Tyres scalloping @ 23,500km???

[Transporter]

You're right...

Anything special with the alignment etc? Bridgetsone Tyre Centre? Anybody recommend anywhere in Perth they have had good experience with?

Andrew

I would try Pedders.

http://www.pedders.com.au/storeFinder/6

[brad]

I would try Pedders.

http://www.pedders.com.au/storeFinder/6

Your kidding?

Their franchise system almost guarantees mediocrity.

[vanDub]

My past experience is with my 97 camry V6 and the following is based on that.

I get a decent alignment when I get a new set of 4 tyres that cost about $450 for 4 (yes I know one 17" for passat can cost that). That's it, I still get 60K and regular alignments every 10K @ $100 per time might get me another 10K wear which is worth $75 in tyre cost. I always buy in sets of 4 and arrange my tyre rotation every 10K to achieve this.

The sums just don't add up. Even with Passat tyres costing $200 - $250 for my needs and only getting 40K wear, spending $400 for 4 alignments in the tyres life to get an extra 5-10K wear is still not economical.

Some of us drive easy on tyres. It's only those who punish them that need extra tyre servicing and most of those actually seem proud to get so little wear out of a set as if it somehow reflects well on their driving machismo. I speak of course about posts in the Polo threads.

[Transporter]

Your kidding?

Their franchise system almost guarantees mediocrity.

Not at all. I don't have the equipment, so I can't do it myself and when it need to be done, you have to find somebody who you can trust.
And so far I have only good experience with Pedders. Of course I can’t say that all of them are good. But as I said “I would try”.

[snodrogs]

I used to know the WA franchise owner of Pedders in WA, but this was 15 years ago, so as more operations have popped up, not sure if Reg is still the only owner. Back then they did know their stuff and they were very focused on quality service. Been many years now... so unknown quantity to me here.

Might talk to the dealership when they replace the mechatronic unit and see if they have any preferred businesses...

[Maverick]

I used to know the WA franchise owner of Pedders in WA, but this was 15 years ago, so as more operations have popped up, not sure if Reg is still the only owner. Back then they did know their stuff and they were very focused on quality service. Been many years now... so unknown quantity to me here..

After seeing how the owners of Pedders screwed a heap of their franchisees out of their franchises and their homes through behaviour that should be illegal I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Unfortunately they took action to shut down the website which had the full story on it.

[brad]

After seeing how the owners of Pedders screwed a heap of their franchisees out of their franchises and their homes through behaviour that should be illegal I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Unfortunately they took action to shut down the website which had the full story on it.

That's why i don't like them.

I'm sure the franchisees are very knowledgeable on the whole & have the best intentions but they are put under a lot of financial pressure by the parent company & when that happens, there is a big temptation to cut corners or hire sub-standard staff.

[brad]

My past experience is with my 97 camry V6 and the following is based on that.

I get a decent alignment when I get a new set of 4 tyres that cost about $450 for 4 (yes I know one 17" for passat can cost that). That's it, I still get 60K and regular alignments every 10K @ $100 per time might get me another 10K wear which is worth $75 in tyre cost. I always buy in sets of 4 and arrange my tyre rotation every 10K to achieve this.

If you are paying $100 each time for a Camry alignment No value there.

I think the main thing is to keep an eye open for poor wear patterns and act as required. I'm at 30,000km & still haven't had an alignment done because the wear is perfecto.

[jimbo]

I also have same noise from my Passat Wagon. Tyres are same Pirelli PZero Rosso's. Car has 26000 and have rotated all tyres every 12 months including swapping spare through.

My dealer kept very quite about the tyre noise the last time it went in for service, suggesting its a common thing.

Will speak to my dealer and check their position on Pirelli tyres.

[R36 Dreamer]

I just replaced my tyres @ 26,000.

Rotated once during their life, and all had even wear, though the insides ended up wearing out first (common with Independant Suspension).

Overall I am pretty happy with that, though I didn't put OEM Dunlops back on, terrible tyres.

My GTI only lasted 15,000 on the first front set (Continentals), so overall I cant complain.

[wai]

I know this is reviving a fairly old thread, but I have just had the 15,000 km service on my Caddy Maxi Life. All in all, not that pleased with the service from Nepean Motor Group Penrith.

The salesman I dealt with when I purchased the car was extremely helpful, but the service department could not care less. I took the salesman on a drive and clearly demonstrated the problems to him and he confirmed that the problems were legitimate, however the service department did not even talk to him about the issues I raised, and were not at all interested in seeing the problems.

The issues were:

Cigarette lighter always powered up. It is funny how a the wife of a colleague who has an Eos was told that it was a "sports car feature to have the lighter socket powered up all the time". I was told it was a "commercial vehicle feature to have the cigarette lighter powered up all the time"! The Caddy Maxi Life might be based on a commercial vehicle, bit it is certainly classed as a passenger vehicle. On topof that, the owners manual clearly states that the socket should only be powered up when the ignition is on. All they could be bothered doing was writing a note to the effect that if I wanted it I would have to have it done at my cost. No hint of even providing a quote to do it. Evidently they did not want the business.

Next, the reluctance of the transmission to change up if stopped and then moving off up a steep hill. This was not a one off and was demonstrated repeatedly. It was acknowledged as an issue but the report said they had applied a software update and it should "hopefully fix things". How about going back to where it was demonstrated and checking to see if it had? That was too much like hard work.

Then there was the long delay in engaging reverse once accelerator position had been detected. I was not believed until I they tried it themselves, but again I was told to "hope the software update had fixed it". Once again the person with the Eos who has the exact same issue was told it was a sports car thing, and I was told it was a commercial vehicle thing!

Next, there was a slight "whoop-whoop" sound, almost as though the tyres had flat spots or a delamination bubble. I had checked things I could but could not find a bubble. The report said that the REAR tyres had "scalloped". No, they were not out of balance or misaligned, but they were like a 50 c piece. It was not wear, because where the tyre was "flat" the tread depth was the same as elsewhere on the tyre. It was put down to the tyre flattening after being parked overnight in the cold. I was advised to increase the tyre pressures and hopefully things would improve as the temperature warmed up. I had been running them at 32 psi (the dealer recommendation). I have had them at 40 psi for quite a while, and the problem persists.

So all in all pretty disappointed. On the subject of this thread, the tyres are only 15,000 km old, and I have never had any more than 3 people in the car.

In all the cars I have owned, the original tyres have been dreadful. My Mini back in 1976 had Dunlop Aqua Hets. They wore out in under 12 months. Dunlop said this was "normal". My Torana back in 1978 had Goodyear Supersteels. They developed severe uneven wear in the first 12 months. I replaced them with Michelin XZX tyres and I never had any issues with them. I had that car for 320,000 km (22 years), and never had an issue with the Michelins. My Hiace back in 1999 had Goodyear LT tyres and despite only carrying my wheelchair bound father in the back, the right rear tyre developed a bubble under the tread due to delamination. I replaced them with Toyo tyres and for the rest of the 125,000 km had no issues at all. The Goodyears were not underinflated. Tyrepower said they had numerous instances of such failures and was why they did not sell them.

Why to car makers use such rubbish tyres? I mean, they may be cheap for them, but look what it does to their reputation. You can see this atitude carry through to their dealer service departments.

For me, I am certainly going to look at trying a new dealer to get my Caddy serviced.

[Umai Naa!!]

Once they start scalloping, there's no coming back. The only thing to do is replace them, and have the wheel alignment checked. Ideally, you'll want to discuss your options with your preferred tyre retailer. Some tread patterns will be more prone to scalloping than others.

What tyres are on it, and what size are they?

[brad]

My Torana back in 1978 had Goodyear Supersteels. They developed severe uneven wear in the first 12 months. I replaced them with Michelin XZX tyres and I never had any issues with them. I had that car for 320,000 km (22 years), and never had an issue with the Michelins. My Hiace back in 1999 had Goodyear LT tyres and despite only carrying my wheelchair bound father in the back, the right rear tyre developed a bubble under the tread due to delamination. I replaced them with Toyo tyres and for the rest of the 125,000 km had no issues at all. The Goodyears were not underinflated. Tyrepower said they had numerous instances of such failures and was why they did not sell them.

Why to car makers use such rubbish tyres? I mean, they may be cheap for them, but look what it does to their reputation. You can see this atitude carry through to their dealer service departments.

A bit late now but if you would have presented youself at a Goodyear tyre & brake service in 1978 they would have immediately replaced your Supersteels at a prorata rate on employees prices - so about $20 for 4 tyres. It was a known manufacturing fault (the steel wire in the belts wasn't stored properly & was rusty when they cooked the tyre) at the time. If you would have gone to Hurstville, I probably would have served you

The LTs would have required an inspection by the GY tech guys but again, you need to attend an authorised Goodyear reseller (they call them premium dealers now I believe). There's no point taking faulty tyres to a place that isn't an authorised dealer as they will just badmouth the tyre, tell you there's nothing you can do & steer you into something else.

I'm not sure about now but back in the '70s, tyre manufacturers supplied tyres at cost to the vehicle manufacturers because statistics showed that 70% of owners replaced the OEM tyre with the same brand. Get them on the car & you had a pretty good chance of getting repeat sales through the life of the vehicle.

Keep in mind that the street price of Michelin at the time was about double an equivalent Goodyear. The Michelins lasted longer because they'd had a very nice 4 month trip from France to cure whereas anything made in Australia (Dunlop Aquajets & GY SS) were fitted to the vehicle within a few weeks of being made. The factorys were working at capacity & we always had popular sizes on back-order.

[wai]

Once they start scalloping, there's no coming back. The only thing to do is replace them, and have the wheel alignment checked. Ideally, you'll want to discuss your options with your preferred tyre retailer. Some tread patterns will be more prone to scalloping than others.

What tyres are on it, and what size are they?

The tyres are the Dunlop SP SPORT 01 (205 / 55 R16 94H).

It is an asymetric tyre, but that does not really bother me if I replace them with ones that are not.

As I said, the tyres are just 14,500 km old.

[Umai Naa!!]

Ah, yours is a Caddy Life. They've got a more passenger car-orientated tyre on them. Still, it's no excuse for the scalloping.

You can always try the manufacturer for help.