your choice of vehicular weapon...a modified turbocharged AWD Subaru.
Doesn't matter how/how well the mods were done, they'll be able to use that as an excuse to get out of any claim against them.

I think if it was a stock toyota corolla they may have a better chance, but anything modified does create a loophole.

Jase2985

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#1320457 9-Jun-2015 16:54

nz roads are a lot harsher on tyres that overseas roads

if you can answer some or all of the above questions it may help.

a combination of camber and toe will kill a tyre really fast

heylinb4nz

656 posts

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#1320810 10-Jun-2015 07:24

Wheel alignment was done when fitted, and again after getting new lca bushings about 1 year later. I do tyre pressure once every month 38psi all round. Suspension is good, car only has 96,000kms. Car is only driven between hamilton, auckland, tauranga during that time, approx 15 trips. All the rest was town.

dickytim

2514 posts

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#1320815 10-Jun-2015 07:36

heylinb4nz: Purchased a pair of Falken ZE-912 just under 2 years and 16,000 kms ago (50/50 city\town) for our Subaru Legacy and already they are borderline ready to replace.

The car does run higher than stock power (230KW vs 191KW at engine) but it is AWD and tiptronic so isnt exactly doing burnouts, plus 90% of the time its mainly driven by girlfriend who drives nice.

Falken website say these tyres are rated for about 60,000 kms of use (that's with rotations). I could live with 3 years\25,000 kms but 2 years\16,000 kms seems a little on the low side.

FYI Falken's 5 year\60,0000km warrenty is not valid outside USA\Canada. So I gather I don't have a leg to stand on.

think you'll find the warranty is actually for manufacturing faults not wear.

You can try to make a claim but there are so many factors outside of the manufacturers control that they can't actually be expected to guarantee a tyre life.

Also do you have alignments done regularly? Rotate them? - Answered previously.

kiwitrc

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#1320823 10-Jun-2015 08:13

I have had 2 new turbo Subarus, both seemed to eat a set tyres every 20,000k or so. I had the wheel alignment checked at new, and adjusted (both were out from the factory). Mind you I made frequent use of the power so wasn't overly concerned.

BTR

1527 posts

Uber Geek

#1320880 10-Jun-2015 09:21

I had Falkins on my car when I bought it and they were rubbish, the inside edge of the tyre split on both. Thankfully the guy doing the WOF did his job properly and noticed. I replaced them with GT radials and they have done around 30,000-40,000km.

Subarus do have a tendency to wear tyres out on the inside quicker due to the camber set at the factory.

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